To Do the Right Thing

Set in Oklahoma and Colorado in the late 1950s, To Do the Right Thing is a sequel to Coming Home. This novel continues the story of Arnold Barkley, a man whose trust in commitment was injured by divorce, but who finds himself healing with time and new experiences. In 1956, Arnold set his wealth aside and took off on a road trip to experience the world without the crutch of money. He soon finds himself dipping into his secret, but growing wealth to offer help where needed. He becomes involved with several women, but it is Beth Howser, the beautiful brown-haired hermaphrodite who runs a cattle ranch in Colorado and underwent sexual revision surgery to become fully a woman that causes Arnold to struggle with questions of commitment and monogamy. On his way to rebuilding a home for himself in Oklahoma where his wealth and land holdings continue to grow, Arnold rediscovers and marries a former love, Brenda Gladstone. Their happy marriage ends abruptly when Brenda breaks his heart again, dying in childbirth and leaving him two little girls to raise. As Arnold's life begins to unravel, the women he befriended act swiftly to keep Arnold's new home intact.