Woman Down

The next night, it is storming when Mari comes over. They talk about how bad the wind and rain are. Petra’s phone rings, and Saint asks if he can come over, calling her “Reya,” which disappoints Petra. However, she agrees, promising to cook him dinner. When she hangs up, Mari makes a joke about their relationship and promises to give Petra her chicken recipe.

Petra goes to the grocery store to buy something for dinner. When she sees a rack of newspapers, she decides to see if she can find information about the accident that happened the night she met Saint. She finds that the town only publishes a paper once a month, and the most recent one is from a few days after the accident. However, when Petra scans through it, she doesn’t find anything.

At the checkout, Petra asks the clerk if they have any of the old papers or if a new one will be printed soon. He admits that he doesn’t know, then asks what she’s looking for. Petra explains about the accident, but the clerk is adamant that there has not been a recent police chase or death by suicide, and certainly not up by the lake. 

At that moment, Louie comes in. Petra asks him about it, mentioning that Louie talked to the detectives that night, but he is adamant he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. He also explains that they don’t have detectives in their town. Petra pulls up a picture of Saint on her phone, but Louie doesn’t recognize him. The clerk acknowledges that he has seen the guy a few times but only in the store and only recently. Louie is certain that he doesn’t live or work in the area.

Mind reeling, Petra leaves the store as Louie calls after her. She is certain that Louie must be wrong because the alternative is too chilling. She decides that she needs to speak with Mari.

Petra goes directly to Mari’s house, calling her name and pounding on her door. She asks Mari about Saint, and Mari reassures her that he is real and that the accident happened. However, when Louie returns home, Mari tries to get her to stop talking about it and usher Petra out the door. Instead, Petra brings it up to Louie again. Louie angrily scolds Mari, telling her that he doesn’t want to be part of her “stunt,” and goes inside.

Alone with Mari, Petra demands to know the truth. Mari explains that, on the night of the alleged accident, she found Saint in the road putting up fake lights on one of the trees. She confronted him, and he explained that he knew Petra and was trying to help her write better by creating a fake crime scene. He assured Mari that Petra knew about it. Although Mari was hesitant, she accepted his story when he paid her money. Mari argues that, since Petra is also an artist, she should understand that Mari took it as an acting job she was being paid for. After that, when Petra kept seeing Saint, Mari assumed that her lying did no harm.

Despite Mari’s explanation, Petra is adamant that Mari took advantage of her and helped Saint do the same. She doesn’t accept Mari’s apology; instead, she demands that Mari give her a refund for the cottage and storms out the door.

Back at the cabin, Petra searches the internet for information about Saint. She discovers that his real name is Eric Kingston. She pays for a background check that reveals he is a screenwriter from Los Angeles. 

Petra is devastated and begins packing her bags. She realizes that she endangered her life and her family’s lives. However, when she turns back to the computer a few moments later, she finds Saint standing there looking at the screen. He gently closes the laptop and turns to her. Petra yells at him angrily, but he responds that she lied, too. He explains that he heard her live stream from the cabin on her second night. She told her viewers that she wanted to experience what her characters went through, so Saint devised his plan to help her do that. He crosses the room and whispers to Petra that they are the same, and she liked everything she did with him.

As Petra protests, she struggles with her mixed feelings: She is desperately afraid of him yet still attracted to him. She realizes that she is spiraling “down, down, down” to a “new low,” and thinks that “Woman Down” would be the perfect title for her book (266). She asks Saint if he is going to tell Shephard, but he insists that he has no intention of harming her or ruining her life. He tells Petra that he wants her to dedicate her book to “Saint” and kisses her. Initially, she kisses him back. However, after a moment, she tells herself that she needs to get out of there and pulls away. She flees, grabbing her suitcase and car keys.

When Petra is safe in her car, she finally looks at the cabin again. Saint is “casually” standing there, watching her from the doorway. As she backs out of the driveway, he waves. Petra drives away from the house, sobbing and hoping that Saint will never contact her again.

Down the road, Petra’s phone rings. It is Shephard. He asks what’s wrong, and she tells him that she isn’t feeling well and is heading home early. He offers to make her soup, which makes Petra feel even more devastated for lying to him and jeopardizing their marriage. When she hangs up, she blocks Saint’s phone number. As she drives home, she continues to sob.

