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

“If it was, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”


“My daddy was like you. Had all kinds of time to go out and get stone cold drunk and carry on and stumble around like a goddamn fool, but he was too busy to take me and Billy fishing or to go to our ballgames or to give a shit whether we lived or died. You think I want to marry someone who’s going to do the same to me and my son?”


“It’s going to be just like that,” I shot back. “After what Noah’s mother did, you think I want a repeat performance?


“I fucked up, Wiley. Please! It’s not like you’ve never fucked up, is it?”


“So Noah is deaf because…you didn’t fuck up?”


“Am I so different, Wiley? You screwed up. But you fixed your problem. You made it right. Why can’t you let me make this right? Why can’t you see that people change?”


I said nothing, absently fingering my engagement ring, which suddenly felt very heavy and awkward.


Chapter 91