Road Noise

DJ just wanted a life uncomplicated. Instead, she was barely 40 with four failed relationships, a college-age daughter who hated her and a witty preteen son with ADD. At the root, she supposed, were the men. There was the long dispatched unambitious Marley, who preferred surfing to work while waiting out his inheritance. But she was only 19 then, so stupidity figured in to that one. On his heals was Tom, the Armani wearing womanizer. Then Jason. She couldn't hate him. He had more scars than she. But the one that brought her to this point was Jim, a man ten years younger who loved her just as she was. He had just died of leukemia.

She decided to run. Well, more like a tame three-month road trip with her preteen son. She also made a decision about men. She would think of them like dessert. She would avoid them except for the occasional short-term indulgence, usually resulting in remorse and quickly taking a digestive enzyme.