Crossroads

West is the story’s deuteragonist and a dynamic character whose growth is propelled by Indya, their relationship, and the changes she makes to the ranch. West is presented as an archetypal cowboy figure who is “rugged and handsome” (11), with stubble and a tan. He has a rugged appeal and portrays this archetype without becoming a superficial or objectified character. He is given his own voice in the first person, creating a multifaceted character while still maintaining some of the tropes of the romance genre. West is also highly stoic and tends not to outwardly express his emotions, but his thoughts often run wild as he attempts to conceal his anger, frustration, or sadness. Although he maintains a calm exterior, his thoughts often turn dramatic and intense: “He’d poured salt on the gaping, bleeding gash in my heart” (23). West’s dramatic nature also comes out in his sexual passion and his romance with Indya.

West is deeply attached to the ranch and to the Montana landscape: “It was as much a part of my body as my bones” (26). He has always intended to make it his home and hoped to take over the ranch one day, and because of Indya, that dream becomes a reality. West loves riding horses and working in the fields with the cattle, and when Indya arrives with the intention of changing everything, West initially feels threatened. He goes through a character shift as he processes his own grief and recognizes The Necessity of Accepting Change. After grieving the ranch as it was, he then reminds himself of his personal obligation to the ranch and commits to stay. Over time, West accepts that the changes implemented by Indya are necessary. Indya’s changes transform the ranch, providing Renewal Through Second Chances, and it becomes more successful than ever. Throughout the course of the novel, West struggles with tensions with his father, who kept control of the ranch to himself and who never informed West that he was selling it. Curtis’s actions cause West to have complicated feelings about the land that he always unconditionally considered his own: “Despite the reason we had this land, despite the taint of financial ruin, I’d build a house here too” (110).

West’s bond with Indya began when he was 10 and she was eight years old. West grew up on the ranch his family owned, and Indya would come there during the summer with her parents. At first, West wasn’t very interested in playing with Indya, but as the years went on and Indya kept returning, love was ignited between them. For Indya, West was a calming and reliable presence. He was always there and always strong. West’s parents divorced when he was 13, and going through that experience also brought him closer to Indya. West became deeply attracted to Indya and would secretly wait for her return each year. When she was there, he always felt like she belonged to him. When Indya comes back to the ranch in adulthood, West isn’t sure of her intentions at first but eventually learns that she was doing it all for him. He and Indya commit to their love and build a life together in the meadow that Indya’s father loved. They have three children together as they continue to run the ranch.

Indy’s parents are an integral part of her life, even in adulthood. They naturally shaped her worldview and her experiences growing up, and they are the reason why she came to the ranch and met West. While Indya was growing up, her mother was always preoccupied with taking care of Indya’s father, who had cancer. Her main concerns were ensuring that he got enough rest and took his pills, and Indya often hated how her parents seemed to always be talking about cancer. Indya’s relationship with her mother was strained, as her mother would often shoo her away from her father so that he could rest, and she sometimes judged Indya for being less “girly” than other girls her age. Her relationship with her father was more clearcut. Indya always jumped at the chance to spend time with her father, and although she was sometimes reluctant to come to Montana, she never regretted it in the end.

Indya spent much of her life adapting to her father’s needs and putting her own needs aside, and her father’s illness, in many ways, shaped the choices she made as a child and as an adult. Indya sought out West in part because she craved refuge from the stresses of her family life and the thought of her father dying. In adulthood, Indya felt obligated to take over her father’s company and was only able to let it go after knowing that she could be part of something else he loved instead: the ranch. Much of what Indya does for the ranch is for West, but it is also for her father, who loved the ranch and loved Montana. All of this relates to Indya’s experiences of grief and her recognition of The Necessity of Accepting Change.

Curtis is a minor character in the story who acts as a source of conflict and tension. He is West and Jax’s father and is largely defined by his secrecy, his stubbornness, and his alcohol dependency. His affair when West was growing up led to West’s parents’ divorce, as well as to the birth of Jax, West’s brother. Curtis is the owner of the ranch until he sells it to Indya, and because of Curtis’s poor judgment, the ranch is on the verge of bankruptcy. Curtis was taken advantage of by Courtney and bought land he couldn’t afford, and he refused to make necessary changes to the ranch to bring in more customers. Curtis also refused to let West take over or offer suggestions for improvement. As a result, the ranch has slowly been sliding toward financial ruin until Indya arrives to bring about Renewal Through Second Chances. Curtis struggles with change and goes through a period of serious resistance to all the changes happening around him. He has to experience the loss of the ranch he knew and embrace what it is becoming, recognizing The Necessity of Accepting Change. Curtis’s relationship with his sons remains strained as the novel ends.