Three Fallen Leaves

by Al Lohn

An old man’s secret pain and guilt and a young girl’s inability to deal with the death of her mother will take you inside their shattered lives. Author Ashley Thornton stumbles on a heart breaking story when her husband takes the position as Chief of Geriatrics at the county hospital in Garner’s Corner, a small town in Iowa. Ashley visits the nursing home to inquire about a candy striper’s job for her daughter. When Ashley looks out of the window, her eye catches an old man in the corner of the patio sitting in a wheelchair. Isolated from the rest of the residents, he stares at a cemetery across the valley. The forlorn look from his grief stricken face makes her heart take a leap. “What story is locked up behind this tormented mask,” she wonders. Nurse Vicky Lister becomes aware of Ashley’s interest in the old man’s life during their conversations. Ashley finds out that his is a tragic story indeed. But Vicky has limited knowledge of JP’s life. No one knows anything about the old man’s runaway daughter except Vicky’s husband, Sheriff Mike, and JP’s attorney and confidant, Toni. They know Noel’s dark past but they refuse to talk. They were the ones who found Noel in a New York morgue and brought her home. When JP dies, Toni reveals the missing pieces of the old man’s life and what Ashley discovers changes her life forever.

354 pages, Paperback

Published June 3, 2016