The Straightened Road

They return because there's a deadline.

Their mother calls with the kind of problem that can't be ignored: the septic has failed, an inspector is coming Tuesday, and she can't do it by herself. Brian drives in first from North Carolina with his wife Julie and their two teenagers, Jake and Emily. Scott follows from Chicago on little sleep. Matt flies in from out west with his son Owen and the look of someone who's already bracing for blame. Their father Rick is there, too—present, practical, ...