Beyond the Gate - Cristy Fossum

Jessica George is a bullet ricocheting between a tiny, safe life and the "normal" life she wants but finds too risky. We all know people like Jessie: odd-looking, ill-fitting. We see them in the shadows of society, sneak glances at them on the train or sidewalk. Unexposed and neglected to an amazing degree by her detached single mother, Jessie has never been outside of her neighborhood in metro Chicago.

She gets a housekeeping job for Roderick McCoy, a Vietnam vet tormented by PTSD and a shrinking existence. And then, Jessie meets Jakob Otteson, intelligent and autistic. Awkwardly, they become friends and then more, bonded by their differentness and their painful memories of being bullied. Jessie's cousin Kelly bumbles back into her life after years of absence, imposing, in her zany way, a sense of family on this motley crew.

As Jessie and Jakob's love affair develops, however, the odd couple cannot foresee the precarious predicament awaiting them when the flames of Roderick's depression, fanned by addiction, form a crucible for these newly formed relationships. Either they will go down in flames or be refined. Courage, trust, forgiveness and grace can avert tragedy if... if they can let it happen.