Counting Miracles

I

In March 2023 Tanner Hughes locks up his late grandparents’ home in Pensacola, Florida and prepares to leave town. He’s spent the five weeks since his grandmother’s funeral packing up the house and putting it on the market. He takes one last look at it before leaving. His grandparents raised him because his mom died in childbirth and he never knew his father. He gets in his 1968 Shelby GT500KR and gets back on the road.

While driving, Tanner’s mind wanders through the events of his past. He’s a former Ranger and spent 15 years in the army. Since retiring, he’s worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and spent the past three years traveling throughout the States. He stopped traveling when his grandmother fell ill and has been in Pensacola ever since. He could stay in Florida, but his buddy Vince Thomas recently offered him a new USAID gig in Cameroon which he’s agreed to take. Before leaving, he’s going to see his friend Glen Edwards and visit Asheboro, North Carolina to seek out the name his grandmother gave him on her deathbed.

II

Tanner spends the next three days with Glen and his family in Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina.