51 pages • 1 hour read
Something Wilder
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Chapters 13-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary
Leo wakes up the next morning and lies in his tent listening to Lily and Nicole chat outside. They’re discussing the treasure hunt, Duke’s intentions, and what they’d do with the money. Lily admits that finding the treasure could help her get the ranch. Nicole teases that the hunt would also let her spend more time with Leo. Lily shuts down the conversation, but Leo feels flattered hearing them mention him. He realizes he hasn’t stopped wanting Lily and that being away from New York has felt good.
Leo joins Lily outside and they talk about Duke. Lily explains that Duke had a stroke shortly after Leo left Wyoming. He stayed alive for three more years, during which time Lily cared for him. The only thing he could say in the years before his death was Lily’s name. She admits that she’s hurt he didn’t make a better effort to get Leo’s messages to her and that she feels frustrated he found the money and hid it from her. Leo agrees that the situation is difficult, but reiterates how glad he is to see her again. Lily seconds his thoughts, confessing how hard it was to get over him. Moved, Leo promises to help Lily in whatever way she needs. He momentarily considers offering to help her get the ranch. The conversation shifts to what they want for themselves and they agree they each have things they’re still figuring out about their futures. They eventually redirect their attention to the treasure and agree to go about the hunt as planned.
Chapter 14 Summary
The group convenes for breakfast and talks about Terry’s death. They discuss their plans and head back onto the trail. Lily drives them to Ely, a town Duke used to frequent. She thinks Duke’s old friend Lucky might be able to help them. Everyone is surprised when they arrive in Ely, a tiny rural town. They find Lucky’s bar and settle in for drinks. While Lily and Nicole study their map and Duke’s journal, Leo realizes how much he wants to be with Lily. They pull out Duke’s riddle again, and decide that Duke must be directing them to the Green River further in the Canyonlands.
Lily gets up to think. Leo watches her stand by the jukebox. Feeling jealous when the bartender joins her, Leo dismisses himself to the bathroom. He’s shocked to find a photo of Duke near a tree hanging above the urinal. He realizes the tree is the tree stump Duke mentioned in his riddle.
Chapter 15 Summary
Lily looks up to see Leo emerging from the bathroom with something hidden under his shirt. He throws some money on the table and tells the group they have to leave. He takes Lily’s car keys and throws them to Bradley. Outside, they jump in the car and Bradley speeds away. Leo reveals the photo, explaining what he found. Leo puts his head triumphantly out the window, and exclaims at how good he feels. The group is thrilled until they see another car speeding up behind them. It’s the bartender Axl and his friend. They start shooting at Leo and Lily’s group, finally swerving into a ditch and giving up. After they lose Axl, Lily notices how happy Leo seems.
Chapter 16 Summary
That night, the group finds a new campsite. Around the fire, Lily makes her companions promise they’ll listen to her as they continue their adventure the next day. She’s deduced that the tree in the photo with Duke is at a cabin he frequented throughout her childhood. She plans to lead them there. After the group disperses for the night, Leo tries helping Lily set up her tent. Annoyed, Lily insists that he stop. She argues that they don’t have a future but Leo insists he still has feelings for her. He turns to leave, but Lily grabs his arm and they share a passionate kiss just as it starts to rain. Suddenly aware of what she’s doing, Lily pulls away, cursing, and returns to camp.
Chapter 17 Summary
In the morning, Lily studies the damage from the storm. She also tries to dry out her wet clothing and gear. Nicole joins her and they chat about what happened with Leo and the next leg of their adventure. They agree that they’d use the money to buy the ranch and adjoining land for Nicole. When Leo surfaces, Nicole dismisses herself. Leo brings up their kiss, but Lily insists they’re “not teenagers anymore” and need to focus on their mission (191). Leo agrees and asks a few questions about what to expect when they get to the cabin.
After breakfast, the group heads out on the trail on foot. They’re chatting until Walter slips and breaks his foot. Lily and Nicole agree that they’ll have to give up their mission and return home. Bradley insists they can’t give up and suggests that he and Lily go ahead. The group considers the plan. Lily finally decides that she and Leo should go ahead while Nicole, Walter, and Bradley return home. They can get Walter medical attention and tell the authorities Terry is missing. Bradley gets upset, but Lily explains that only she and Leo can read the maps and decipher the codes. Everyone finally agrees to the plan, and they promise to get back in touch via a satellite phone in a few days.
