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

Of course you can. Go to sleep, sweetie.


Good night, Daddy 19: Jackson Ledbetter’s Bed


In my bedroom, I turned on the radio, shrugged off my clothes, climbed into Jackson Ledbetter’s bed.


One of my all-time favorites, Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight,” floated out of the speakers of Jackson’s spiffy stereo.


His bed was comfy. Telling, but that’s how I thought of it: Jackson Ledbetter’s bed. It wasn’t my bed. He’d purchased it when he first moved here, along with a sofa, recliner, a kitchen table and chairs, a microwave, pots and pans, the whole kit and kaboodle. He’d come to Mississippi to start over, make a new life, “Try something new.”


Most everything in the apartment was his because, let’s face it, as a pediatric nurse with a real job, he had a real salary. Now, apparently, he had an inheritance to look forward to.


Chapter 26