Heartless

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and cursing.

Willa Grant’s summer at Wishing Well Ranch changes how she and Cade Eaton conceptualize the true meaning of home and belonging. Although Willa and Cade have very different family backgrounds and relationship histories, they are both searching for a secure and stable home life. Willa has spent her adult life thus far “managing [her] super successful brother’s bar. Or tagging along on [her] super successful parents’ vacations. Or just stumbling through life with zero sense of direction in a family full of overachievers” (14). For these reasons, she is now ready for something new and embraces her two months with Cade and his son, Luke, as an opportunity to rethink her options and reinvent herself. Meanwhile, Cade has spent his time since Luke’s birth and his ex-wife Talia’s abandonment trying to manage his family’s ranch; support his elderly father, Harvey, and his three siblings; and be a good father to his son. He loves his home and family, but he often feels overwhelmed when he tries to manage these responsibilities by himself. These facets of the protagonists’ personal lives capture their desire for a meaningful intimate relationship and sense of peace within their domestic lives.