Falling Apart and Other Gifts from the Universe: A Novel

Addie Finch is a sixty-two-year-old security guard and former beat cop with a military background. Tough on the surface, she struggles internally with loneliness, introversion, sobriety, and estrangement from her son. She questions her identity as a protector but maintains a soft spot for those in difficult circumstances. When Addie discovers Jonathan, a homeless teenager abandoned by his mother and sheltering in a warehouse, she offers him temporary lodging in her garden shed in exchange for maintaining her property. Jonathan possesses a gentle nature and wisdom beyond his years. The arrangement provides him safety and purpose while giving Addie a renewed sense of direction. When Addie faces a crisis that destabilizes her emotionally, her connection with Jonathan becomes essential to her survival. As both work through past traumas, they develop a surrogate grandmother-grandson relationship—a chosen family bond that offers the possibility of restored trust and healing for hearts each believed irreparably broken.