One by One

Claire Matchett, the protagonist, begins narrating. Her marriage to her husband Noah is in shambles, as she has begun to hate him, though they stay together for the kids. When they first got married, Claire was head-over-heels in love with Noah, but now, their relationship has soured. He asks her where his UChicago shirt is, and Claire thinks he’ll find it in the top drawer. She notices that Noah has not shaved recently since he’s been working as a physicist from home lately. She is annoyed that he asks her if she put the shirt in their son Aidan’s dresser: Aidan does his own laundry, while Noah has never done laundry.

Claire is excited for the upcoming trip, as the resort they’re staying at has many amenities and is nestled in the woods. She digs through Noah’s T-shirt drawer and finds the UChicago shirt. She’s tempted to throw the shirt away, but she doesn’t. She thinks about the amount of clothes she owns, for which Noah mocks her, while Noah’s clothes are often ripped and fraying.

Emma, Claire and Noah’s daughter, comes and tells Claire that she had a bad dream that a monster ate Claire and Noah while they were on their trip. Claire tries to comfort her, but she feels uneasy, given that Emma had a dream that predicted the death of Claire’s father. Noah comforts Emma by tickling her and tells her to go pack for her and Aidan’s trip to Claire’s sister Penny’s house. Noah accuses Claire of losing his shirt again, and she snippily tells him she found it. She thinks they won’t be able to fix their relationship.

Penny arrives to pick up the kids. Aidan goes with her happily, but Emma is still shaken by her dream. Penny tries to comfort her. Before they leave, Penny asks Claire if she’s told Noah something, but Claire hasn’t yet. She promises to tell him before they pick up Lindsay. She feels uncertain about the trip, which she thinks is the result of Emma’s dream. She tries to put it out of her mind.

Claire and Noah take Claire’s minivan on the trip. Noah makes fun of Claire for how much fuller her bag is than his. He then decides to drive as he thinks Claire is a bad driver, which further irritates her.

As they drive to pick up the rest of the group, Claire tells Noah that she booked them into separate rooms at the inn. Noah is upset, but Claire tells him that some space will be good for them and let them sleep better. She wonders if next year she’ll be able to take a whole trip without him—if they’re still even married next year.

Noah and Claire arrive at Lindsay’s apartment building. Lindsay, Claire’s college roommate, is there, and Claire notices how fit she looks. Noah barely notices Lindsay. Lindsay raves about her new boyfriend Warner, who is a plastic surgeon whose previous girlfriend died of cancer. Warner arrives, and Claire thinks he’s very handsome. He reveals that he met Lindsay after her grocery bag broke and he helped her.

Claire met Noah in college, and after hanging out a few times they decided to get Thai food, though Claire did not know Noah hates Thai food. They kissed afterward, and Claire felt the spark. Her last boyfriend had cheated on her before tragically drowning. She can’t remember the last time Noah kissed her.

Jack, Noah’s college roommate, arrives with his wife Michelle. Unlike Noah, who studied physics, Jack was a more bohemian musician, whom Claire initially had a crush on instead of Noah. Michelle, however, is a high-powered divorce attorney and very different from Jack. Jack tried to pack a gun, but Michelle stopped him. Lindsay is horrified by the idea of hunting, and Michelle says she’d rather work at the inn than go hunting.

The anonymous narrator returns. As a child, the narrator spent a lot of time in their mom’s green Dodge car. They reminisce about one specific memory. One hot afternoon, their mom went grocery shopping and left them in the car. It became extremely hot in the car, and the narrator began to suffocate. They contemplated opening the door, but the narrator knew that their mother would be angry if they left the car.

Another woman came to the car and convinced the narrator to unlock the door so that the woman could help them out. When the narrator’s mother returned, she berated the other woman for helping the narrator. She then told the narrator that they could get reported to CPS, which would lead the narrator to be taken away from their father. This upset the narrator.

Claire narrates again. She needs to pee but doesn’t want to tell Noah after he urged her to use the bathroom before they left. She instead suggests stopping for gas, but Noah sees through her excuse and accuses her of needing the bathroom. Lindsay then says she needs the bathroom, as she’s uncomfortable with how Noah is snapping at Claire.

After Claire uses the bathroom, Jack approaches her and tells her that Noah is not treating her fairly. Jack then kisses her and she confirms that she has booked separate hotel rooms.

Claire feels terrible for cheating on Noah with Jack. It started when Jack, who has a contracting business, helped redo Claire and Noah’s kitchen. The kids were at camp, and Noah was at work. Jack began to talk with Claire about his marriage to Michelle, sharing that Michelle is cold and puts her work above her relationship with Jack. On the second-to-last day of the project, Jack kissed Claire.

For the last four months, she and Jack have been sneaking off together for amorous exchanges. Claire thinks she’s falling for Jack, but she knows he can never leave Michelle because as a divorce attorney, she’d destroy Jack’s life. She knows the relationship will end, but she endeavors to enjoy it while it lasts.

When she gets back to the car, Noah is grouchy about wanting to leave the windows rolled down. Warner tries to offer him a paper map he printed out, but Noah wants to rely on the car’s GPS. Warner tells them that they will leave cell service range when they get closer to the inn. Claire gets nervous and texts Penny to let her know they may not have service until they reach the inn.

Two hours into the drive, the group stops at a diner for food. Claire and Lindsay go to the bathroom. Lindsay tries to tell Claire something, but Michelle arrives and interrupts their conversation. They try to make small talk with Michelle but to no avail. Claire and Lindsay have had dinner with Michelle in the past, but they didn’t click as friends.

They go back to the table. Claire wants a burger and fries, and when Lindsay mentions how good the burgers smell, Warner tells her a burger has too many calories. Claire is shocked, but Warner tells her that he and Lindsay are training for a marathon. Claire doesn’t think a marathon is something Lindsay would like and is surprised that Lindsay isn’t eating what she wants, especially when she orders just a side salad with no dressing.

Over their meal, Michelle talks about a client who tried to hire a hitman to kill his wife after he cheated on her, though he was caught and jailed. Jack seems even paler, worried about what his possible divorce would do to his life. When Warner says where he works, Jack mentions a friend who also works at the hospital. Warner says he knows him and will say hi. They then discuss Claire’s job as a special ed teacher. Warner says that her job is honorable but that it’s repetitive and not something he could do. Claire is offended by his comments, accusing Warner of doing repetitive breast augmentation surgeries. He does not find his job repetitive and subtly suggests Lindsay should get a breast augmentation.

The group then debates the merits of lying to children about the existence of Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. Noah thinks Emma had her monster nightmare because Claire tells her that Santa and the tooth fairy are real. The others agree with Claire that there’s no harm in bringing magic into kids’ lives, even if it’s fake. Noah gets angry and storms out of the diner.

Claire then goes to get some air and is joined by Lindsay, who tells her that she saw Claire and Jack kissing. Claire says she’s a horrible person, but Lindsay comforts her. She tells Claire she must end it with Noah; Lindsay thinks he knows about Claire’s affair, and Claire agrees that she will tell him when they get home after the trip.