Jesse is a young college professor and widower who is dating a twenty-two year-old named Margaret. Margaret is a widow herself as well as one of Jesse's students. Jesse takes her to visit his family in rural Colorado. On the drive up to his grandfather's house, they quarrel, and Margaret says she regrets coming. From the car, the couple watches a solar eclipse. Around the same time, one of Jesse's hunting dogs has a fit of madness. Margaret wants Jesse to shoot it, because she thinks it has rabies, but Jesse says the dog will be alright. He waits for it to calm down and then puts it back in the car. It is night when they arrive at Jesse's grandfather's house. Margaret meets Jesse's grandfather Peyton and his wife Mary, a member of the Osage Nation. Shortly after, the rest of Jesse's family arrives. They bring ice cream and brandy. They sit out on the front lawn and eat while Peyton stays inside, since he has a tense relationship with the rest of the family. Margaret asks Jesse if she can go back home to Vermont, but Jesse insists that she stay. He also asks if she will marry him. Peyton calls Jesse into the house and gives him his grandmother's old wedding ring. Jesse gives this to Margaret. Margaret says she doesn't feel well and goes back to the car to get a sweater. The family hears a gunshot from the car, and Jesse goes to find Margaret, who has shot herself in the shoulder in an attempted suicide.