 Seeing her growing misgivings, Lute McNeil (Carl Lumbly), local architect, father and neighbor of the Coles, sees an opportunity to try to win Shelby's heart, having loved her from afar for some time.With Lute's persistent, sometimes unwanted, attentions, Shelby starts to question her marrying Meade.After a racist incident at a local restaurant, Shelby even confesses to Meade that she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life defending their relationship and asks him to give her time to finally decide.