Don't Let Him In

In a flashback to four years ago, the first-person narrator describes his morning routine with his wife of four years. He is always careful to be attentive and loving, wanting to lull her suspicions until he is ready to leave her behind. He tells his wife that the financial advisor he has invented, “George,” wants a few thousand more pounds for their investments. When she resists the idea, he reminds her of the wonderful retirement they have planned, and she gives in.

In the present, a package arrives for Nina from Nick. It contains a copper Zippo lighter that he claims once belonged to Paddy. The note includes Nick’s email address, and a visibly moved Nina tells Ash she will write him a thank-you. Ash decides to keep the pretty pink box the lighter came in to store trinkets in.

She takes it to her room upstairs, where she can hear Nina on a Zoom call, managing the daily business of Paddy’s restaurants. She envies Arlo, who lives far away with friends and has a high-paying job. This is the life Ash once had, in London, but it “had nearly broken her” (20).

Four years earlier, the unnamed narrator realizes that his wife is looking tired and depressed. He proposes a small vacation. When she protests that they cannot afford it, he pretends to have come into a little money. She says that they should put the money toward one of their loans, but the next day, he presents her with a prepaid holiday to Lille, France. She does not know that he paid for it with the money she gave him for their fictional “investments.” She beams at him, and he is proud of his manipulation of her.

Now, Nick arrives for a date with Nina, bearing flowers. He pours everyone the champagne he has brought. Ash thinks about the email correspondence between her mother and Nick and how, after just a few months, it blossomed into a romance. Her mother seems to glow in Nick’s presence, but somehow she is unable to be happy for Nina.

Martha Grey, a florist in Kent, is irritated when her husband, Alistair, does not return home as expected. She asks her older son, Troy, to watch his toddler sister, Nala. She drives the short distance to her shop and unloads her delivery van for the evening. Her assistant, Millie, asks whether she is excited about her weekend plans to go to Normandy with Alistair.

Martha has not been away since Nala’s birth, and she is looking forward to the weekend. Alistair has an unpredictable work schedule that often keeps him away from home for days at a time, and he had to cancel a previously scheduled getaway. Martha worries that this trip, too, will end up getting canceled.

In the morning, Nick surprises Ash by walking into the living room wearing only a T-shirt and boxers. Uncomfortable with her anger about how casually Nick is moving into her father’s territory, she briefly considers escaping to her own room but decides the mature thing to do is stay. Nick comments on how the house’s seaside view and expansive space are worth a great deal of money. Ash asks where Nick lives, and he says he is temporarily renting a flat in Tooting. She is surprised that he is not living in a more fashionable area.

Four years earlier, the unnamed narrator describes deliberately following a young woman too closely in order to frighten her on one dark night. He is sexually aroused by her fear and his feeling of power. That night at dinner, he tells his wife Tara that he has to go to Edinburgh for work and will miss their drinks party this weekend. She is disappointed, as they rarely socialize, and she now feels that she has to cancel the gathering.

He quickly summons tears and reminds her that his hectic work schedule is the reason he wants them to make so many investments, so that he can retire, and they can be together all the time. He goes upstairs and takes his second phone from its hiding place. He texts Martha, his new girlfriend, to let her know that he can spend the weekend with her.

In the present, Nick spends the entire weekend at Nina’s house. After he leaves, Ash asks whether Nina finds it odd that Nick lives in Tooting, and Nina explains that he is having financial issues with his business. Ash is suddenly concerned that Nick is interested in Nina’s money, and she asks whether Nick has been married before. Nina’s answer—that he was engaged once but never married—doesn’t reassure Ash. When Nina mentions that his fiancé died, however, Ash reconsiders, thinking that perhaps Nick and her mother have more in common than she realized.

Later, when Ash is at work, she notices a pink box on her boss Marcelline’s desk; it is identical to the one Nick sent Paddy’s lighter in. When she asks Marcelline about the box, she learns that it once contained soaps, but Marcelline cannot remember where it came from.

When Alistair returns home on Monday, Martha is still angry about their canceled trip. He apologizes again for his last-minute business trip, blaming his ADHD for his disorganization. Martha suppresses her anger. Alistair trains staff at high-end restaurants, and she is keenly aware of how well he is treated when he travels. She does not want him to come home to an angry wife, a messy home, and all the annoyances that come with children—she is afraid he will decide that he could do better elsewhere.

Four years earlier, the first-person narrator reluctantly bids Martha goodbye after a pleasurable weekend. He finds her beautiful and comforting, qualities he no longer sees in his wife. When he gets home, Tara is waiting outside. She addresses him as “Jonathan” and says that the police are there.

The officers explain that two women have complained about someone matching his description following them. They have video from a doorbell camera that appears to show him following the women, but he disputes that it could possibly be him. They are still suspicious of him when they finally leave, and he senses that Tara has doubts. At dinner, Tara asks critical questions that make it clear she is beginning to realize how much “Jonathan” has been hiding from her. He begs her not to give up on him and to have faith in his love.

On her lunch break, Ash observes the people around her, who all seem to have their lives together in ways she does not. She wishes that she were surer that someday she will have a good job, a happy romantic relationship, and a home of her own. She realizes that when she moved away to London, she didn’t know who she was, “what she was capable of, how badly she could possibly mess everything up” (58). Now, she realizes that she is not “normal” and cannot necessarily expect normal things from her life. When Ash gets home, she snoops in her mother’s room. She finds a man’s gold wedding ring on the carpet next to the bed and slips it into her pocket.

