Publisher's Synopsis
Della was finally going to break free. She left at one minute after midnight on her eighteenth birthday. Liam and she were to be married as soon as the justice of the peace was open. She'd have to wait all night in the Waffle Shop, but she didn't care. She was finally going to leave her mother and Bud, her boyfriend, behind. Della was tired of working two jobs just to pay all the bills in the house. Plus, once she turned 18, Bud told her he had some things he planned to do to help her celebrate. She would never do those things, and she was happy not to be there to find out what they were.
Instead, Liam went to a training course for his new job, and the first night they were at the hotel, the police barged in and arrested them, taking them to the jail without giving them any due process. Della repeatedly told them she wanted an attorney but never was given the opportunity to have someone to represent her. Instead, a week later, they told her Liam was killed in a car accident while he was being transported to the prison.
Alone and without hope, Della was left in prison for almost a year. An attorney came for another client and at last Della could get to court to tell them she had a solid alibi for the crime. She was in Tennessee getting married at the same time as the crime, so there was no way she could have had anything to do with the crime. The judge immediately released her, but she had to call the attorney to once more even get her car out of the impound lot as she didn't have the money to pay to get it released.
Once she at last had the car, she stopped at a church to cry and try to figure out what to do with no money and nowhere to go. The pastor told her there was a room she could use in the basement, so she happily agreed to stay there. As she was getting her suitcase, she saw the restaurant across the street was hiring and went to see if she could get a job.
Della's attorney promised her she would get a settlement, but could she make enough money to survive until she got it? How long could she stay in the church before they needed the room for something else? Her life was in shambles, but could she figure out how to make it work? Just as she is about to get her feet under her, she's given another shock when she returns to court. Find out how Della finds the strength to survive and learn is there life after the happily ever after.
