When his snobbish future in-laws travel all the way from Boston to visit, wise-cracking Southerner Wiley Cantrell learns gay marriage is not without its disadvantages. He’s preoccupied by concerns over the health of his special needs son Noah, a meth baby who was not expected to live yet is now on the cusp of puberty, and the antics of Wiley's outrageous would-be mother-in-law and severely conservative father-in-law strain his relationship with Jackson Ledbetter, a pediatric nurse who poses problems of his own. As their respective families meet and greet, each just as meddlesome and inflexible as the other, North meets South and the fireworks and cultural misunderstandings are plenty.<br><br>Then a tornado blows through the small Mississippi town where Wiley's mother lives, wrecking his mother's house and leaving their lives in disarray. And Jackson's secret drug addiction comes to light, devastating Wiley and Noah. With so many stones in the road, Wiley and Jackson find their dream of becoming a real family falling apart. Though Wiley relies on humor to cope, he'll need something more to keep his happily ever after from slipping away.

Stones in the Road

He shrugged, but I could see there was a secret hiding behind his eyes, something trying to get out. If I went after it, it would retreat like a turtle pulling its head inside its shell, so I feigned disinterest. I was not, however, disinterested. Not in the slightest.


Maybe a little bit. Don’t worry about it.


K said he only likes me because he wants to make you happy.


I gazed at him for long moments. What kind of question was that?


K said it’s because you and Mama did something bad, he added.


I did not know how to answer this, so I said nothing. He peered at me intently with those blue eyes that seemed to see right through me.


Chapter 25