Tessa Simon's eyes popped open. She looked at her clock. It was two minutes before her alarm. She quickly grabbed her phone and turned the alarm off. She didn't save herself from annoying beeping, but she didn't need to hear Walking On Sunshine for the fourth morning in a row.

She opened her calendar app to see what was on tap for the day. Her days were full, but not like her old life. Everything she did was centered on her two girls. Maya was eight and in second grade, and Chloe was not yet six.

She was scheduled to volunteer in Chloe's Kindergarten class at nine-thirty. Later she needed to shop for goody bags for Chloe's birthday party, then there was Brownies for Maya. Because she was the leader, she needed to finish planning the meeting. Meanwhile, she was meeting her friend Amy at Starbucks after she dropped the girls off at school. Amy liked lattes, so Starbucks was the best choice. Tessa preferred to drive over to The Point for coffee when she had the time. Everyone knew it was the best in town.

She climbed out of bed and into the shower. A long time ago she woke up early and dressed in a skirt or dress, but her new uniform was jeans. She pushed away thoughts of her professional days when she didn't wake up alone. It would do her no good to dwell on the past with a busy day ahead of her. She dressed in her favorite Walmart jeans and a warm sweater. It was the first of March and cold. The weather on her phone told her March would be in like a lion with rain and wind. She didn't mind rain, but mixed with the cold temperatures, she anticipated being chilled all day.

It had shocked everyone she knew when she gave up her career and moved from New York City to Maine, but she tried not to think about her past. Smiling, she pushed open her girl's door. It killed her to wake her daughter out of a dream, but school started early and they couldn't be tardy again.

"Wake up, princess." Why did she call her that? It was his pet name for her. Would she ever put down her invisible broom, which kept sweeping the past away before it caught up to her and destroyed the peace of mind she held onto so dearly? Sweep.

Glancing at Chloe's bed, her covers had fallen on the floor, but her bed was empty. If beds were to be made, it would have to be later. She just didn't have the time. Her first priority was a nutritious breakfast for her daughters. Pop Tarts were not good enough in her house. Chloe was in the living room watching the Disney Channel. If anyone told her ten years ago, that would be her future, she would have told them they had drank too many cosmos. She shut her eyes, sweep.

"Good morning, sunshine." Chloe woke up cheerful, but her sister was always a grump. Tessa couldn't afford to be grumpy, her job was to be a mother, which meant being happy all the time.

Maya appeared while Tessa was whisking eggs in a bowl. The eight-year-old made a face. "Eggs again?"

"They're healthy and warm. Be thankful I didn't choose oatmeal."

"Can't we eat cereal like my friends?"

Tessa sighed. She refused to be the kind of mother who let her kids eat a meal of sugar before school. Protein was good for brain cells and learning. Her girls were so smart. How could they not be with David as their father? Sweep.

"I'll tell you what. Tomorrow we can have bagels. Okay?"

Maya nodded. She was reserved like Tessa. Chloe heard bagels and started bouncing. Her easy going personality was not from her mother. Oddly, she had the personality of the man she never knew. Sweep.

Everything was under control while the girls ate until Tessa glanced at the clock on the microwave. Where had the minutes gone?

"We need to leave in five minutes!"

The girls weren't dressed and needed two of the five to brush their teeth.

Maya called out as she ran down the hall. "Did you pack my library books?"

They should have been packed the night before and Chloe needed sneakers for gym class. "Where are they?"

The rat race of the Madison Avenue Advertising Agency often seemed easier than getting two girls to school on time. By the time they pulled into the school parking lot, they were three minutes late.

Tessa smiled at Lisa, the school secretary, as she signed her girls in tardy. "I'll be back later to volunteer."

"Bye, Tessa. Have a good morning!"

How could Lisa be so cheerful every day?

She was late meeting Amy for coffee. When she walked in, her friend waved at her with a big smile.

Joining the line, she waved back. At the counter, she ordered a coffee for herself. Sliding into a seat across from her friend, she asked, "What's new?"

"Don't you know?" Her face looked serious.

"Know what?"

"Oh right, you aren't addicted to Facebook like me."

It was true, Tessa didn't have Facebook. She didn't want to stay connected to her old life. "So tell me."

She trusted Amy not to gossip about her, although she gave her friends very little to gossip about. Her past was off limits and her present was boring.

"The school board is looking to adjust the bus schedule. They want our elementary kids to start school twenty minutes earlier."