On Monday morning, Martha notices that Alistair’s wedding ring is missing. He tells her that he thinks he left it in the hotel’s gym and has called them to look for it. She is dismayed but quickly forgets about it when the first snowflakes of the season begin to fall. She is lost in the pleasure of standing with her husband and baby, watching the falling snow.

Four years earlier, Nick notices that Tara’s adult daughter Emma has begun spending time at the house while he is out. He guesses that Tara and Emma are talking over Tara’s plans to leave him; he thinks that the marriage will only end when he decides it will end. He calls Martha to ask what she is doing, telling her that he cannot stop thinking about her. He puts some things in a backpack and slips out of the house.

In the present, Nina tells Ash that the ring she found was likely a memento that Nick carries from his relationship with the fiancée who died. Ash asks for Nina’s phone so that she can call Nick and tell him they have the ring; she wants to hear his explanation. Nina, however, insists that she will just message him.

In her bedroom, Martha finds her husband stashing the doctor’s bag he says he inherited from his father. His mood is strange, as if he has been caught doing something wrong, but she does not pursue it because they have been getting along well lately. He has been helping her with the store more, even taking over some deliveries.

When Alistair gets in the shower, however, her curiosity gets the better of her. She searches the bag. Just as she feels the outline of what she believes is a secret second phone, she hears the water shutting off and hurriedly returns the bag to its former position inside the wardrobe.

Four years earlier, Nick impulsively buys an expensive car to impress Martha and her sons. He has no idea how he will pay for it. It is now Saturday, and he has been absent from home without explanation for several days.

When he gets back home, he greets a furious Tara with flowers. He summons tears and tells her that he was overwhelmed by a fear that he was losing her. He claims that he is burnt out from work and fears he is having a breakdown. He says he has been driving aimlessly for days. He begs her to sell the house so that they can retire together somewhere peaceful. She tells him to leave.

In the present, Ash cautions Nina to be careful that Nick is not after her money. Nina laughs, insisting that Nick is a wealthy man despite the flat in Tooting and the troubles at the wine bar. Ash asks whether Nick ever mentions Jane Trevally, Paddy’s girlfriend before he met Nina. Nina says no. Ash has always been interested in her parents’ stories about the unfortunate but glamorous Jane: She feels a commonality with Jane, who was, when Paddy knew her, “Young. Lost. Troubled. Just like Ash” (83).

The next time Nick visits, Ash goes through his jacket pockets. She finds a dog poop bag and a strange plastic circle with a ladybug picture on it—later, she will learn that it is a device meant to secure a pacifier to a baby’s clothing.

Later, she asks Nick whether he has ever met Jane. When he says no, she finds it hard to believe, because she knows that Jane inserted herself into every part of Paddy’s life during the time Nick claims to have known Paddy.

When her husband does not return from yet another emergency business trip on time, Martha begins looking up hotels online, trying to find the Glasgow hotel where he claimed to have accidentally left his wedding ring on his previous trip. She finds no hotels with the features he has described.

When he returns home the next day, she demands to know whether he is having an affair. He seems to have an answer for everything, but she is not convinced. She asks the name of the Glasgow hotel. He names a hotel, and she tells him it does not match his description—it has no gym. He claims he never told her the hotel has a gym. Martha tries to tell herself that she is being too hard on him—that he has a lot of wonderful qualities, and she has to be more understanding.

Four years earlier, Nick is desperate to prevent Tara from throwing him out. His exit plans are not quite in place, and he will be left with nothing if she dissolves the marriage now. She finally agrees that he can go stay with a friend for a week and give her some space to reconsider her decision, but she warns him that she is unlikely to change her mind.

He thinks back over the history of his relationship with Tara, recalling how attracted they once were to each other. Just as with all his previous wives, he initially pretended to be wealthy. Once Tara was on the hook, he claimed to have been let down by bad financial advice and asked her to take out temporary loans so he could get back on his feet. He claims that each time, he genuinely intended to repay the loans, but at present, he is completely broke.

Now, Ash finds Jane’s Instagram page and messages her to ask whether she would be willing to meet. Ash travels to London to see her two days later. She is nervous about possibly running into former colleagues from the lifestyle magazine where she worked, particularly her ex-boss, Ritchie Lloyd.

Jane greets Ash warmly and confesses that Paddy was her great love. She admits that she behaved obsessively, and Ash says that her father told her about it when she herself was desperately in love with a colleague. Ash asks whether Jane remembers someone called Nick, but neither his name nor his picture is familiar to Jane.

Ash tells Jane about Nick sending Paddy’s lighter, but Jane tells her this cannot be right. The lighter cannot have been Paddy’s, because he always refused to carry one. Jane offers to have someone run a background check on Nick, and Ash gratefully accepts.

Four years earlier, Nick knocks on a door. A blonde woman answers; she is clearly shocked to see him. He clamps a hand over her mouth and pushes her inside. Once the woman begins to calm down, Nick takes his hand from her mouth. She gasps out the name she knows him by: “Damian.” The woman, Amanda, is shocked to see him because until this moment, she believed him to be dead.