Crazy Quilt — Paula Paul

Cancer treatment has ravaged Flora Adams's body, not to mention her marriage and her spirit. She plans a visit with her aging aunt to recuperate, but a chance detour introduces her to Mac McIlhaney, an old man who both aggravates and mesmerizes her.

Crazy Quilt, set in desolate west Texas, is peopled with a palette of interesting characters including James Willie, the sheriff who wants to rekindle his old love affair with Flora; Jill, a young punk-rocker who thinks she has all the answers; Shorty, the dog with a fondness for wigs; and Lucy Martinez, who is willing to risk everything for Mac and Flora. This detour turns into a labyrinth of emotions that seems to have as little cohesion as an old-fashioned crazy quilt. But what Flora discovers in the end is an oasis of healing that, like love, has turned up in the most unexpected of places.

"I wait for morning, sitting on the couch, wondering what I have done. But the thought that seems most profound to me is that we had not said everything that needed to be said, nor done everything that needed to be done. We are right in the middle of things. Living until the end."--from Crazy Quilt