50 pages • 1 hour read
Lyla SageLost and Lassoed
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 23-32Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 23 Summary: “Gus”
The following day, while they are alone in the kitchen, Gus asks Teddy if he can kiss her again. Teddy says yes, as long as he doesn’t walk away from her like seven years ago. Gus sweetly kisses her, holding himself back from going too far, and confirms that he does have feelings for her. This kiss is different than the last time because he knows Teddy better now. He leaves for work and assures her that he’s not walking away.
Gus arrives to help Emmy, Wes, and Brooks gather the horses for their vet check. Amos adopts elderly horses that no one wants and lets them live out the rest of their lives at Rebel Blue. Gus admires the practice and hopes to continue it and maybe expand the ranch to be a horse sanctuary. Jake, the vet, arrives, and Gus scoffs at a vet who has a truck and is wearing cowboy boots. Teddy arrives hand in hand with Riley, and seeing her again after their kiss makes Gus’s heart pound. Teddy is there to see a horse named Maverick and feed it Twizzlers, its favorite treat. She flirts with Jake, and Gus becomes jealous. Emmy notices his jealousy and says that Teddy and Jake once had a “friends with benefits” arrangement. Emmy jokes that Teddy living with Gus is helping them get along, and Gus lies and says they’re not.
Chapter 24 Summary: “Teddy”
Gus is acting strange and not speaking to Teddy much, making her worry that this is a repeat of last time. Teddy spends the day helping Ada repurpose the old newspapers as decorations at the Devil’s Boot. Ada is an interior designer that Wes hired to help with Baby Blue. The couple fell in love, and though Teddy hasn’t spent much time with Ada, she likes her a lot, especially since they’re both creatives. Without naming Gus, Teddy asks Ada for relationship advice. Ada wonders why Teddy hasn’t told Emmy about this mystery man, but Teddy is still figuring out how to broach the subject with her. Ada says that any man would be crazy not to fall for Teddy. Brooks interrupts, arriving with lunch. Brooks is anxious about reopening the bar because now it belongs to him. Teddy understands his anxiety over stepping into the unknown. She agrees to help him plan an event celebrating the bar’s reopening.
Chapter 25 Summary: “Teddy”
As Gus continues to avoid Teddy, she finds that she misses his attention. She texts Emmy and asks what is wrong with Gus. Emmy says that he was annoyed seeing her flirt with the vet, Jake. Teddy admits that she was flirting, but only so that Jake would take good care of Maverick. Teddy confronts Gus and barges into his room, demanding that he explain why he’s avoiding her. Gus is caught off guard shirtless, and Teddy sees that he has tattoos she never knew about. Teddy describes her frustration that he kissed her and is pretending it didn’t happen. Gus says that he didn’t like seeing her flirt with Jake. Gus kisses her and waits for her to make the next move. Teddy grabs him and kisses him passionately. They have sex, and before falling asleep together, they both admit that they like each other but aren’t sure what it means.
Chapter 26 Summary: “Gus”
Gus’s phone wakes him up, and it’s his father calling to tell him that Hank had a heart attack. He will recover but is in the hospital. Gus wakes up Teddy and gives her the news. Teddy is shocked and emotionless, and it hurts Gus that he doesn’t know how to help her. Wes arrives to stay with Riley, and Gus takes Teddy to the hospital. The car ride is silent, and Gus hates himself for not knowing what to say or do because he wants to be a support for Teddy. Amos is with Hank in the hospital room and comforts Teddy when she expresses guilt for not being there when it happened. Gus is surprised to see how frail Hank looks. Amos offers to call Emmy, but Gus says that he will stay with Teddy.
