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

The voice came from somewhere far, far away.


I turned back to Papaw, but he was no longer there.


Confused, I turned about in a small circle, suddenly afraid and anxious.


There was a pain in the back of my head. Sharp, insistent throbbing. I tried to open my eyes, feeling incredibly tired, wishing I could fall back to sleep, or wake up, or something.


I felt someone or other grasp me by the shoulders. I opened my eyes to see who this was but couldn’t see clearly, couldn’t focus on the person talking.


It was Billy’s voice. I’d know his “Jesus!” anywhere—lots of heavy emphasis on the first syllable, making him sound like a Baptist preacher. Jeee-sus!


“Billy?” I muttered, thinking we must have gotten into a fight and he had roundhoused me.


Chapter 54