Mark Pannebecker

Eighteen-year-old Benjamin Porter is solitary, brooding, and insecure after the betrayals by his best friend Craig Marse (the Magician) and then a year later by his girlfriend Joan Ponti (the High Priestess), different sides of the same coin. He finds solace hibernating in the winter months escaping into books and doing menial labor like shoveling driveways. But in the spring, when Benjamin meets Emma Patricce, the head ornamental horticulturist at Patricce’s Nursery, his journey takes a decisive turn. Em is an older woman, sensual, earthy, and confident in her surroundings. Working with her, Benjamin discovers his true character again as her nurturing, supportive, and genuine friendship brings him out of his ennui and self-loathing. It should be no surprise that by fall, Ben is in love with her. But the first woman Ben has ever loved can only cultivate his spirit so far; the rest is up to him. Ben’s journey sits at a crossroads and his destiny may rely on Em Patricce more than he realizes.