Becoming single in middle age was difficult for Alan, until a seemingly ordinary day turns extraordinary, when it presents him two very different but promising paths forward. On that day, Alan unexpectedly runs into a prior lover, moments after a new acquaintance offers him an unusual proposition.
One man provides youthful comfort and enthusiasm, and the other, the task of forming intimacy with a person who was raised from a lineage quite removed from his own. Either man might lead to a fortunate future, yet each inevitably requires tender navigation. Knowing he must make a decision, Alan eventually chooses and is then faced with new challenges, insights, and a struggle to obtain and hold onto what he hopes his future will become.
In this follow-up novel to A City of Hopes Unrealized, familiar characters re-emerge with the maturity of time, and new characters add a depth of diversity, creating a need to explore potential challenges and rewards, often accompanied by intergenerational, cultural, and racially diverse relationships.