Jennifer Olmstead

The Stray Jennifer Olmstead

Can a near-fatal cycling accident save Dare Jordan from himself?One November morning in rural Southern Point, Virginia, an out-of-control van slams into Dare Jordan's custom road bike. The crushing impact lands the OCD accountant at the foot of a ditch-and at the feet of six-year-old Hoagy Butler and his Bassett hound, Lila. The boy's quick thinking spells the difference between life and death for Dare, and doctors promise a swift recovery from his injuries. But Dare's planned return to self-imposed isolation and meticulous ritual takes a detour the day he delivers a quick word of thanks to Hoagy and his ailing grandmother, Rose. Dare's visit to the Butlers' crumbling trailer sends him crashing into their world of gut-wrenching poverty and deprivation-and dead center of Hoagy's beautiful and fiercely protective social worker, Katrina Masterson. The daughter of a migrant farm worker, Katrina knows firsthand that the fight for a small piece of the American dream can call for an outright brawl, and she's not about to let anything threaten Hoagy's odds for success. The Butlers and Katrina don't want Dare's money; they want his time. And giving them what they want will send Dare head-on into the pain and heartache he's spent decades denying. What he initially wrote off as a random mishap now seems like destiny, changing his life, and that of the young boy who rescued him, forever. Set in the transitional landscape of America's contemporary South, where rural pastoral beauty and simple values clash with suburban sprawl, The Stray takes readers into the heart of Dare Jordan's grudging journey of self-discovery and transformation, from the depths of grief and loss to embracing the love of a trio of people he could only have met by accident. THE STRAY is Volume II in Jennifer Olmstead's VIRGINIA SOUTHERN POINT COLLECTION, following MEN AMONG SIRENS, also set in contemporary Southeastern Virginia.