Cold Sassy Tree / Olive Ann Burns 391 p. December Challenge: 5 Gold Rings

E. Rucker Blakeslee, owner and proprietor of the general store, sets the town of Cold Sassy, Georgia on its ear in 1905 when he marries Miss Love Simpson, his employee and a Yankee three weeks after losing his beloved wife.  No one can doubt his love for his first wife....lining her grave with roses.  The town is a buzz.  But to marry a woman much younger... On that day, Will Tweedy's life takes a turn for more excitement.  He starts on the road to adulthood, kisses a girl for the first time, gets to drive his grandfather's new automobile.