Off to the Races
52 pages • 1-hour read
Elsie SilverOff to the Races
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Chapters 7-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, gender discrimination, and substance use.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Vaughn”
Vaughn wakes the next morning, still exhausted, and recognizes that this cycle of poor sleep has left him more abrasive than usual. He once found his public-relations role at Gold Rush Resources invigorating, but he now finds his efforts to restore Gold Rush Ranch “downright daunting.” He feels guilty over pestering Billie so intensely that she felt the need to confide in a horse. He vows to “extend some sort of olive branch” to her (72). Although he dislikes the idea, he reasons that keeping his business running smoothly is more important than protecting his pride.
Vaughn is astonished to see Billie sitting casually near Double Diablo despite the horse’s reputation. He heads to his office, but when he once again finds himself balking at drafting the press release, he brings Billie “a cup of peace-offering coffee” (74). As the two banter about DD’s name, Billie urges Vaughn to sit, noting that his anxiety is distressing DD.
Billie seems faintly melancholy, causing Vaughn to reflect that he finds her sarcasm easier to understand than her sincerity. They drink their coffee together, enjoying the quiet of the natural landscape—something that Vaughn hasn’t done in years. When Billie asks how he is doing, showing genuine interest, he is discomfited. He offhandedly claims to be fine and then quickly leaves before she can ask him anything else.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Billie”
Billie feels embarrassed about her interactions with Vaughn yesterday. She enjoys spending a quiet day with DD, periodically giving him treats to gain his trust. DD reacts snappishly toward the different ranch workers who introduce themselves to Billie, but she still finds the horse charming and thinks he has great potential as a racehorse.
A young groom named Violet Eaton introduces herself, and she and Billie joke about how few women there are in the horse-racing industry. Billie notes that DD likes Violet, and Violet echoes Billie’s confidence in the horse. Billie jokes with Violet about getting the younger woman out of her quiet shell. When Vaughn overhears, he teases her, and Billie offers a suggestive joke in return.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Billie”
Over the next week, Billie settles into a routine of working with Violet, Hank, and DD, but her relationship with Vaughn remains contentious. DD gradually grows more comfortable with allowing Billie to touch him. This evening, she plans to spend her time grooming DD, and she is annoyed when Vaughn interrupts to ask about her first week. They banter, and as Billie reports on her progress, she mentally reprimands herself for finding Vaughn attractive. When DD nudges her too forcefully, seeking a treat in her pocket, she nearly falls, but Vaughn catches her. His grasp puts them in a physically intimate position, which arouses them both. She teases him by making him think that she will give in to the attraction but then suddenly pushes him away. She immediately feels embarrassed, feeling that she “took this too far” (98). She quickly strides away, feigning confidence.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Vaughn”
Two weeks later, Vaughn is still thinking about the unexpected intimate moment with Billie, when he briefly believed that she might kiss him. He feels “completely fixated” on the challenge that she presents. He dislikes that Billie is disrupting his cherished self-control, and he reminds himself that having a sexual relationship with an employee would bring more scandal on his family, which they can ill afford. However, his mental admonishments to himself do little to quell his desire.
Despite his personal misgivings about Billie, Vaughn recognizes that her work is improving the horses immensely. He feels mixed irritation and admiration about the fact that Billie has remained perfectly professional around him ever since their embrace.
When Vaughn realizes that he can’t see DD in his paddock, he panics. He races to Billie’s cottage and sees her riding DD without a saddle. Vaughn’s haste upsets the horse, and DD rears. Billie gets the horse under control, to Vaughn’s relief. Instead of being apologetic, however, he chastises Billie for removing DD from his paddock without permission. Billie retorts that DD is still on Vaughn’s property and that she is working on her day off. When she accuses him of exhibiting “typical trust fund baby behavior” (108), Vaughn grows furious and storms away. A giggling Billie throws a horse treat at him, joking that this “seems to have brought DD around” (109). Despite himself, Vaughn laughs with her. He also agrees to her offer of a drink.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Billie”
Billie returns DD to his paddock and then sits with Vaughn, admiring his casual attire. She invites him into her house, gives him a beer, and then begins cooking dinner. She reflects that DD calmed quickly after Vaughn’s arrival, and she reads this as a sign that the horse is coming to trust her. Billie apologizes to Vaughn for her lack of professionalism in their early encounters and stresses that she loves working at Gold Rush Ranch. Vaughn apologizes in turn, and the two enjoy a peaceful dinner, during which they agree to be friends. This time, when Billie asks how Vaughn is doing, he admits to struggling. She offers him a hug and is startled at how natural the embrace feels.
