Tying things together

Bell Tower in Red Bluff, CA

Let me preface this with I am not a accomplished writer yet.  If what I write here seems a bit naïve to those that are  accomplished I apologize.  Hopefully, there will be a noticeable maturing of my postings as there is in my fiction.  Okay, with that off my chest here is my thought this week.

I understand about outlining, and plot points in a novel.  I have them.  What I don't have is the sinews that connects them all the time.  I have a protagonist with a positive character arc, an antagonist with a flat to slightly negative character arc and the theme of a young boy having to grow up faster than young boys should have to do.

In my book, one of the main confrontations people are looking for (those that are beta reading as I go) is the meeting between the young boy and his father.  Everyone expects sparks to fly.  Perhaps, sparks will fly.

I moved the boy from the location at the start of the book to another spot hundreds of miles away.  Then I was stuck.  How was I going to move the antagonist (the father) back into the path of the boy? 

I stopped writing for almost six weeks as I pondered the how to tie this together.  It lingered in the back of my mind, I discussed it with wife and friends.  Finally, it came to me and I started writing it up. 

I was so proud of myself.  It flowed well.  I neatly tied up components to set up the encounter.  It was emotionally laden.  Everyone (almost) liked that section.  What's the problem then?  Well, it's in the middle of the book.  I am not ready for the encounter, nor am I ready to let the reader have it either.  Just because I 'm not ready for it doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. 

Here's the dilemma, if I have them meet what do I do for the rest of the book?  If I don't have them meet, just have a close call I'm back to where I was at six weeks ago.  How can I get them together again?  The thing is my writing group likes what I've done.  One thinks it's contrived and I forced the encounter or near encounter.  I don't think I have contrived it and one person out of ten isn't a solid indictment.  It still gives me pause.  I don't see how I could have done it better to satisfy the one person.  I suppose it goes to the point, we can't make everyone happy.

Here we are.  The meat is in the details.  I have plenty of backstory to draw from.  When it comes to actually moving one situation to meet up with another isn't easy without being forced or contrived.  Regardless of what happened when I ended up with the boy and his father six inches apart and they don't know the other is there, I'm six chapters on down the road from there. 

Is this unique to me?  Do those accomplished novelists have this situation I've repeatedly gotten myself into know better and don't suffer with tying things together?  I don't know.  What do you think?