The Unlikely Felon – by W.C. Young (2022)

Will Young and his sister grew up having an unusually close relationship with their grandparents. The siblings spent a lot of time at Gram and Gramps’ house to avoid their chaotic home-life. Will’s mother had untreated bipolar and schizophrenia, and their father was totally disconnected from his children. Eventually the parents divorced, and the kids were bounced back and forth. In the midst of misery, their grandparents’ home was a place of stability and shelter for them.

Adulthood was much better. Will married his high school sweetheart Kay. They started their own company, offering one of the first 56K internet services in their state. The business grew and expanded.

As time went by, Will and Kay became part of the “sandwich generation”, juggling their own kids, their business, and caring for older relatives. First it was Kay’s mother, who eventually passed away from cancer. Next, Gram developed Alzheimer’s, but with Kay running over to their house a few times a day, the grandparents managed to stay in their house for awhile longer. Will took care of bills and paperwork for them. After Gram was moved to a nursing home, Gramps started falling down a lot and had to be moved to the nursing home as well. Then Will’s father showed up with terminal cancer, and Will had to help him. Gramps’ and Gram’s house needed to be cleaned up and sold, so Kay and Will did that too.

On a cold February morning in 2011, a team of police officers banged on their door with a search warrant in hand. Will and Kay were being accused of stealing money from the proceeds of their grandparents’ house. The nightmare had begun.

100 Days Of Sunlight – by Abbie Emmons (2021)

When teen poetry blogger Tessa Dickinson is left blind after a terrible car accident, she is devastated. The opinion of the doctors is that her sight will likely return within a hundred days, although there is no guarantee. As the days go by, Tessa becomes despondent. Her grandparents, who are raising her, think that if they hire someone to type up the poems that come to her mind, and post things to her website, maybe it will help alleviate the feelings of hopelessness.

Tessa nixes the idea of an ad in the local newspaper, and her grandmother calls the newspaper to tell them to cancel the ad. But the editor’s son, Weston, has already seen the ad and is determined to help Tessa. He shows up at the house every day, and convinces the grandparents that he can help. Tessa is initially resentful, but as time goes by, she begins to appreciate Weston. What she does not know is that Weston is an amputee who has lost both legs.