Done and Dusted

This section of the novel, in particular, foregrounds the theme of Not Letting the Past Define You and emphasizes the importance of second impressions as Sage shows how Luke and Emmy’s relationship begins to shift when they learn more about one another. Emmy’s conversation with her father in Chapter 9 shows how her first impressions of Luke were based on misunderstandings and rumors. She is so surprised to learn that he now owns The Devil’s Boot because of his careless reputation, but this is just the first shock to Emmy’s understanding of Luke Brooks. As she gets to know him better, Emmy starts to realize that her initial feelings about Luke prevented her from getting to know her better. She notes, “Before recently, the main thing I knew about Brooks was that he was always around. I used to get so jealous he got to be part of the Ryder Boys Club with my brothers and my dad, and he wasn’t even a Ryder,” finding it strange how “I’d known him nearly my entire life, but I didn’t actually know him” (77). Though the two become slightly more friendly once she returns to Meadowlark, Emmy’s entire perception of Luke changes once he helps her through her panic attack. From that point in Chapter 8, Emmy is forced to reconcile the Luke she thought she knew with the one who seems to care about her. Additionally, now that Emmy has felt her own feelings of placelessness and has worried about having somewhere to call home, her opinion of Luke changes with age and perspective. Similarly, Luke’s feelings about Emmy change, but perhaps more quickly. When she is separated from the other Ryders, and he sees she has lost her spark, Luke realizes that Emmy’s life is more complicated than he realized. As Luke and Emmy’s perspectives change, their romantic feelings toward one another shift simultaneously.

Done and Dusted is largely about second chances, not only regarding Emmy and Luke’s relationship. Emmy must experience Getting Back on the Horse both literally and figuratively as she navigates her life after her accident. Now that she has quit her job, Emmy is constantly reminded of the fact that she does not know what she will do next. When she hears about the rodeo coming to town, she tells those who ask that she doesn’t know whether or not she will compete, despite her passion for horse riding. This uncertainty shows how Emmy sees a clear difference between her love of horse riding and her career as a professional barrel racer, and she begins to untangle these two things through her riding lessons with Luke. During these lessons, Emmy begins to see how her accident did not make her a failure and does not prevent her from engaging in her passion, whatever it made her feel about her career. Luke’s insistence on going slowly and taking several days to even get on a horse shows Emmy that change takes time, an idea she begins to reconcile with her thoughts of the future. As she sees Luke’s dedication to the bar, Gus’s to the ranch, and Wes’s to his dream of a guest ranch, Emmy sees how things not only take time to change but also effort. Emmy must learn to literally get back on the horse to figure out what she wants out of her life and what she doesn’t.

As Emmy learns these critical lessons, all the pieces of her life begin to come together at once, and she starts getting more off her chest. She is able to tell Luke the full story of the fall and why it matters so much when they open up to one another at the waterfall. Not only does she share this with Luke, but Emmy finally begins to be honest with herself when she tells him, “I withdrew into my own head. My heart wasn’t in it, and I wasn’t riding to my level. If I was, I probably could’ve done something about the fall. Maybe not stop it completely, but I could’ve at least lessened the blow” (118), admitting something she never had before. Emmy comes to Meadowlark with no clue about what would happen next, but as she learns to ride again, she simultaneously learns more about herself, and things start to fall into place regarding her career, her mental health, and her love life. These realizations are part of the process of her Feeling at Home.