The Ugly Tree

Considering Cane Kallevik's rocky start, her life has been normal under the watchful eye of Grandma Betty. When shes not running five miles at a crack, shes riding her bike around the rural farming town of Savage, Illinois and engaging in a secret warfare with her former best friend, Mikayla Atwood. The biggest thorn in her side is Jenny Ryanne Schaeffer, her employer, who Cane has nicknamed Jelly Roll. When Justice Price, Jelly Rolls gorgeous, older nephew rolls into town, Cane is convinced that their age difference is a minor inconvenience. After a disastrous tornado, Cane's house is destroyed, and Grandma Betty is in a coma. Out of necessity, Cane moves in with the Schaeffer family and spends the summer falling in love with Justice, keeping vigil at Grandma Bettys side, fighting with Jelly Roll, walking a fine line between love and hate with Mikayla, and discovering scandalous secrets about Mikaylas mother, Annette. Cane endures a summer of waiting, loving, and longing. In a dramatic conclusion her world literally goes up in flames, but instead of losing everything, she finds exactly what shes looking for in the most unexpected way.