Fifteen short stories including “Erice,” William Faulkner-William Wisdom finalist. Mothers, sons, fathers, sisters, lovers, and friends. On some days, those who are closest to us behave oddly and act like strangers, and on other days, we are surprised by our own behavior. Set in the South, California, Italy, and Belgium, these stories are populated with characters facing inner and outer journeys that don’t go as planned. –Why did Sadie’s mother run away? And when will she return? –Must a teenager learn the truth about her daddy the hard way? –What lengths will a widow go to in order to avoid loneliness and her nosy neighbor? –In a California butterfly grove, what will a mother think of her son’s date? –Why must a bride’s rehearsal dinner feel like a Hatfield-McCoy moment? –Will an out-of-work actor go nuts while he awaits his agent’s phone call? –On a train ride in Belgium, can a mother and son trust a talkative postcard salesman they encounter? –To what lengths will a new husband go to please his wife on their Sicilian honeymoon? –What kind of trouble can a restless wife find at a laundromat in Rome? In these tales, some humorous and others edgy, characters discover they really don’t know those who are closest, while sometimes a stranger offers the gift of hope.