The Beauty Closer By is an environmental novel set in the small town of Calhan, Colorado, on the plains thirty miles east of Colorado Springs. Calhan's bleak, but nearby are bluffs and the Paint Mines, a geological formation of colorful clays that were used in olden days by Native Americans for paints and pottery. These are favorite places for Terry Pendletonm who's landed in Calhan after disappearing from his previous life as a successful building contractor in California. Terry's hiding out from his wife, working as a handyman doing odd jobs around town. He doesn't need money, so he often charges less than others for projects or repairs. The discounts are helpful to many, but no good deed goes unpunished, and Terry's acts of kindness frequently lead him into random trouble. For example, he stops to help a woman whose Land Rover with New York plates is broken down on the side of the road. He takes her to Colorado Springs and promises to call her when he fixes the car. But he soon realizes she's lied about her phone number. He traces the owner in New York, which leads on to further disasters.
Terry's mother lives in Rapid City, South Dakota. The neighbors there think his mother should be in assisted living, but Terry is reluctant to do anything for fear he might be traced by his wife's lawyers through his mother. But he goes to Rapid City, tours the Badlands with his mother, and then takes her to look at a room in Aspen Siesta. The upshot is Terry brings his mother back to live with him in Calhan--not at all what he'd planned. Terry also has a son in Southeast Asia, who frequently sends Terry cryptic photographs without any explanation or message. Throughout, Terry is repairing washing machines, computers, broken pipes, and dealing with electrical problems, as well as building barbecues and fences and a dance venue. The people and families in need of Terry's services are the characters scattered throughout the novel. Among these are two sisters, one with two children, and the other a dance teacher. Another group is a Latinx family whose son doesn't speak. Yet another is an old Latina who has problems with her roof. In addition, Terry has a penchant for building swimming pools, which he did in California, and the town wants to draw tourists with a rec center and swimming pool! Terry's expert at this, but he'd have to divulge his other life to make it happen.
