Julian Junk was often teased about his last name and his father's occupation as a garbageman. Mackensie Keller grew up privileged and spoiled. As teens, Junk and Mickey make plans for their future, but when Mickey is sent off to boarding school, he tells Junk their parents are probably right -- they just don't belong together.<br><br>Back in town ten years later, Mickey is all grown up. He and Junk reconnect as adults, but so much was said, and so much has changed. Though he asks for forgiveness, which Junk grants, though old romantic feelings are quickly rekindled, Mickey is reluctant to bring a new man into his young daughter's life after his last relationship's failure. He's also harboring a secret, one that threatens to spoil upcoming Thanksgiving plans.<br><br>Once Junk discovers the source of Mickey's dilemma, he devises a crafty plan to make everything right. Will it work out? Will Mickey accept his help, and can the two of them make a go of it with so much stacked against them?

One Man's Junk

“We’re going to be in a parade,” Violet told me after winning the first game.


“Thanksgibbing.” Hand over my heart, I had to repeat it just as she’d said it. “That’s my favorite holiday. Me and Pops have pumpkin pie.”


“I like pumpkin pie. Daddy and I are going to ride our horses behind Snoopy this year.”


Noting how Violet spoke English better than I, “That’s way cool,” me said.


My heart didn’t know how to feel. Did Violet want to go but couldn’t, now, or was she sort of on the fence, nervous, like she’d been about spending the night at Aunt Daphne’s?


“Yeah. It sucks,” Mickey said later, once Violet was tucked in and he and I sat down alone in his living room. “I think, knowing how nervous she is about it, back and forth, back and forth, it’s just best that we don’t do it. They won’t miss two riders.”


Chapter 31