Bena, baptized Verbena, after the old-fashioned flower that thrives in the American South, is a survivor. When her husband, Bobby, dies in a car wreck, Bena is left with their five children, a little house, a little bit of insurance, and a big empty place in her heart. Not to mention that the hole Bobby left is jagged around the edges-he wasn't in the car alone and Bena hadn't had a clue about his girlfriend. Bena married young. She worked hard at her marriage. Now she's a cheated-on widow with five grief-stricken children to finish raising. No matter. No matter that she almost burns down the house when she discovers the marijuana farm in the backyard or that she has terrible, loud crying jags in church. When it gets down to it, her backbone bends minimally and her moral center holds. By the time she's ready to invest again in romance, Bena knows what she wants. So when she finds the right man and the right circumstances, she doesn't hesitate. She marries Lucky. And what does he do? He disappears off the face of the earth.