Chapter 18 Summary
The group heads back to the camp where they left the car. Meanwhile, Leo starts to worry about what lies ahead. A lot has happened on the trip already that he hadn’t expected. Before Walter, Nicole, and Bradley head out, Bradley confronts Leo about focusing on the mission, warning him not to let Lily distract him.
Later, Lily and Leo resume their journey. They’re quiet for some time. When they finally start talking, Leo tells Lily more about his life in New York. He admits that he’s up for a promotion at work but feels reluctant to return to the city now that he’s away and Cora is going to college. They continue chatting about the future until Leo slips and falls. Lily races to where he landed, terrified that he’s dead. Leo assures her he’s alright and they continue walking.
Chapter 13-18 Analysis
The stakes of Lily and Leo’s relationship begin to change the more time that they spend together. Because Something Wilder is a contemporary romance novel, the narrative relies on tropes to develop its plot. In particular, the narrative employs the second-chance romance and the forced proximity tropes. Indeed, Lily and Leo are reuniting in the narrative present 10 years after they first fell in love and broke up. Their circumstances in the present are unprecedented, in that they must spend a protracted amount of time together, too. Their physical, geographical, and situational contexts therefore compel them together and force them to work out their differences. These dynamics particularly develop the novel’s explorations of Love, Trust, and Forgiveness and Reconciling the Past and Present.
These chapters use Lily and Leo’s intimate conversations and interactions to develop their relationship and heighten the narrative tension. In Chapter 13, for example, Leo “shamelessly eavesdrop[s]” on Lily and Nicole’s conversation and resumes his dialogue with Lily about her dad (148). Then in Chapters 14 and 15, Leo and Lily study one another while they’re both visiting and driving out of Ely: These observations grant access to the characters’ interior worlds and reveal how their feelings for each other are evolving the more time they spend in one another’s company. In Chapter 16, Leo and Lily share another intimate interaction once their companions have gone to bed—a dialogue that leads to them kissing and develops a new physical intimacy for their characters in the present. Then in Chapter 17, the protagonists confront one another about the kiss and their complicated feelings for each other. Finally, in Chapter 18, Lily and Leo are forced out onto the trail alone together. Each of these plot points usher Lily and Leo along The Journey Toward Self-Discovery and challenge them to embrace Love, Trust, and Forgiveness.
Lily and Leo’s intimate interactions also reveal new truths about each of their characters, capture their distinct emotional challenges, and provide insight into their individual personal growth journeys. Although there is sustained tension between them, Lily and Leo feel at ease when they’re talking to each other. For example, in Chapter 13, Lily opens up to Leo about Duke’s stroke, his illness, and his death. She also describes her emotional reactions to these experiences, which imply that Lily still unconsciously trusts Leo despite her hesitation in his presence. Lily’s openness in this scene in turn creates room for Leo to be vulnerable too:
Losing a parent you’re close to […] However it happens. I know how close you and your mother were. Taking care of him was hard, and I’m sure he and I both regretted a lot by the end, but Duke didn’t even know me well enough to know how much you meant to me. I’ve been thinking: He could have gotten your message to me if he’d really tried. It may not have changed anything, but at least I would have known what happened to you (151).
Lily’s tone is candid and open. She is using plain language to convey how she feels. She doesn’t withhold her emotions surrounding her relationship with her father, which in turn creates a conversational opening for her to speak about her feelings regarding Leo and their relationship. These aspects of the characters’ dialogue show that Lily is an empathetic and thoughtful, reflective and loving person. Furthermore, Lily’s positive traits in this section encourage Leo to likewise open up about his difficult past. The characters use conversation to foster Love, Trust, and Forgiveness. These dialogues also suggest that open, vulnerable conversations are a way of Reconciling the Past and Present and discovering new truths about oneself. The more Lily and Leo share time, space, and dialogue with each other, the closer they are to reimagining and reinventing their former, youthful love affair.
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