45 pages • 1-hour read
Reckless
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Chapters 10-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Winter”
Winter wakes up to the sound of a dog barking outside her apartment. Irritated that the barking will wake Vivi, she races outside to confront the neighbor—shocked to find Rhett, Beau, and Jasper helping Theo move in next door. Winter lashes out at Theo. Beau insists she calm down as she barely knows Theo. Winter doesn’t respond as no one knows what happened between her and Theo. She races back inside to a wailing Vivi, sinks onto the floor, and bursts into tears.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Theo”
When Beau makes negative remarks about Winter, Rhett jumps to her defense. After Beau leaves, Rhett explains to Theo that Beau resents Winter for trying to get him therapeutic help when he returned from combat. Theo pets his dog Peter and asks Rhett what he knows about Winter. Rhett warns him not to get involved, as she’s a single mother to a nine-month-old; he says the baby’s father is a mystery. Theo is suddenly immobilized, realizing he could be Vivi’s dad. After Rhett leaves, Theo considers knocking on Winter’s door but ends up sitting on her step instead.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Winter”
Winter finds Theo sitting on her doorstep. She tries dismissing her instant attraction to him. Theo demands to know if he is her baby’s father. She reminds him of the messages she left and his response. Seeing his face, she realizes he really didn’t know she was pregnant. Then she leads him inside to show him a sleeping Vivi. Overwhelmed, Theo races to the bathroom to vomit. Winter understands this is all a surprise to him.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Theo”
Theo is overwhelmed by how much he has missed. He and Winter discuss what happened. Theo reveals that he got a new phone and number after they slept together. He gave his old phone to Geoff at Hamilton Elite, his management company that is also owned by Winter’s father. Theo asked Geoff to manage his social media and to inform him if he received any important texts. Geoff was the one texting Winter; he never gave her messages to Theo. He assures Winter he would’ve “been here every step of the way” if he’d known (133), and begs her to fill him in on everything that’s happened.
Unable to sleep that night, Theo calls Loretta and tells her about Winter and Vivi. Loretta is thrilled and expresses her excitement to meet them.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Winter”
Winter texts with Sloane about Theo. Sloane is surprised, but immediately takes Winter’s side.
The next morning, Theo brings Winter coffee. They talk about co-parenting—an arrangement Winter deems professional. They exchange numbers and Winter allows Theo to spend time with Vivi. Winter is overwhelmed whenever she witnesses them together, but she tells herself Theo only cares about Vivi, not her. Theo, however, insists that Winter has some rest and personal time. She takes a bath alone, entrusting Theo with Vivi.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Winter”
Winter gets out of the tub to find Theo lying on the couch beside a sleeping Vivi. Winter apologizes for surprising him with fatherhood, but he insists he is happy and wants to be in their lives. He also reminds Winter to value herself more. Winter is moved, but worries Theo has other children with other women. Theo assures her otherwise.
Winter muses on her and Theo’s relationship while taking a walk with Vivi. When she returns home, she finds Theo chatting with an attractive woman named Cindy on his doorstep. Cindy wants to reignite their old relationship, but Theo declines.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Theo”
Theo and Winter make plans to attend dinner at Wishing Well Ranch together. Tonight is the night they will tell everyone that Theo is Vivi’s father. On the way, a nervous Winter snaps at Theo about his relationship with Cindy. She insists he can’t be sleeping around while his daughter is living next door. Theo assures her he hasn’t had sex since their night together 18 months prior. At the ranch, Summer races outside to greet them.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Winter”
Winter, Theo, and Vivi have dinner with Cade, Willa, Sloane, Jasper, Summer, Rhett, and Harvey. Finally, Theo announces that he is Vivi’s father. Everyone is stunned. Harvey makes jokes about Winter and Theo’s first encounter, while Summer and Sloane express their support. Then Rhett accuses Winter of keeping secrets and using Theo; Theo comes to her defense. Summer asks how co-parenting is going. Winter assures everyone that she and Theo are the best business partners, a remark that makes Theo tense.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Theo”
Theo takes Rhett aside and confronts him for his unkindness toward Winter. He lists everything he likes about Winter and insists she deserves respect. Then he takes Winter and Vivi home. On the drive, Winter thanks Theo for defending her. Theo reminds her of how much love and respect she deserves. Winter reveals that her relationship with Vivi is the first time she’s felt real love. The two say goodnight and adjourn to their separate apartments. Theo wishes he could go home with Winter and Vivi.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Theo”
One night, Theo hears Vivi crying next door and stops over to check in on Winter. She insists she doesn’t need him, but he understands she “has no idea how to ask for help” (185). Finally, she lets Theo comfort and feed Vivi, admitting the squeaking door hinges woke her up. Sitting together afterward, Theo reminds Winter how invested he is, insisting they are more than business partners. When he helps Winter into bed, they share a passionate kiss. Theo wants to go further, but pulls away because he doesn’t want to overstep. He dismisses himself to the nursery to stay with Vivi.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Winter”
Winter wakes from a dream where Theo is married to a pretty blonde. She finds Peter curled up beside her. She stares at the ceiling, comparing herself to Theo’s dream wife and reminding herself he’d never be interested in her. She creeps into the nursery to check on Vivi, finding Theo asleep in the crib next to her. Her eyes well up.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Winter”
Winter goes to the gym to talk to Summer. She apologizes for the years of misunderstanding between them. The sisters discuss Kip and Marina’s tumultuous relationship and their family struggles. They hug and profess their love through tears. Then Willa and Sloane arrive to work out. The women show interest in Winter and Vivi. Summer insists Winter should work with a trainer to have some time to herself.
