The Firefly Hour Characters

Duncan's step sister and Maggie's half sister, daughter of Ruby and granddaughter of Grandma Laverne. She is serious, work-focused, and feels like an outsider in her family; she arrives at the Shelter Inn after Hurricane Daniel worried by Duncan's silence. She becomes a secret-keeper for Duncan's illness and struggles with control, guilt, and her relationship with Maggie.

Arc: She moves from using work as avoidance and trying to control Duncan's care to quitting her job, returning to the Shelter Inn, and choosing family. She accepts Matthew's proposal and adds 'To sisters' to the toast, showing her reconciliation with Maggie.

• Duncan Conaway — her younger stepbrother, whose illness she discovers and keeps secret
• Maggie Black — her younger half sister
• Ruby Conaway — her mother
• Grandma Laverne — her late grandmother
• Dr. Matthew Harmon — her romantic interest and eventual fiance
• Chase Beckett — a paying guest at the inn and fellow helper
• Jennifer — her secretary, whose birthday celebration she sees but is not invited to

Amelia's younger stepbrother and Maggie's stepbrother, Ruby's stepson and Henry's son. He is the inn's caretaker figure who hides a positive Huntington's disease test, signs himself out against medical advice, and tries to protect his sisters from worry. He is closest to Grandma Laverne and clings to her recipes and sayings.

Arc: He hides his diagnosis, tries to hand the inn to Maggie, leaves the island, and travels with Lydia before returning home. He collapses on the beach, dies as his sisters try to save him, and is welcomed in the afterlife by his father and Grandma Laverne.

• Amelia Harper — his older stepsister, who learns his secret
• Maggie Black — his younger stepsister
• Ruby Conaway — his stepmother
• Grandma Laverne — his grandmother, to whom he was closest
• Henry Conaway — his father
• Dr. Lambert — his doctor who gave him the Huntington's diagnosis
• Dr. Matthew Harmon — his doctor during the seizure and afterward
• Chase Beckett — an acquaintance and houseguest at the inn
• Lydia Carter — his teenage crush and later romantic interest and travel companion
• Mr. Todd — a guest he confides in before leaving
• Jasper — Lydia's service dog, who stays close to him and seems to sense his illness

Amelia's younger half sister and Duncan's stepsister, Ruby's daughter and Grandma Laverne's granddaughter. She is impulsive, wants to cheer Duncan up, and feels judged by Amelia while longing for family connection. She becomes determined to stay at the Shelter Inn, host guests, and prove she can be reliable.

Arc: She moves from feeling like the little sister who runs away to planning a dance, helping run the inn, and pursuing Chase. She is hurt when she learns Duncan's secret was kept from her, but by the following summer she is helping preserve his memory at the inn with Amelia.

• Amelia Harper — her older half sister
• Duncan Conaway — her older stepbrother
• Ruby Conaway — her mother
• Grandma Laverne — her late grandmother
• Chase Beckett — her first love, ex-boyfriend, and later boyfriend
• Henry Conaway — her late stepfather
• Mr. Todd — the lonely guest for whom she plans the dance
• Flo — an islander who questions her and warns her about Chase

Amelia and Maggie's mother and Duncan's stepmother, as well as Henry's widow and Grandma Laverne's adopted daughter. She runs Cupid Hour matchmaking, texts her children about matches, and arrives at the Shelter Inn during breakfast because her children were out of touch. She is warm, playful, and protective of her family.

Arc: She comes to the inn, comforts Amelia, dances with Mr. Todd, and quietly confirms she knew about Duncan's illness. She tries to defend Amelia and urges the sisters to settle their differences and act like sisters.

• Amelia Harper — her daughter
• Maggie Black — her daughter
• Duncan Conaway — her stepson
• Henry Conaway — her late husband and the love of her life
• Grandma Laverne — her adoptive mother
• Mr. Todd — her dance partner and potential romantic interest
• Chase Beckett — a guest she meets at the inn

The deceased matriarch of the Shelter Inn, grandmother to Amelia, Maggie, and Duncan, and adoptive mother to Ruby. Her recipes, sayings, sea glass collage, and remembered voice guide the family through grief and conflict. She is especially close to Duncan and continues to appear in his memories and imagination.

Arc: Though dead, she remains a guiding presence through her recipes and imagined voice, urging Duncan to reflect, let go, and say goodbye. In his final moments she appears radiant in the afterlife with Henry and opens her arms to embrace Duncan.

• Amelia Harper — her granddaughter
• Maggie Black — her granddaughter
• Duncan Conaway — her grandson, closest to her
• Ruby Conaway — her adopted daughter
• Chase Beckett — someone she treated as family after he helped at the inn
• Dr. Matthew Harmon — his father was her former doctor at the inn

Maggie's first love and former boyfriend, who arrives at the Shelter Inn needing a room after Hurricane Daniel damages his home. He helped Grandma Laverne around the inn after college and was treated as family. He volunteers at the church shelter, helps repair the inn, and is committed to Maggie.

Arc: He moves from being a surprising guest and source of tension for Maggie to telling her he is all in and has been for over a decade. He kisses her at the pier, helps fix the inn, and later secures the porch before Hurricane Iris and joins the family toast.

