When Gus Compton dies, he leaves behind an unbreakable trust regarding the old Compton house, the surrounding land, and the beautiful lake. The Anna quilt has hung in the house for so many years that no one remembers Anna or when the quilt first arrived. Besides, it is old, poorly stitched, and really rather ugly. The death of Gus Compton and the reading of his unusual trust brings out assorted family members, both bad and good. And as Gus's good friend Reese Trainor said, "Gus probably laughed all the way through the Pearly Gates."