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

What was taking Mama so long? We’d be blown halfway across Union County if she didn’t hurry up!


“Jackson, watch the kids!” I shouted, pushing Noah into his arms.


“Wiley, what are you doing?” Jackson demanded in a high-pitched voice.


I turned away and ran across the yard as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled angrily across the sky. I glanced at the county road out front and saw a funnel-shaped darkness reaching down from the agitated sky, a swirling mass of coal black that tapered down to a small tentacle reaching for the ground but still not quite succeeding.


A goddamn tornado, just across the road.


Chapter 51