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

“I’ve always thought of drugs as more of an urban problem,” he said.


“I think we’re holding our own. We’ve got meth labs coming out the wazoo. Anything you guys can do, we can do, and a whole lot worse.”


“Surely in a religious state like Mississippi, you wouldn’t have the sort of problem with drugs that urban centers like Boston do.”


“Well, first, don’t call me Shirley, and second, if you’re going to run a meth lab, you need a bit of privacy, a little shack out in the woods—and we’ve got plenty of those. We’ve also got a lot of poor people. Poverty and drugs go hand in hand, and folks gotta make a living somehow.”


“It’s like an episode of Breaking Bad,” Mrs. Ledbetter offered, using a small plastic knife to cut cheese into small squares. “I’ve never understood drugs myself. Apparently they’re quite fascinating.”


“So when are you moving back home?” she added.


Chapter 88