THE ROAD

NEVER TAKING HER EYES FROM MINE, Beth touches my cheek, smiles and says, "I want to know you, Win. I want to know it all. I want to know your journey to me, the road that brought you here. I want to know all the people, those that led you here and those that pushed you here, your family and your friends. I want to know your adventures and misadventures, your laughter and your tears, your love won, and your love lost. I want to know all the things that made you who you are. Then, maybe then, I can find what I need to stay." So begin Win's tales, ranging from humorous to hilarious that take him from birth through childhood and adolescence to adulthood. As he matures through his stories so does his relationship with Beth. Hiding their meetings from her almost husband of many years, they get together when they can in places from the dark ages section of the public library to darkened corners of a honky-tonk bar. His tales take us from a small, Idyllic southern town where front doors are unlocked and keys are left in the ignition of cars to college in Charleston, basic training in Texas, the war in Vietnam, working in Atlanta and, finally, back to another small southern town. Along the way we are treated to a cast of characters from a dog named Deogee that won't hunt, but can cut a world-class fart to a snake named Bigfoot, from a "smoking hot" sixth-grade art teacher to a childhood friend who teaches Win to kiss and a Texas woman who teaches him how to do more than kiss. Win's road is a maze of unintended consequences that will have you laughing at every twist, turn and dead end.