Jude Calohan has been keeping his head down for years. In the quiet town of Bower Bliss, Texas, he has tried to be a good man, a good father, tried not to think too much about his relationship with his own father ... and yet despite this, in the gentle autumn of an uneventful year, Jude Calohan soon finds his relationship with both his eldest child and his own identity as a father called into question.<br><br>Amidst the sleepy apple groves of small town America, will Jude Calohan be able to keep his family together while his eldest child Charlie discovers the confidence to make one of the biggest choices of their young life?

Love Among Strangers

“I went to see Mister Mo earlier,” he muttered at last, pushing away his half-finished plate and eliciting a scowl from Marta.


She raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate, and he squirmed in his seat, the radio playing softly in the background, a chorus of words repeated over and over again: hold on, hold on, hold on


“Yeah, I just thought I should apologize and stuff,” he said, still struggling to find the right words, “you know, about getting drunk and stuff. I kind of wanted to say thanks as well.”


“I saw her a day or so ago. I think I might need to give her some time.”


“I’m not surprised,” Marta smiled to herself. “You didn’t make things easy for her.”


“Yeah,” Jude agreed forlornly, “I seem to be doing that a lot lately.”


Chapter 30