Ťo Erskine, now in his thirties, has moved on from childish things: He has a good job, a slick apartment in London, and when he heads back to the suburbs on the occasional weekend to visit his old friends, he makes sure everyone knows he can afford to pick up the tab. So, what if he asks a few too many questions about Lia, the girl in their group, wondering if she will come out, if she's seeing anyone, if she might give him another shot? Ťo is hazily aware that something possibly happened between Lia and Ben Mossam, Ťo's closest friend and his greatest annoyance, but he can't bring himself to ask. Lia, meanwhile, has no time to indulge their rivalry. She's now the single mother of a toddler son, a kid named Joel that Ťo occasionally (and halfheartedly) offers to babysit. Ťo is home for one such weekend when the unthinkable happens, a tragedy in the heart of their group and he suddenly finds himself the unlikely guardian for little Joel. Together with his father, Vic, Ben Mossam, and Sybil, Lia's beguiling rabbi, they bide time until they can find a proper home for Joel, teaching him to play video games, plying him with chicken nuggets and waffles, and learning to sing him lullabies at night. But when a juvenile mistake leads to a terrible betrayal, Ťo must decide what kind of man he wants to be.-- Provided by publisher.