Mama loses Cowboy Johnson in the summer and flees to the ranch to hide out with his ashes just before Christmas. Then a huge blizzard stops most of the misfits from traveling home to the desert store for their annual Christmas gathering. But the desert store does not stay empty. Arrivals are expected. Timmon, Hector, and Annie await the appearance of Cowboy Johnson's angry father Matthew, but unexpected guests show up first, beginning with Susan Sugar Diamond and Lana English. Perry, Matthews son, decides to stay out at Emma's nearby ranch with William the Dude, Emma, and Mama. An intensely moving and luminous gathering of people who have all reached a crossroads in their lives and are trying desperately to move on.
This is book number four in the fascinating, humorous and touching lives played out in the Desert Store series. We know each of them by now. They are familiar friends. Each of the characters are living out many of the same issues we have. We have made them our allies because of their Goodness and abilities, they are like ourselves and they stand by us, sharing their thoughts and feelings and lives with us. 205 pages.