Young love. A move a million miles away. A mother who hides letters. The hand of fate holds the letters, proving that love is timeless and fate can bide its time. Horace and Hattie grapple with the consequences of marrying the wrong people for all of the wrong reasons. They cope the best they can as provocative Maddy takes what she wants until she gets what she deserves, abusive Paul gets things his way until his ways are turned against him, and their children challenge them in ways as different as their personalities: the jailbird who never outgrew the terrible twos and doubts his own infallibility, the daughter who mistakenly thinks love will sustain her, and the genius who doubts his own sanity as he plots an insane plan. In the end, no matter the paths taken or circumvented, fate guides Horace and Hattie to its willed destination of what was meant to be. No matter what, come hell or high water, death or self-destruction, fate has the final say . . . Because nothing outfoxes the plans of fate