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

This was made worse by the clean morning air and the stunningly blue sky overhead. As if that sky hadn’t been filled with murderous intent and not so long ago.


It wasn’t this that made me cry, but rather the sight of so many people in Mama’s front yard helping to clean up. Friends, neighbors, acquaintances, a work crew from the county, and what seemed like just about every last soul from St. Francis, as well as a large contingent from First Baptist, where Bill and Shelly went.


“My poor house,” Mama said sadly. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”


“It’ll be all right, Mrs. Cantrell,” Jackson said.


“It don’t look all right,” she complained. “Jesus, Mary, and the saints! I shouldn’t complain. The Hood’s house was completely destroyed. Thank God they weren’t home. Janice said they were at a church BBQ. And those poor Mendozas…”


She walked in the direction of the house, but I leaned against the Jeep, feeling weak.


Chapter 62