It’s been a year since the death of Ms. Essie Mae Richardson, the seventyseven-year-old pillar of the Braxton Parks community. Before her untimely demise, Essie’s prayers brought redemption to many of her neighborhood’s problems; but now the impact of her death and the unfi nished business that it left behind is threatening to unravel all that she prayed so hard for God to mend. While Colin Stephens still enjoys a blissful marriage to his wife, Angel, unbeknownst to him, she is wrestling with the guilt and regret of never saying goodbye to the woman she loved like a mother. And while their guards are down, a voice from Ms. Essie’s past steps in and threatens to steal the security that the Stephenses have taken for granted. To Jennifer’s relief, her fi fteen-year-old son, Jerrod, was saved from gang-related activities by Ms. Essie’s love and guidance. But now, just when it seems that the teenager is on a winning track, he’s blindsided by more trouble than the streets could have ever offered. Through prayers and patience, Elaine Demps gained her husband’s forgiveness for her infi delities, but after more than a year, she can’t understand why he still hasn’t moved back into the bedroom with her. Love tells her to give him more time, but loneliness pushes her back to the mindset that sent her searching for love in all the wrong places. Ms. Essie taught them that everything happens according to God’s perfect timing, but to those left behind, it seems that the timing of Ms. Essie’s death was all too soon. How will they keep from falling apart without the glue that held them together?

Peter Jericho has spent most of his adult life living for God and serving his country as one of the few and the proud Marines. When his once solid marriage suddenly takes a turn for the worse, his wife, Jan, takes their daughter and moves in with her mother in Shelton Heights, Georgia, a community some believe is cursed. Peter loves the Lord, but when his calamity increases, will his faith decrease? As his latest tour of duty in Iraq nears an end, he is eager to say goodbye to military life and focus on reclaiming the family he loves so dearly. But his plans are abruptly interrupted when Peter finds himself a captured prisoner of war. Survival doesn’t seem likely for Master Sergeant Peter Kyle Jericho, and he finds himself in the battle of a lifetime. How his life spiraled to this point, Peter can’t comprehend. All he knows is that all was well until that day in September when his wife decided to pay her mother a visit. Are all of the peculiar misfortunes that led to the breakup of his family and his capture in Iraq just happenstance, or has the legend of Shelton Heights caught up with yet another unsuspecting family?

Rising from a life of poverty, Hunter Greene is the owner of the Atlanta Weekly Chronicles, the most successful weekly newspaper in the state of Georgia.  As a single parent, he takes pride in his son and devotes his time to being the best father he can be.  And as the owner of Greene Pastures, he breeds champion horses that sell at top dollar.  When the story breaks that one of Atlanta’s most prominent and respected pastors is killed in a fiery automobile accident, Hunter stands to lose everything when the deceased pastor’s distraught daughter, Jade Tides, convinces him that it wasn’t an accident, but murder. Hunter uses the power of the written word, his very own newspaper, to try to solve the mystery, but the entire community threatens to take away their support if he doesn’t discontinue the feature, accusing Hunter of using the pastor’s untimely death as a ploy for greater financial gain and accuse him of making a mockery of God and the memory of Rev. B.T. Tides. In the midst of it all, Hunter falls hard for Jade Tides.  She’s everything he desires in a woman. But is she and the so-called mystery surrounding her father’s death worth losing everything, or has the legend of Shelton Heights caught up with yet another unsuspecting family?

Essie Mae Richardson is an elderly, wise, and church-going soul. She lives alone, but spends most of her time worrying about those around her. Using God's guidance and wisdom, Essie keeps an eye on things happening around her and when the time is right, reaches out to those who don't even know they need her. Mason and Elaine Demps are going through the motions of marriage. Elaine's need for more than financial support from her husband overwhelms her after she meets a handsome mechanic who shows an interest in her. Colin and Angel Stephens are happily married and expecting their first child, yet one careless mistake changes the tone of their marriage and possibly the outcome of Angel's pregnancy. Jennifer Mays is a single mother to Jerrod, her teenage son who she simply doesn't understand. Jerrod is holding on to past hurts that will send him to his destruction if they aren't resolved. Quite innocently, Ms. Essie touches each family in her own special way.