Although the embrace is initially platonic, they both grow aroused. They share a chaste kiss but then quickly pull back and apologize to one another. Vaughn worries that he has taken advantage of his position as her boss, and although Billie assures him that he hasn’t, they agree to never kiss again. When Billie presses him, Vaughn admits to feeling overwhelmed by his emotions and the work of the ranch. He hopes to prove his grandfather innocent of fixing horse races. However, Billie counters that even if Dermot isn’t innocent, that doesn’t change Vaughn’s love for his grandfather. She advises Vaughn to disregard what other people say about how he “should” feel and begin to search for his own “threshold” for “how much [he] can forgive [and] accept” (124). She admits that she is still searching for this “threshold” herself, though she doesn’t offer any context.
Chapters 7-11 Analysis
In this section of the novel, Vaughn and Billie both struggle to rein in their delight in irritating one another, a dynamic that paradoxically contributes to their growing sexual and romantic attraction. Faced with the necessity of maintaining some semblance of professionalism, they both recognize that there are limits to their antics—as when Billie worries that flirtatiously implying that she plans to kiss Vaughn is going “too far.” Thus, Silver creates an anxiety-ridden, push-pull dynamic that reveals both protagonists to be empathic people at heart. Neither one of them wants to hurt the other’s feelings, and Vaughn’s growing respect for Billie’s work with DD shows that the novel’s early indication of an “enemies to lovers” romance is not entirely accurate. The two protagonists do not begin as genuine enemies, and they soon agree to be friends. However, this so-called friendship is fraught by their mutual attraction, foreshadowing additional hesitations and conflicts to come.
In accordance with her tendency to hone and polish long-standing romance tropes and conventions, Silver also offers a twist on the stereotypical “small town” romance. In Chapter 7, for example, Vaughn notes that he was thriving in his old job at his family’s mining company. This detail inverts the convention in many small-town romances, in which a character sees the small-town setting as a reprieve from a lucrative but oppressive city life. By turning this trope on its head, Silver presents Vaughn as someone who actively chooses his life on the ranch rather than using that life to avoid an untenable situation. This motivation remains consistent throughout the novel, even if his reasons for staying at the ranch shift from family obligations to a more personal desire to build a life and a family there with Billie.
Vaughn and Billie later have a crucial turning point in their relationship, not only when they decide to be friends but also when Billie advises Vaughn to move away from his all-or-nothing approach to his grandfather’s memory. Though Billie does not yet confide her personal history with The Struggle to Forgive Family Members, she offers Vaughn space to feel whatever emotions his grief inspires rather than fulfilling a perceived obligation to uphold a specific version of Dermot’s memory and reputation. Vaughn continues to consider this idea throughout the novel, but he finds Billie’s position a refreshing contrast to his family’s views, as they pressure him to react in certain ways to his grandfather’s death.
Billie’s first meeting with Violet Eaton, a young groom who helps train DD, allows Silver to explore the novel’s thematic focus on Overcoming Sexist Attitudes in Male-Dominated Fields. By sharing their experiences, the two women build an easy rapport that will ultimately advance their careers. For Violet, this budding friendship has a personal effect as well, as the benefit of a female colleague’s presence at the ranch helps the younger woman gain confidence. Although the friendship provides a valuable source of mutual support, the novel does not suggest that this bond negates the repercussions of workplace sexism, particularly when it intersects with issues of class and power—and with the role that the press has in shaping narratives.
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