Lay Us Gently to Rest

by Jeffrey Matthews

Zeph and Lee are an elderly couple living a simple life on their Tennessee farm, their hearts deeply wounded long ago by the tragic death of their little boy, killed in a hit-and-run. When Zeph’s brother passes away, the couple take in their nephew and try their best to provide him with a stable, loving home. Though the couple never speak of their past heartache, not even with each other, the nephew grows up resentful, never feeling he “measures up” to the son they lost. Zeph bears the worst scars from the couple’s painful day, having been the one to discover his son’s broken body on the side of the road. Though he remains stoic and solid, always caring for his wife and nephew the best he can, he burrows ever deeper into himself and his personal sorrow. One day, while at his favorite fishing hole, a stranger enters the carefully insulated world Zeph has created for himself, and Zeph is unexpectedly confronted by thoughts of what his own son could have grown to be. The young man is afflicted with a strange amnesia, making him a mystery even to himself, his identity and origins unknown. Odd burn scars across his palms suggest a painful past, and he is ever haunted by fleeting glimpses of another place and time—fragmented memories he can’t be sure are even true. The two men form an unexpected bond from the unexpressed needs of their souls—one for a lost son, the other for a lost identity and home. What’s been kept secret for far too long hovers between these two men like the morning mist on a serene pond—secrets that, once uncovered, may bring healing to one, a path home for the other.

298 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 4, 2019