Jennifer Olmstead

Rory Fielding just closed the door on her 20-year marriage for a longshot at a living out a childhood dream. Now, she's got a bitter ex-husband, a resentful teenage son, three horses, two dogs, and four short months to convert Whistler Ridge Farm, 30 feral acres of once-prime farmland, into a commercial horse boarding operation. Everything's on track for Rory's successful transition from corporate exec to Southern Point farmer—until her Labrador puppy, Rocket, retrieves a disturbing find in the woods. Friends and neighbors offer up macabre theories about how the human remains that Rocket exhumed from a makeshift grave landed on Rory's property. Even Rory's babysitter, Sandy, has a story to tell. And, Sandy’s sinister tale may just be as plausible as it is far-fetched. Dan Deal, ex-police detective and owner of the local feed store, steps in to guide Rory through the swarm of investigators, media—and one cranky archeologist—who have invaded her farm and stopped her barn project cold. Dan's easygoing manner and just-shy-of-swagger confidence chip away at Rory's guarded exterior, leading to a passionate affair. But their deepening relationship also triggers memories from Rory's traumatic childhood—memories poised to destroy the love she never thought she could find. As all of Southern Point holds its breath, the police investigation moves toward an explosive breakthrough. Time and money have run out for Rory Fielding. What happens to her next depends on secrets held fast for three decades, deep in the earth of Whistler Ridge Farm.

One November morning in rural Southern Point, Virginia, an out-of-control van slams into Dare Jordan's custom road bike. The crushing impact lands the OCD accountant at the foot of a ditch—and at the feet of six-year-old Hoagy Butler and his Bassett hound, Lila. The boy’s quick thinking spells the difference between life and death for Dare, and doctors promise a swift recovery from his injuries. But Dare’s planned return to self-imposed isolation and meticulous ritual takes a detour the day he delivers a quick word of thanks to Hoagy and his ailing grandmother, Rose. Dare’s visit to the Butlers’ crumbling trailer sends him crashing into their world of gut-wrenching poverty and deprivation—and dead center of Hoagy’s beautiful and fiercely protective social worker, Katrina Masterson. The daughter of a migrant farm worker, Katrina knows firsthand that the fight for a small piece of the American dream can call for an outright brawl, and she’s not about to let anything threaten Hoagy’s odds for success. The Butlers and Katrina don’t want Dare’s money they want his time. And giving them what they want will send Dare head-on into the pain and heartache he’s spent decades denying. What he initially wrote off as a random mishap now seems like destiny, changing his life, and that of the young boy who rescued him, forever. Set in the transitional landscape of America’s contemporary South, where rural pastoral beauty and simple values clash with suburban sprawl, The Stray takes readers into the heart of Dare Jordan’s grudging journey of self-discovery and transformation, from the depths of grief and loss to embracing the love of a trio of people he could only have met by accident.