Chapter 27 Summary: “Teddy”
While Teddy watches her father in the hospital bed, she thinks of his life. Hank once was a drummer for a rock band and traveled the world on tour. Teddy’s mother, Evelyn Jones, was a band groupie. When she showed up in Chicago with baby Teddy and said she couldn’t raise a child, Hank took the baby, named her after one of his favorite jazz musicians, and moved to Meadowlark, a town he’d once visited on tour and knew he loved. Amos, who by then was raising his three children alone because his wife, Stella, had died, hired Hank and took him and Teddy in to live on the ranch. Teddy has never missed not having a mother, knowing that “because of [Hank], [her] life [i]s full” (197). Over the last few years, Hank has had many health scares, and Teddy has become more of a caregiver than a daughter, a job she doesn’t mind because Hank gave up so much to care for her. She crawls into the hospital bed with him and tries to swallow the guilt of not being there for him when he needed her.
Chapter 28 Summary: “Gus”
Gus and Amos wait in the waiting room. Gus texts Wes, who wants to know if Amos is doing the “nose scrunch thing,” which is how Amos shows emotion. Gus falls asleep until Emmy arrives with breakfast and personal items for Hank and Teddy. They go to Hank’s room and share the food. Emmy notices that Gus and Teddy are getting along better, and Gus hopes she doesn’t figure out what’s happening. Amos returns to deliver the nurse’s orders that everyone disperse, and Gus notices that seeing them all together makes his nose scrunch. Hank needs his rest, so Emmy offers to stay with Hank, and Gus eagerly offers to take Teddy home.
Chapter 29 Summary: “Teddy”
Gus takes Teddy back to his house and carries her inside. She vocalizes the mantra she’s been hearing in her head, “Don’t cry, Teddy” (208), but Gus tells her that it’s okay to cry with him. Gus starts the shower and tenderly removes Teddy’s clothes. He gets into the shower with her, massages her shoulders, and washes her hair. Afterward, they lie in bed together, and Teddy finally lets the tears flow while Gus holds her.
Chapter 30 Summary: “Teddy”
Hank is home from the hospital with a new heart-healthy eating plan, and Teddy takes a few days off from Gus’s to be with him. She uses the time to think about what she will do once the summer ends. Dusty and Aggie arrive with dinner. Dusty asks if Teddy is okay, and she shrugs it off. She explains that everyone has always viewed her as resilient, and she wonders what would happen if, for once, she wasn’t okay. Teddy has always been tough, but she’s unsure how much more she can take after losing her job and Hank’s health scare. Aggie asks about Cam, which perks Dusty’s ears, and Teddy can tell that he’s annoyed that his mother is poking for information for him. Teddy enjoys the company, but she misses Gus and Riley.
Chapter 31 Summary: “Gus”
Cam calls via Facetime, and Riley shows her a card she made Hank, which features a drawing of Gus and Teddy holding hands. After Riley leaves the call, Gus tells Cam that it could be something he wants, though he’s already told himself that he wants “it all.” Cam knows it must be serious because he’s not dated recently, and she says that she’s happy for Gus. Gus and Riley deliver the card to Hank and Teddy’s house. Gus brings his tools to repair the washing machine.
When they arrive, Teddy is mowing the yard outside, and Gus longs to touch her again. Seeing her with Riley melts his heart, and he wants that to be a permanent feeling. Hank loves Riley’s glittery card and notices the drawing but says nothing. Hank takes Riley to play his drum set while Gus and Teddy go to the laundry room. Gus steals a kiss, and Teddy kisses him back. He can tell how exhausted she is from caring for her father. Cradling her in his embrace, Gus knows that he never wants to be apart from Teddy.
Chapter 32 Summary: “Gus”
Gus repairs Hank and Teddy’s washing machine. He follows the sounds of music to the garage, where Hank is playing guitar and Riley is banging the drums while Teddy watches gleefully. Teddy takes over on the drums and does a duet with her father while Gus and Riley dance. Gus commits the moment to memory, knowing that it’s an image he’ll never forget.
