Years have gone by since the death of Noah his special needs son, and Wiley Cantrell realizes it’s time to move on. He and his husband Jackson try to adopt little Tony Gorzola, a deaf boy with HIV who is emotionally traumatized.<br><br>Difficulties quickly set in. Tony is a sweet boy but very damaged by abuse and neglect. And Tony’s mother, in prison, is unwilling to relinquish her parental rights. No sooner do they get the go ahead to foster Tony when another child they had considered becomes available -- the daughter Jackson always wanted.<br><br>With two children on their hands, life is complicated -- wonderfully so. But just as things begin to settle down, Tony, his immune system compromised, falls ill with pneumonia ... and Wiley and Jackson find their little family faced with crisis once again.

Go Tell It on the Mountains

“I’m sure it’s nothing, but I think we might have a problem.”13: The Long Way Home


With Tony on my hip, we began walking, the driving snow all but blinding us.


I was surprised—scared was the more correct word—at how fierce the snow had become, and how quickly. Needless to say, I had never experienced anything like this in Mississippi.


Tony seemed rather bewildered and yet oddly calm, clinging to me, his breath forming little clouds as we walked. I was terrified he was going to catch a chill and get sick. Worse, we had not thought to bring his medications, and I did not want to interrupt his schedule for taking them


It was going to look very bad for us with Heather Duport.


“It’s only three miles,” Jackson said defensively as we followed along with others who had abandoned their cars.


Jackson stopped, adjusted Tony’s scarf so it covered his nose and mouth.


Chapter 21