Quiet Mercies and other Short Stories

Quiet Mercies & Other Stories from San Ramon follows Leo Bass, a widowed, seventy-something building inspector in rural Arizona, as private grief becomes public purpose. After the death of his beloved wife, Iris, Leo retreats into a house filled with memory, hearing her voice as conscience, comfort, and challenge. Her imagined counsel, together with the suffering he sees around him-dry wells, shuttered clinics, low wages, and families stretched past endurance-pushes him toward an improbable independent campaign for Congress against polished incumbent Max Barrett. Around Leo gathers a makeshift family of allies: Della, his sharp and protective daughter; Daisy, her steadfast wife; Sam Meyer, a cautious lawyer and chess partner; Josh Wise, a restless digital strategist; and Gillian Montoya, a formidable attorney who teaches the campaign how to withstand political cruelty without surrendering its decency. The stories move between porch conversations, campaign meetings, public interviews, editorials, debates, and intimate exchanges with Iris's remembered voice. Together they form a portrait of ordinary people trying to practice democracy without becoming cynical, corrupt, or cruel. At its heart, the collection is about love after loss, family without shame, civic courage, and the quiet mercy of showing up for neighbors when institutions fail them. San Ramon becomes more than a setting; it is a moral landscape where grief, humor, loyalty, and stubborn hope collide.