Beautiful Ugly

Back at the cabin, Grady finds an envelope on the desk. It contains an article Abby wrote about the #MeToo movement and women’s protests in London. Upset by the story, Grady is convinced something happened to Abby.

En route to the post office the next morning, Grady tells himself he can leave Amberly once Kitty approves his draft. He reflects on his career, nostalgic for when women showed him attention. He remembers the difficult start of his career and the time he almost slept with a fan to quell his disappointment over a failed book launch. However, he recalls, Abby showed up at his hotel, and they spent the night talking and having sex.

Grady mails his manuscript and stops at the pub for a drink. Inside, he meets one of the owners, Arabella King. Arabella doesn’t know about the ferry schedule but chats with Grady about the island, the local pottery shop, the hallucinogenic effects of bog myrtle tea, and Charles’s close relationship with Sandy. Grady panics when Arabella reveals that Sandy was Charles’s first reader. He leaves without finishing his beer, desperate to find Sandy.

Grady drives to the House on the Hill. Midge informs him Sandy is at Darkside Cave. When he returns to his car, he finds another article. It’s an obituary Abby wrote for Charles Whittaker, but the details are wrong. Confused, Grady speeds to Darkside Cave while replaying everything he’s learned. He sees the woman resembling Abby again when he approaches the cave but tells himself it’s just the tea.

Finally, he finds Sandy sitting in the cave. Drunk and emotional, she tells him the cave’s history. All of the island children died there years ago when their substitute teacher abandoned them to drink in the pub. The children were caught in the cave when the tide came in, filled it, and drowned them. Sandy’s daughter was one of the children. Grady empathizes, but Sandy insists he doesn’t know how she feels.

Grady changes the subject to Charles, asking about her friendship with him. Sandy confirms that she read all of Charles’s work, including his unpublished Book Ten manuscript. Grady leaves, leaving Sandy to be alone in the cave.

In the car, Grady eats some chips from the pub and opens the letter Cora gave him from Kitty. The letter warns Grady to be careful as the people on the island aren’t “who they say they are” (190). Unnerved, Grady is speeding through the mist when he hits a woman. He gets out of the car and is shocked to see that it’s Abby.

Grady is relieved he didn’t kill Abby but horrified that she doesn’t recognize him. He tries convincing her he’s her husband but then realizes she might have amnesia. He gives her a ride to Dead End Bay where she runs the Beautiful Ugly pottery studio—coincidentally, the business that Grady titled his manuscript after.

Inside the studio, Grady tries to process what’s happening. The woman looks just like Abby but introduces herself as Aubrey Fairlight.

Abby makes Grady some tea and shows him around the studio. She gives him a shop pamphlet and tells him about the ring she’s wearing. Everyone in the Isle of Amberly Trust wears the same ring, which he’s noticed on Arabella’s, Sandy’s, and Cora’s fingers. Abby also explains the inspiration behind her shop’s name. Realizing the time, she insists she has to get home to her partner. Grady can’t believe she’s remarried.

A week before her disappearance, Abby continues discussing her marriage with the therapist. She admits that she’s afraid to leave her husband, explaining how untrustworthy he can be. She recalls the time they were refurbishing their house, and the builders found evidence of “an ancient custom called ‘the buried lovers’” under the foundation (212). She begged Grady to leave it in place lest they curse their marriage, but Grady went behind her back and had the builders remove it. Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she tells the therapist if she left Grady, she’d return to the only place that feels like home, the Isle of Amberly.

Now, Abby gets a call on her walkie-talkie that Sandy is missing, and Grady offers to drive her into town. On the way, she tells Grady about her partner, Travers Fairlight. They go to see Midge, who asks Grady if he went to Darkside Cave. He lies and says he was on his way when he hit Abby.

While Abby is settling Midge, Grady notices the sisters’ photographs for the first time. He’s shocked to see childhood photos of Abby with another little girl who he guesses is Sandy’s late daughter. Then he sees Abby’s wedding photo from the year before. Everyone on the island was there. Confused, Grady leaves. He runs into the old woman from the cemetery who again warns him to leave the island.

Back at his cabin, Grady drinks while going over his situation. He can’t understand what he’s learned and wonders why Abby didn’t tell him about her life on the island. Then he wonders if he’s imagined everything. He opens the Beautiful Ugly pamphlet, discovering the picture of the owner isn’t Abby at all.

Grady falls asleep with the walkie-talkie he took from the women. He wakes to crackling on the line and then realizes it’s the sound of someone breathing under the bed. A figure emerges with branches for arms. Grady screams, and the figure disappears. He comforts himself it was a dream but then discovers that the front door is wide open.