Part of Rose Gardner Mystery
First published 2016
J.R. Simmons is dead, but the wreckage he left behind is still very much alive. Rose is trying to hold herself together after that deadly night, grieving the version of her life that no longer exists. Neely Kate is in worse shape. Joe walked out of Henryetta two weeks after his father died and stopped returning her calls. He is somewhere else, sorting through J.R.'s business empire and an FBI investigation that came with it, trying to figure out who he is without his father's shadow defining him. Then a neighbor's family dog goes missing. It is a small problem against everything else, but Neely Kate pushes Rose to go look for the animal. Rose agrees. What starts as a search through yards and back roads turns into something neither of them expected. They do not find easy answers, but they find each other in a new way. The dog is the excuse. What the trip actually costs them, and gives them, is the real story.
Genres: literary-fiction, domestic-fiction, contemporary, adult, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: character-driven, contemplative, emotional, healing, intimate, introspective
Tropes: emotional-journey, found-family, friends-to-lovers, second-chance
Setting: Henryetta
124 pages · Kindle Edition · Amazon Digital Services
Content warnings: death