Winter grabs a coffee for Theo on her way home from the gym. She finds Theo singing to Vivi while dancing and cleaning. Then Theo shows Winter some papers that arrived; a panicked Winter admits they are bills that Rob is trying to make her pay. When they change the subject to Vivi, Theo informs Winter he is going to spend more time babysitting so she can have a manicure. After an afternoon out, Winter relieves Theo and takes over childcare. She feels happy and relaxed for the first time in months.
Chapters 10-21 Analysis
Winter’s extended stay in Chestnut Springs introduces the novel’s theme of Small-Town Community as a Place of Scrutiny and Support. Winter relocated to this Canadian ranching town after leaving her husband Rob Valentine in hopes of finding connectivity, support, renewal, and healing. Her self-liberation has not panned out as she expected, but in the months since becoming a mother, she has done her best to settle into “[her] new reality” (107). She has found a place to live, maintained a relationship with her new friend Sloane, and tried to keep things peaceful with her sister Summer. Despite these efforts at maintaining social stability, Winter’s secret about Vivi’s paternity threatens to disrupt her security and incite the townspeople’s scorn. Theo’s unexpected move into the apartment next door to Winter compels the characters into the same space and intensifies the narrative tension. This forced proximity trope is a narrative device which draws the truth about Winter and Theo’s relationship into the light—inspiring shock and judgment, support and love from the Chestnut Springs community.
The Eaton family dinner scene at Wishing Well Ranch captures the positive and negative aspects of small-town life. Ever since getting pregnant, Winter has received “a lot of support from everyone out here in Chestnut Springs” (125). However, despite helpfulness from people like Sloane, Summer, Willa, and Harvey, Winter is terrified of how her new friends will respond when they learn the truth about Vivi’s paternity. Her fears of owning and claiming the truth fuel the novel’s theme of The Tension Between Others’ Expectations and One’s Personal Desires. Before the miscommunication through text message, it was Winter’s hope that Theo would be a father to Vivi, and that she and Theo might even foster a romantic relationship. Now that Theo does know the truth and shows interest in her and Vivi, Winter finds reason to believe in a happier future for her child and herself. However, her outstanding fears over other people’s judgments threaten to compromise her happiness and security. At the family dinner, Winter feels conversationally and interpersonally caught between these competing emotions. On the one hand, she is glad when Theo makes the announcement to the table; finally everyone knows the truth and she can stop hiding and lying. On the other hand, Rhett’s judgmental remarks cause Winter’s self-confidence to falter. Her internal monologue during the scene conveys how others’ expectations continue to dictate how she sees herself:
There’s disbelief in [Rhett’s] voice but also accusation. Of course he’d think the worst of me. I might be sitting at the table with this family, but I’m not one of them. No matter what I do, they’ll always regard me with a hint of suspicion. […] I feel like an outsider (172-173).
On the outside, Winter presents herself as stoic, cold, and intolerant. On the inside, Winter is fragile, insecure, and self-doubting. She has learned to expect others’ ridicule. She is always looking for others to cut her down and to misread her intentions. Rhett’s accusations thus confirm Winter’s negative core beliefs about herself. It is easier for her to accept Rhett’s judgment than it is for her to accept love from those in her support system.
Theo’s ready investment in Winter and Vivi’s life reiterates the novel’s theme of The Transformative and Healing Power of Love. Winter repeatedly tells herself that Theo would never want to be with her, that he is too good for her, that he must be sleeping with countless other women, and that he only cares about Vivi, not her; this negative self-talk is a symptom of Winter’s insecurity. This insecurity exists because Winter is unaccustomed to receiving love. In one scene, she admits to Theo that “I’ve never loved anyone like [Vivi] before. And no one has loved me like Vivi does. It feels so foreign” (181). Because she is unfamiliar with unconditional love, Winter doubts Theo’s interest and investment in her life. She repeatedly questions his motives, insists she doesn’t need help, or reminds him she didn’t ask for his involvement. These behaviors convey the pain from which Winter still must heal. Theo is introducing her to a new form of connectivity; but she must confront her past wounds in order to accept Theo’s authentic love. The characters’ living and parenting arrangements offer Theo organic opportunities to demonstrate his care for Winter: he stops over with coffee, cleans her apartment, cares for Vivi, and arranges for Winter to spend time on her own. These loving gestures gradually soften Winter’s heart and teach her the transformative effects of genuine intimacy.
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