Chapter 37: Hendrix – Can’t Get Enough
[Spoiler Notice: This page contains detailed discussion of Chapter 37 of Can’t Get Enough, including character choices and emotional revelations that are central to the middle of the book. Proceed only if you have read this far or don’t mind knowing what happens.]
Summary
Over a bowl of banana pudding, Hendrix sits at the kitchen table with Maverick’s father, Mr. Bell. Their easy conversation turns to her mother’s Alzheimer’s, and Mr. Bell shares the painful story of his own father-in-law’s decline—paranoia, refusal to eat, hospitalization. He apologizes for any fear he may have stirred, but Hendrix assures him she already understands the disease’s unpredictable cruelty. He asks about her upcoming six weeks caring for her mother while her aunt recovers. Hendrix admits the trip terrifies her and makes her feel helpless, a sensation she hates because she craves control. Mr. Bell offers quiet wisdom: true strength isn’t always about control; sometimes it’s about surrender and learning to ride a wave you can’t steer. When she asks how anyone can plan for such loss, he says the plan is love—the kind that stays no matter how hard it gets. Tears threaten, and Hendrix is struck by how vulnerable and safe the Bell men make her feel.
Maverick enters, immediately attuned to her mood. She deflects with more pudding, and he pulls her onto his lap while he eats. The lighthearted moment is edged with sexual tension, and Hendrix eventually retreats to the sink. Mr. Bell asks about their plans for her last night before she flies to Charlotte. Maverick says he isn’t ready for her to go but knows she’s going where she needs to be. He tells her to put on a pretty dress and trust him. His father jokingly warns that trusting Maverick is a mistake, but Hendrix silently realizes Maverick is one of the few men she does trust.
Key Events
- Intimate Kitchen Conversation: Hendrix and Mr. Bell talk over banana pudding, moving from childhood memories to the harsh realities of dementia care.
- Shared Family History: Mr. Bell recounts how his wife cared for her father through paranoia and hospitalization, offering a mirror to Hendrix’s future.
- Advice on Helplessness: He tells Hendrix that strength is not control but surrender and acceptance, and that the only useful plan is love.
- Maverick’s Entrance: Maverick reads the room immediately and folds Hendrix into a playful, possessive moment on his lap, lightening the heavy atmosphere.
- Last-Night Plans: Maverick promises a surprise for her final evening together, asking only for her trust—and a pretty dress.
- A Quiet Inner Realization: Despite Mr. Bell’s teasing, Hendrix privately acknowledges that Maverick has become a man she genuinely trusts.
Character Development
Hendrix This chapter reveals the emotional weight Hendrix carries beneath her fierce exterior. She openly acknowledges her fear of returning home, her dread of losing control, and her deep love for her mother. Her ability to be vulnerable with Mr. Bell—a man she barely knows—shows how starved she is for the kind of understanding the Bell family offers. When she sits on Maverick’s lap and later reflects on trust, she’s no longer the guarded woman who arrived; she is someone who can lean into discomfort and still recognize safety.
Mr. Bell Maverick’s father emerges as a wise, blunt, and deeply compassionate figure. He refuses to sugarcoat the reality of caregiving, yet his counsel never becomes harsh. His phrase “the plan is love” transforms a hopeless situation into a guiding principle. By validating Hendrix’s fear and then reframing it as an opportunity for growth, he gives her a new lens through which to see her upcoming trials.
Maverick Though his time on the page is brief, Maverick’s entrance reinforces the rhythms of their relationship: he sees her; he comforts without smothering; he teases with affection. The quiet command to “put on a pretty dress and trust me” is both a promise and a test of the intimacy they’ve built, and Hendrix’s internal admission of trust marks a turning point in how she views their connection.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Control versus Surrender The entire conversation orbits around Hendrix’s need to be “always in control.” Mr. Bell’s metaphor of the wave—something you cannot stop but can learn to ride—reframes surrender not as weakness but as a different kind of strength. This idea directly prepares Hendrix for the emotional chaos of caring for her mother.
Love as an Active Plan When Hendrix despairs of how to plan for the hardest thing she’ll ever face, Mr. Bell replies, “The plan is love.” The phrase becomes a motif for the chapter, suggesting that when circumstances strip away every practical strategy, the deliberate choice to stay, to show up, and to care is the only viable blueprint.
Banana Pudding / Domestic Comfort The homemade dessert functions as a small but telling symbol. It draws the three characters into a shared, comforting space and allows Hendrix to nurture others even while she grapples with her own heartache. The easy banter over food softens the harder truths being spoken.
Trust and Vulnerability Hendrix notes that the Bell men make her feel both vulnerable and safe—a contradiction that underscores her growing trust. The chapter’s final beat, where she thinks that Maverick is one of the few men she actually trusts, ties the theme of love-as-plan to the foundation of her relationship with him.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 37 is the emotional and thematic pivot before Hendrix leaves for Charlotte. It directly confronts her deepest fear—watching her mother decline—and offers her a new emotional framework to carry forward. Mr. Bell’s wisdom functions as the story’s thesis on caregiving: love is not a feeling but a sustained, difficult action. The chapter also cements Hendrix’s bond with Maverick’s family, showing that she’s not just dating a man but being folded into a lineage of people who understand hard things. The trust she finally admits to herself at the end recalibrates her relationship with Maverick from passionate to profound, making the impending separation even more poignant.
Study Questions and Answers
1. How does Mr. Bell use his own family’s history to guide Hendrix, and what effect does it have on her?
He tells the story of his wife caring for her father through paranoia and hospitalization to show Hendrix she isn’t alone in facing dementia’s unpredictable cruelty. Rather than frightening her, the honesty relieves her of isolation; she says his bluntness is one of her favorite things about him. The story also gives her a realistic preview of what may come, so she can confront her fear head-on.
2. What does Mr. Bell mean when he says “the plan is love,” and how does it answer Hendrix’s feeling of helplessness?
Hendrix is a planner who hates helplessness, and she can’t see how to map out a journey with no predictable path. Mr. Bell isn’t offering a logistical checklist; he’s offering a posture. “The plan is love” means that when you cannot control the disease, you can control your commitment to stay present and compassionate. Love becomes the strategy, replacing paralyzing fear with purposeful action.
3. Why is Hendrix’s private admission that she trusts Maverick significant at this point in the story?
Throughout her life, Hendrix has held tightly to control and self-reliance. Admitting trust in Maverick—especially after his father jokes that trusting him is a mistake—signals that she’s lowering her defenses not out of naivety but out of genuine recognition. It marks a shift from guarded attraction to a deeper emotional investment, making their imminent separation more weighty and her return to her mother’s care more vulnerable.