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

Ronnie Milsap’s “Almost Like a Song” began to play, and Jackson Ledbetter touched my arm


Talk about a tear-jerking ode to lost love.


Mary sang with such sweetness and clarity, you’d think she’d been performing her entire life. Even her mom and dad seemed a little starstruck by their little girl’s abilities. By the time she finished the first chorus, I was in tears, the words tearing away at me. I could so easily picture Jackson Ledbetter feeling and saying all those words.


I wiped miserably at my eyes, overcome with emotion.


Mary finished, took her bows, but the crowd was not ready to let her go.


“Guess what, y’all?” Mary said. “My Uncle Wiley knows a thing or two about singing.”


I stared up at the stage in sudden horror.


“Y’all want to hear my Uncle Wiley sing?”


There was loud agreement. Indeed they did.


“We used to do a wicked version of ‘If the World Had a Front Porch.’ Y’all remember that song?”


Chapter 97