Cal's Corner

From the author of Man of Power, Cal's Corner continues the story of Annie When Annie Morrisch leaves her farm home late one summer night in 1948, her only destination is someplace that isn't here. She walks into town, takes the first bus leaving and lands across the state in Junction City, a place that she had never heard of before. When she meets charismatic Ned Dalton, also new to town and a newspaper reporter, she decides to stay for a while and try life in the city. Twenty-five miles farther down the highway sits Cal's Corner, a small family business which consists of a garage and diner combination owned by Cal Gosch and his wife Lucy. Wilbur Gosch and his family work here and both families reside in the two houses directly behind the business. Everything gets shaken up when a new waitress is hired. Frankie sets her sights on the reluctant Wilbur, who has always had more success with cars than with women. Wilbur's daughter Gail works as a waitress and acts as a mother to her two younger brothers. But since she has graduated from Parker High School, situated just a half mile north of Cal's Corner, she begins to look for something more rewarding and exciting than the life she has been living. Just as a strong wind sometimes disrupts the countryside right before the storm begins, so the plans and hopes of the workers and patrons of Cal's Corner are strewn across the landscape one day when a storm rolls through. Everyone is tested when they try to pick up the pieces and attempt to discover just what will make them happy.