Several months later, Petra has finished her book and sent it to the publisher. She leaves for a book tour the next day. She has not heard from Saint since the night she left him at the cabin. 

In the bed next to her, Shephard finishes reading Woman Down. She is nervous about his response but appreciates that he is always brutally honest about her writing. He tells her that he loved it, and it might be the best book she has ever written. He then casually asks who Saint is, shocking Petra. However, he points out that she dedicated the book to him. Petra acknowledges to herself that she did so to appease Saint, afraid that if she didn’t, he would contact her. She lies to Shephard, telling him that one of her fans won a contest.

Shephard begins kissing Petra, and they have sex. She still feels guilty about what she did to him. At the same time, however, she thinks of Saint. She notes that she and Shephard have sex a lot lately; she welcomes it because she pretends that he is Saint every time.

Petra has her first signing for her new book at a bookstore. It begins with a Q&A session with fans. She is nervous going into it, but she is relieved when she sees that a lot of people there are excited about her book. The first person asks her about the movie, but she is prepared to answer it. She tells the audience that she trusted Allister, and the director knew more about movies than her, so she let them make the change. However, she regrets not fighting harder to keep Caleb in the movie. Her answer appeases the audience, making her relax even more.

The next person thanks Petra for going back to writing and not quitting. In response, she explains that she did, in fact, quit. She acknowledges that she lets the negativity get to her too much. She is willing to admit that fact, though, and will continue to work on it. She is fine with being “fallible,” as long as she finds a way to try again.

After a few more questions, Petra is shocked when she spots Saint in the audience. He stares intently at her, his hand raised to ask a question. When he gets the microphone, he asks where she gets her inspiration. Petra is furious at his audacity; she quickly answers that it can come from a variety of places and tries to get another question. Instead, Saint speaks again. He thanks her for her writing, insisting that she is an extremely good writer.

After the Q&A, Petra’s fans line up to get their books signed. Petra spots Saint partway down the line and does her best to ignore him. When it’s his turn, he asks her to make the signature out to “Saint.” Instead, she writes “Eric,” feeling as though it is a small form of revenge. When he asks her to write a message, she writes, “An absolute, complete and total stranger. May you have the life you deserve” (287), gives the book back, and dismisses him.

As the rest of the fans come through the line, Petra watches for Saint. She sees him at the door, about to leave, but he stops and begins talking to Nora. After a few more signatures, she requests a break and goes searching for Nora.

Petra finds Nora and Saint talking casually in the parking lot near his car. When she approaches them, they both look “guilty.” Petra demands to know what they’re doing. Nora admits that they are friends from college. After the live session, Nora and Saint talked, and they agreed that he should go to the cabin, pretending to be a cop, to inspire Petra. 

Saint interrupts, telling Petra that Nora only knows about his first visit to the cabin, promising that he didn’t say anything else. Nora says that she knows no more details and doesn’t want any more. Despite this, Petra angrily yells at them both, insisting that they put her life and her marriage in jeopardy. She dismisses Nora, wanting to talk to Saint alone.

After Nora is gone, Petra asks Saint why he’s there. He explains that he just wanted his book signed and wanted to see her. He promises that he is telling the truth, and Nora knows nothing about what happened. He apologizes, but Petra dismisses him, insisting that she never wants to see him again.

Back inside, Petra signs the rest of the books while Nora stands by her side. She is adamant that Nora betrayed her. At the end, Nora tries to apologize, but Petra ignores her. Internally, though, she admits that she is the one who decided to take things further with Saint and cheat on Shephard.

That night, Petra considers what happened. She realizes that she will forgive Nora eventually, but she is not ready to do so yet.

Petra pulls out her laptop and begins reading reviews on Goodreads for her book. She usually tries to avoid doing so, but she is desperate to know what her readers thought of Cam and Reya. As she reads them, she realizes that she is searching for a review from Saint, wondering if he has read the entire book yet.

A notification pops up in Petra’s email. It is from the rental company she uses to book her cabins. The email confirms her latest reservation, which is set for 21 days, beginning the following Friday. It is for the cabin she usually books, on the other side of the lake. She is confused as she never made the reservation and vowed to herself that she would never go back to the area.

A moment later, her email goes off again, and she receives an email from an address she recognizes. Afraid but also curious, she opens it. It reads, “I think it’s time we start working on your next book, Petra” (299).