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

“This family is full of weirdos,” Marta countered.


Still smiling, Jude looked away, uncertain if he wanted to be caught in such a heartfelt moment.


“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said softly.


The remainder of the week passed swiftly, rushing by in a storm of color and impatience, the sunlight amidst the clouds, the slow pace of life seemingly accentuated by all that Friday could promise.


Standing before the dresser in Rosemary’s small room in her home in the suburbs, Charlie Calohan turned this way and that, a pile of dresses on the chair adjacent—H&M, Forever 21, American Apparel, the best that Hillcrest could offer—dyed ashen hair tied back in a high ponytail.


Across the room, Rosemary Connell sat on the windowsill, leaning half in, half out, a trail of cigarette smoke rising from between her fingers, a small, crystal crescent moon hanging in the window, swaying in the slight breeze.


Chapter 31