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

“Oh, please God, would you leave me the fuck alone!” I snapped, my voice too loud.


I reached out and touched the back of Papaw’s hand, which was cold.


The last time I had felt this miserable, I’d been in this same funeral home saying goodbye to my father when I was ten years old and so brokenhearted I had cried and carried on for days. Why I had carried on in that fashion was a mystery even to me; my daddy certainly didn’t deserve it. And no one else had carried on. Just me. I don’t know why I took it so hard or why it hurt so much.


Standing there now, my hand on Papaw’s cold hand, I thought about my daddy but quickly pushed the thought away.


I struggled to get hold of myself, aware people were looking.


Chapter 66