When David Gull receives a call that one of his lawn crew has slung a rock and broken a window at Winding Acres Retirement Community, he purposes to have it replaced as soon as possible. Problem is, it's the afternoon before Thanksgiving, and his usual glass repairman can't get to it until after the holiday weekend. He can, however, prepare the glass so David can replace it himself on the following morning.

When David shows up at Winding Acres when the doors open on Thanksgiving morning, the staff is impressed with the importance the twenty-two-year-old business owner places on customer service. They warn him that the resident whose window his guy broke, Herschel Perdue, is... different. However, Perdue takes an instant liking to David Gull as they share a cup of coffee before David repairs Perdue's window. When a small part of his life story doesn't turn off his new friend, he continues telling it as David replaces his window.

Before either of them realizes it, Perdue has shared his mother's death, his father's suicide, his life as a foster child, his experience living in a treehouse, and his joys and travails as an adult. Broken Pane is the fifth installment in the Lonesome, Party of Six series. It is a companion novel that can be read as part of the series or as a standalone novel.