You Shouldn't Have Come Here

Wrestling with all that has happened, Grace runs down the driveway and twists her ankle. Calvin runs out to help, and she realizes “The pain was nothing compared to the fear I felt with Calvin’s hands on me” (243). He takes her back into the house, and she confronts his lies. Grace shows him the photograph of Albert. Calvin confesses he has been trying to present himself in the best light, thinking he did not have a chance with a woman like her otherwise. She then mentions his guestbook. He goes to the basement and returns with the guestbook—which lacks Briana’s signature. Calvin promises to make everything right: “I’m going to make sure you have a great last night on my ranch” (246).

As Calvin checks Grace’s car, Betty arrives with new curtains. They argue over her hiding the truth about his parents’ deaths, and then she checks on her bees. He hears her scream, and finds her with Albert’s body.

Sleeping in her bathtub, Grace wakes to sirens. She goes out to find Betty wrapped in a blanket on the porch with Wyatt and Almond; there are two police cars and an ambulance. Calvin tells Grace that Albert is dead. The paramedics get Albert’s body into the ambulance and drive away. Betty accuses Calvin of not taking care of Albert, who apparently wandered too close to the beehives and had an allergic reaction. After everyone leaves, Calvin asks Grace if she is hungry.

As Calvin cooks, he and Grace remain silent until he asks if she’s looking forward to returning home. He says her car is ready. Internally, he would have liked to make her a fancier meal, but was afraid that she would leave if he went to town to buy more food.

As Grace and Calvin finish their meal, she thanks him. She asks what the police thought happened to Albert, as she finds it unusual that someone familiar with the ranch and allergic to bees would walk close to them. She goes to bed early because she has a long day of driving ahead. As Grace leaves, Calvin grabs and kisses her, and she pushes him away. She realizes he did not fix her lock.

In the middle of the night, Grace wakes from a realistic nightmare of Calvin tying her to the bed, taunting her, and slowly eviscerating her with a knife.

When Calvin wakes after 9:00 am, he fears Grace is already gone. He finds her packing her car, goes to the kitchen, and drinks two cups of coffee. She comes in to say goodbye, and he says he will walk her out. At Grace’s car, she says she enjoyed their time together. Calvin asks if he will ever see her again, and she says probably not. She gets into the car, but it does not start. Calvin tells Grace to open the hood, which he lifts and pretends to adjust. When she gets out of the car, he laughs, grabs her by the hair, and drags her toward the house. She bites one of his fingers to the bone, causing him to let go. Grace rushes into the house, and Calvin eventually finds her in his bedroom, standing in a corner with his hunting knife. Suddenly, he becomes dizzy from the coffee (which was drugged) and falls onto the bed. Grace asks if Briana is at the ranch, and he says she is in the shed behind the beehives. She turns on Calvin’s computer and gives herself an excellent Airbnb review. He begs her to call the police, and she says she will if he explains what happened to his girlfriend Lisa: He intentionally killed her, then framed Joe. Grace stabs Calvin.

Grace is revealed to have drugged Calvin before killing him. She cleans his knife and other places with her fingerprints. She dyes her hair brown, her natural color, and removes her blue contact lenses, revealing light brown eyes. Grace soaks Calvin’s body and bed with gasoline. Opening his closet, she sees the mounted heads of three women, recognizing their names from Calvin’s guestbook. There are two spaces reserved for Briana and herself.

Grace places her things in Calvin’s truck and decides to see if Briana is alive. In the mentioned shed, she hears Briana from within. She confirms Calvin intended to replace her with Grace, as the two look alike. Grace says Calvin is dead.

Grace and Briana walk to Calvin’s truck. Briana asks if she called the police, but Grace says she is leaving alone.

Returning to the Gunslinger 66 gas station, Grace pays the attendant for gas. She is surprised that he recognizes her, since her hair is brown now. He calls her Avery Adams, as she accidentally left her driver’s license during her first stop. Avery takes the ID and thanks him.

As Avery drives away, she sees the gas station explode in a fireball—her final step to cover up evidence of Grace.

Avery returns her rented car in Illinois and gets into an Uber that will take her to her personal car. She explains the old Mazda she bought was a stolen vehicle, and that she left Calvin’s truck in Nebraska when she rented a car. The only souvenir she takes from the ranch is Calvin’s knife. Avery explains killing keeps her balanced: “Call me a magician, why don’t you? Serial killer has a nice ring to it. But I actually prefer just Avery” (286).

In Chicago, Avery pulls into her driveway and deletes her Grace Evans Airbnb account. She enters her house and sees her husband, Daniel, and two children, Margo and Jacob—who assume she returned from a relaxing retreat near Seattle. Margo, whom Avery believes resembles herself, asks to join a future retreat—and Avery says perhaps when she is old enough.