Charles Haas

The Thanksgiving Virgin Charles Haas

Desperate lives collide on a cold November night as a yearlong Missouri tale culminates deep in the belly of a decade Ozark storm where one world ends and another beginsA young man's parents disappear, spilling him into the drug-running streets of Kansas City. He gathers a large sum for his troubles while struggling with addiction, a weak heart, and thoughts of going straight. An Ozark bootlegger finds instant profit making white crystal in an earthen compound near a ranch close to the Arkansas line. He chases his next payday with a long-wanted murderer watching his back. A wealthy Ozark rancher absorbs the reality of spending life without the guiding light of his one true love, when a woman from nowhere appears in his small town. A longtime ranch hand seeks full partnership, holding off a banker and harboring a satchel of found money. A sheriff in his last days of service struggles with courage, facing the specter of a man who nearly killed him six years ago. A quiet loner descends from the hilltops to settle a score, leaving an isolated society to pick up the pieces after tragedy turns on one of its own.... And then comes Thanksgiving.__________John Sheridan settled into his chair at the large wrought iron table overlookingthe cove, the spot where he and Sheila used to spend their evenings together talkingand enjoying soft oldies playing in the background. They would read thepaper together or just hold hands, soaking in the love of a secure life, talkingabout another trip to take or making improvements here or there. They wouldalso solve problems together. She was his counsel, always offering new ideas,helping him find a way to make things fit. John and Sheila thought alike, thoughttogether, and he loved that. She saw so many wonderful details, and their retreathouse was usually shining with the beauty of her artistic touch, something he leftto her alone, but appreciated. Sheila made a graceful difference, the void moreevident with the coming sp