As they continue their trip back from the beach, both Jay and Michael remember the months between the fateful winter in North Dakota and the present. Before they were falling apart, but now it seems that what's falling apart is the world.
“This must have been one hell of a city,” Michael murmured “It’s a little ruined, now. That’s a shame. So much in this world gets ruined and forgotten, but it’s still lovely. It’s still worthwhile.”
This is the continuation of the Jay and Michael stories begun in What Didn't Happen and The Good Guys and continued in Mercy is the House of God. You can read this without reading those, but you might want to read them first, or at least refresh your memory.
The continuation of the story begun in the houses in rossford. If you haven't read the houses in rossford, then you should start there. Noah and a gun man demanding missing cash? Barb and Fenn on their way back home for a rest? What will happen?
At Saint Clew, Rob and Frey come to know the residents a little better and as Rob looks into his past, he overcomes shame to find the link between the ecstatic and the divine
As jealous drives Brian to react in old vengeful ways, Noah returns to the Rossford area and everything covered up begins to be revealed in an all too shining light.
As Pat and Josh deal with their feelings about each other and what they experienced at the beach the night before, Rob and Frey begin a retreat at a most interesting monastery.
Secrets come home to roost. Old friends return from far off places and perhaps enemies do as well. Paul's selfishness takes a turn and Brian Babcock refuses to be a lover scorned.
Isaiah decides that he and Rob need to take a journey. DJ and Javon deal with a sense of abandonment and Pat Thomas and Josh Dwyer deal with their feelings about what took place the night before.
Fenn finds out some things. Todd finds out some things he wishes he didn't know, Adele finds out how close a bitch can be, Layla finds adulthood and Brendan finds.... mercy?
Pat Thomas and Josh Dwyer find themselves restless. A surprise meeting in the night goes beyond reason or morals and opens the door to experiences that will change some people forever.
The past collides with the present, Rob and Frey have a serious talk about where they stand and DJ and Javon surprise us even if they don't necessarily surprise each other.
In this cockringalingadingding chapter, Paul goes looking for a car and finds something else. Milo and Kenny have a heart to heart about unfortunate romance while Layla learns more than she thought she would about her family and Father Dan makes a confession of his own.
Frey's first book has come out, and he receives a letter from a very special reader. In the present, as Frey, finally cured of his illness, goes out on a quasi date with Rob, Rob tells about his own past, and his lover, Alex.
In this somewhat sober segment, Layla must learn to lighten her center of gravity, and Brendan begins to deal with the consequences of his fearful actions.
Rob remembers the valleys and hills of his past, and Frey remembers his love for Adam as, in the present, Frey's cold fades, and his desires burns hotter.
Dena gets kicked in the teeth, Layla gets kicked in the teeth, everyone gets kicked in the teeth by terrible revelations, Fenn and his family deal with their long absent father, Leroy and Brendan faces his fears.