The lives of a tramp and a handsome TV presenter intersect.

Two women are forced to come to terms with breast cancer.

'I don’t mind saying I’m afraid of the dark a little.'

My cousin Dedrick and me are farmers. We don’t own no land and most likely never will, but we use land that’s been forgotten by its owners or maybe it was never owned other than by the Cherokee in them olden days.

"It's at the ranch, on the other side of the farm, in those mountains. All we need to do is catch it. Can you imagine how much we can sell it for?

The cozy brick bungalow stood on a short lane of similarly modest houses with a small, mostly overgrown park at the far end and an intersection leading to Darlington High Street.

"I can't make it sound more enticing than that," the doctor sighed from behind his desk, dispirited, but Lubanzi was hooked on the idea. A caring robot sounded cool, and it would help him live in his apartment in Claremont again.

At 10 o’clock on a warm August morning, an old but immaculate big blue Buick slowly pulled up and parked by the front gate of the largest section in Serenity Springs Cemetery, Azalea Falls’ oldest, biggest burial ground.

As I gaze at the living room clock, I reach for the bottle on the coffee table. I take a drink, staring at the Roman numerals, listening for the ticking sound, but then I hear something outside.

A warmth filled my chest, an immense sense of pride that you were here. With me. I'd only met you properly for the first time this morning. Of course, I knew you before then.

I hide in the downstairs loo and put on eyeliner. It makes my grey eyes look smoky and defined, covering up the fact I’ve been crying. I think make-up suits me, but Dad disagrees. He thinks make-up is just for girls.

As Special Agent in Charge of this District, my years following leads and writing investigative reports were behind me. Now, one part of my job is delivering this investigative file to the D.A.

First, they stood. Right beside each other. “It’s in the air,” she said. “See?” He looked, but he was either unsure or unwilling.

The old farmhouse had idled on the market ever since the previous owners had died in a freak fire. Investigators had suspected arson but never uncovered evidence.

The dinner invitation was totally unexpected since Josiah Gorgas had not heard from his high school and college buddy Austin Ervin in well over a decade.