When they reach Oklahoma, Estevan and Esperanza decide to spend an additional day with Taylor and Turtle while Taylor looks for Turtle's relatives. Taylor is experiencing internal and external conflicts. She is scared. A part of her doesn't want to find Turtle's relatives because they might want Turtle, but if she doesn't find them, she'll lose Turtle anyway. She has no choice. Because Taylor doesn't know what to expect and doesn't know what to think of the situation she finds herself in, she thinks about what is safe, secure, and predictable. She misses her old, beat-up car and Lou Ann. She misses home. When she finally locates the restaurant where she first received Turtle from Turtle's mysterious aunt, she courageously goes inside and soon realizes that finding any of Turtle's relatives will be impossible. She wishes that Lou Ann were with her, telling her not to give up hope. Ironically, she's now emotionally dependent on Lou Ann much like Lou Ann is on her. More and more, Taylor is realizing her need for and dependence on a sense of "home," which Lou Ann represents.
At the lush-green Lake o' the Cherokees, where the group takes a one-day vacation, Taylor realizes that she has adapted to the Arizona desert but still misses the green foliage and the mountains of her native Kentucky. However, note that she doesn't contemplate moving back to Kentucky; Tucson is now her home.