Chapters 23-32 Analysis
In this section, Teddy’s initial insecurities about living with Gus are gradually replaced by a sense of belonging as she becomes a part of the rhythms of their household. As she settles into her new role, Teddy grows more confident and grounded. Caring for Riley builds Teddy’s confidence and deepens her relationship with Gus, as living together forces intimacy as they share space and responsibilities. As Teddy proves her reliability and affection for Riley, Gus trusts and opens up to her, bridging the emotional gap between them. Sage positions Riley as a unifying force for Gus and Teddy. Her innocent perspective and need for stability highlight the stakes of their relationship. When Riley draws a picture of them holding hands, she gives away their growing attraction and makes them realize how perceptive she is. Gus begins to see Teddy not just as Riley’s caregiver but as a part of his family and an important figure in his daughter’s life. The evolving dynamic between Gus, Teddy, and Riley emphasizes the joy of found family and reveals how love and commitment can create bonds that transcend biological ties.
As caregivers, Gus and Teddy have more in common than they first realize, emphasizing the Evolution of Relationships in Adulthood. Now that they are older, Teddy no longer sees Gus as her best friend’s older brother, and Gus finds himself able to see Teddy as a devoted daughter and caregiver for Hank as well as a safe and creative presence in Riley’s life. This emotional security makes their eventual physical connection more meaningful, grounding it in their growing trust. Their interactions become increasingly intimate, signaling the transition from enemies, to a partnership of convenience, to a more intense emotional connection, and, eventually, to lovers. As a rancher, Gus struggles to express his feelings and let someone into his life. Moving toward physical intimacy signals his acceptance of Teddy as someone he can trust with both his body and heart. For Teddy, intimacy involves overcoming fears of Gus’s past rejection and finding her place in his world with Riley. While passion drives their initial moment of physical intimacy, the narrative emphasizes the comfort and safety they feel with one another, reinforcing the depth of their connection. Gus and Teddy’s journey toward physical intimacy reflects their willingness to overcome fears, trust each other, and embrace the possibility of love despite past challenges—all elements that define their romantic arc. They both recognize their growing relationship as building a foundation for a family.
Gus’s role as a single father adds to the story’s emotional stakes. His dedication to his child and ranch responsibilities drives his initial hesitation to let someone new into their lives, creating obstacles to the romance. However, he realizes that having Teddy around makes him a better father by relieving some of the weight of being a sole caregiver and teaching him the value of emotional support. For Gus, Rebel Blue Ranch symbolizes his past, present, and future, but recently, he has placed too much pressure on himself to carry on his father’s legacy.
Sage depicts Gus as steadfastly independent and self-reliant, viewing the ranch as an extension of himself. At the beginning of his arc, he believes that he must shoulder all the work and responsibility alone. Teddy’s arrival challenges this mindset and prompts him to reevaluate his ranch work and how he approaches life, relationships, and his role as a father. The ranch’s demands consume Gus so much that he struggles to balance his work with quality time for Riley. Teddy helps lighten the load at home, which allows Gus to take a step back and focus on what truly matters. By trusting Teddy to handle tasks at home, Gus learns that he doesn’t have to control every aspect of the ranch. This realization is liberating and enables him to balance his responsibilities more effectively and appreciate Rebel Blue Ranch’s beauty. Ranching life, Sage suggests, is hard work, but Amos shows Gus what it means to prioritize what truly matters when he takes time to sit with Hank in the hospital. Seeing Amos’s example, Gus delegates some of his responsibilities to others so that he can support Teddy while she cares for Hank.
Just as Teddy finds Redemption Through Responsibility in Gus’s eyes as he observes her caring for Riley and Hank, Gus finds his own redemption by supporting Teddy through her father’s recovery, which teaches him that life is more than grinding himself into the ground with ranch work. He learns that responsibility also means showing care for the people you love. Teddy introduces Gus to a more holistic understanding of his responsibilities. Beyond providing for his child or carrying on Amos’s work and legacy, he realizes the importance of family, connection, and emotional health.