• Maggie Black — her first love, ex-boyfriend, and later boyfriend
• Duncan Conaway — an acquaintance and houseguest at the inn
• Grandma Laverne — someone he worked for and who treated him as family
• Amelia Harper — a fellow guest at the inn
• Flo — an islander who is protective of him
• Mrs. Peterson — a shelter volunteer who knows him

A physician and the son of the older Dr. Harmon, who has died. He responds when Amelia fetches him to treat Duncan, later explains that Huntington's treatments manage symptoms rather than cure the disease, and becomes Amelia's romantic interest. He is compassionate, honest, and persistent in checking on Amelia.

Arc: He moves from being the doctor who treats Duncan in an emergency to a supportive friend and romantic partner for Amelia. The following summer he proposes to Amelia with a ring hidden in her dessert, and she accepts.

• Duncan Conaway — his patient
• Amelia Harper — her romantic interest and eventual fiance
• Grandma Laverne — his father's former patient at the inn

Duncan's teenage crush, who reconnects with him after her service dog Jasper knocks him off his bike. She has PTSD after being locked in a closet for forty-eight hours during a supervised visit and has lived an isolated life with Jasper. She apologizes to Duncan for past mockery and later travels with him.

Arc: She moves from fear and isolation to choosing to leave with Duncan, visiting the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and caring for him as his condition worsens. She says goodbye to him at the ferry, shouts that she loves him, and later sends Amelia and Maggie a letter and a watercolor portrait of Duncan.

• Duncan Conaway — her old crush, romantic interest, and travel companion
• Jasper — her service dog
• Amelia Harper — Duncan's sister, to whom she sends a letter and portrait
• Maggie Black — Duncan's sister, to whom she sends a letter and portrait

Also called Alexander Todd, he is a widowed guest at the Shelter Inn who is lonely without his late wife. His late wife Margaret was a ballroom dance instructor, and dancing returns him to a comfort zone tied to her. He teaches the group the box step and demonstrates the waltz with Ruby.

Arc: He moves from a lonely guest to the guest of honor at Maggie's dance, where he teaches ballroom steps and dances with Ruby. Before dawn he recognizes Duncan's goodbye, listens without judgment, and shakes his hand.

• Margaret — his late wife
• Ruby Conaway — his dance partner and potential romantic interest
• Maggie Black — the host who plans the dance for him
• Duncan Conaway — a guest he confides in before Duncan leaves

Duncan's father, Ruby's late husband, and Maggie's and Amelia's late stepfather. He died after Huntington's disease, and Duncan remembers watching the disease shrivel him. Maggie remembers Henry's increasingly uncoordinated movements from Huntington's disease when Duncan's hands tremble.

Arc: He does not appear alive, but his memory shapes Duncan's fear and grief. In Duncan's final moments his voice welcomes Duncan home, and he appears tall, strong, and smiling in the afterlife.

• Ruby Conaway — her late husband and the love of her life
• Duncan Conaway — his father
• Maggie Black — her late stepfather
• Amelia Harper — her late stepfather

Duncan's doctor nine years earlier, who tells him that his genetic test is positive for Huntington's disease and outlines a potential treatment plan. She encourages him to bring someone with him or let her call someone for support.

Arc: She does not change across the story; her early diagnosis and encouragement remain a key source of Duncan's secret and fear.

• Duncan Conaway — his doctor

An islander who is curious about Maggie and protective of Chase. She questions whether Maggie is Chase's new girlfriend and tells Maggie about Chase's past heartbreak over a child he thought was his. She warns Maggie that the island is watching over Chase.

Arc: She does not change; she serves as a protective island voice and gives Maggie crucial context about Chase's past.

• Chase Beckett — an islander who is protective of him
• Maggie Black — a newcomer she questions and warns

A shelter volunteer who knows Chase and relies on him during the meal service. She welcomes Maggie as Laverne's granddaughter and asks Chase for plates before the second lunch shift.

Arc: She does not change; she helps keep the church shelter meal service running and connects Maggie to the volunteer community.

• Chase Beckett — a volunteer she relies on
• Maggie Black — Laverne's granddaughter, whom she welcomes

Lydia Carter's service dog, who stays pressed against Duncan's leg and later returns to Lydia after comforting her. The text suggests Jasper senses Duncan's illness. He rides between Lydia's feet and presses his warm body against her legs when she is distressed.

Arc: He does not change; he consistently stays close to Lydia and Duncan, apparently sensing Duncan's Huntington's disease.

• Lydia Carter — her service dog
• Duncan Conaway — stays close to him and seems to sense his illness

A town official who calls Amelia to praise her shoreline-corrosion research and invite her to present at the next town hall meeting. He wants community stakeholders to hear her ideas directly.

Arc: He does not change; his call marks Amelia's professional recognition and her choice to remain connected to the island community.

• Amelia Harper — invites her to present her research

Amelia's secretary in her Newark office. Amelia sees Jennifer celebrating her birthday at a restaurant with at least a dozen office coworkers and realizes she was not invited and had not known it was Jennifer's birthday.

Arc: She does not change; her birthday celebration highlights Amelia's isolation and dissatisfaction with her professional life.

• Amelia Harper — her boss

Mr. Todd's late wife, remembered as a ballroom dance instructor. Her death leaves Mr. Todd lonely and motivates Maggie's dance party and Mr. Todd's return to dancing.

Arc: She does not appear alive; her memory informs Mr. Todd's grief and his connection with Ruby and the group through dance.

• Mr. Todd — her widower husband