Mother Goose

Daniel Shanchez seeks refuge in a small, close-knit community of Joshua, AZ, but fears the secrets of his past will put any new friends at risk. Daniel finds employment at a diner owned by a widow, Gertrude Johnson. Daniel does not want to talk about himself, and Gertrude has found the best worker she has ever had and does not want to drive Daniel away. Gertrude offers Daniel lodging at her home, and Daniel is happy to repay her by working hard on her neglected house to the point of exhaustion. Gertrude admires Daniel's work ethic and wants to help him however she can; but Gertrude is caught in the past, still morning the passing of her son and husband. After working together for multiple days at Gertrude's diner, a boon companionship is formed, and Gertrude begins to see Daniel as a son and fills a void in Daniel's heart that was created by his own mother's untimely death. Like a mother goose, Gertrude guides young Daniel in the workings of her restaurant, and be a part of the close-knit community that has his back. She encourages and advises him when he ventures into uncharted waters of teenage romance, as Daniel falls for a local daughter of a rancher. Seeing Daniel's heart open up to new possibilities, Gertrude realizes there's still a chance she could fall in love too. Daniel befriends several of Gertrude's customers, one of which is an older Hopi man, Charlie, in whom Daniel confides issues he does not want to share with Gertrude. Gertrude wonders what Daniel and Charlie talk about, because she senses Daniel is still bothered by some secret. Can Gertrude get Daniel to trust and confide in her before its too late? Or will she lose him too? Mother Goose is the first book of three in a fictional series titled Woman in the Moon by Thomas Gordon.