"What? No way! Eight is early enough!" Technically, it was seven-fifty-five, but eight was when Tessa managed to get them to school most mornings.

"Something about the bus rides being too long."

Their town had already flopped the traditional times, so the little kids started school before the high school kids. If school started any earlier, Chloe would go to bed at dinner time.

Amy continued. "Everyone is planning to go to the school board meeting next week."

Like most towns, they were always fighting over something - class sizes, technology, and now start times. The consensus was the highschool always won and the elementary students suffered. Resentment was building.

When Tessa arrived back at the school, she asked Lisa about the proposed start time.

"It's only twenty minutes earlier for us."

"That's seven-thirty-five!"

Lisa had a sympathetic look as Tessa turned to walk up the hall. After forty minutes helping in the Kindergarten class, she had a sympathetic look for Chloe's teacher. It was a hard job.

Chloe hugged her before she left. She enjoyed volunteering because it helped her know the other students in the class. She had invited many of the kids to Chloe's party on Saturday.

"Hi Tessa."

She turned to see Becka Thorpe wave at her from her classroom door. Becka had been Maya's Kindergarten teacher, and Tessa was disappointed when they assigned Chloe to a different teacher. In retrospect, it worked out fine. In fact, Chloe's best friend from her class was Abbie Brenner, Becka's niece.

She returned the greeting, but the teacher had turned towards her classroom. So Tessa continued down the hall. She stopped briefly to peek in Maya's classroom door. Her oldest was hard at work.

By the time they arrived home after the Brownie meeting, it was five-thirty. Maya needed to read while Tessa cooked dinner. Their meal ended in disaster when Chloe cried because her chicken was touching her beans. She was tired and would skip her bath - from the table to pajamas to bedtime story to goodnight.

By eight both girls were in bed, but Tessa's night was just beginning. There were the dishes and clothes which needed to be folded. Chloe needed her library books. The goody bags needed to be stuffed for the party. She had some bills to pay online. Being a single parent was exhausting.

What would her life have been like if she stayed in the city and continued to work at the agency? The nanny would raise her daughters, instead she was doing it all.

On Saturday afternoon, she had ten extra kids and a half a dozen parents in her split-level house. She planned a traditional old-fashioned party complete with a pinata and pin the tail on the donkey. It was ninety minutes of chaos and sugar highs before the small guests left one by one.

Chloe and Abbie disappeared to the lower level playroom. Her living room, dining room, and kitchen were a disaster. Abbie's mother, Megan helped her pick up.

She protested. "You don't have to stay. I'm sure you have things to do."

"Really, it's fine. Abbie loves playing with Chloe."

Tessa appreciated the help. She liked Megan because she never pried. Not being an open book was tough on friendships, but not with Megan Brenner.

"So what do you think about the time change, hoopla?"

Megan paused as if choosing the right words. "Truthfully, I see pluses and minuses. Some are personal and some are as a high school teacher. I know change is hard, and I'm glad I'm not dealing with it as a single parent. Single parenting is hard."

Tessa appreciated her empathy, although a voice inside thought, what would Megan know about being a single parent? Megan was married and had twins who were in middle school.

"My girls go to bed so early and we still have trouble making it to school on time."

Megan gave her a thin smile. "There are days, when Peter has carried Abbie to bed straight from the dinner table. Kindergarten is hard, and she was used to being in daycare all day."

Abbie was at the after-school program when Tessa picked her girls up every day. She wanted to ask Megan if it was worth it to work, but knew better.

"We try to limit activities. Nick has soccer and lacrosse. Sophie has soccer and started theater in middle school. Abbie only has soccer in the fall, but she gets dragged around a lot."

Tessa's girls played soccer too, but they also had Girl Scouts and dance. They were busy most every afternoon.

"I spend my life in the car."

Megan smiled and nodded. "We try to give the kids time to run around the neighborhood and be kids."

The Brenners lived on The Point. It was a unique neighborhood because it was close to the beach. In the winter, the cottages were closed up, but there were plenty of year-round homes. Tessa's neighborhood was filled with houses which looked just like hers. There were lots of families, but her girls were too young to run around. Everywhere they went, she took them.

After Megan and Abbie left, they had a special movie night in honor of Chloe's birthday. Tessa's favorite place to be was cuddled together buried under throw blankets. Their home wasn't fancy, but it was cozy and so different from the walk up in Chelsea. She hated the quiet when she first moved back to Maine. The sound of a siren was nostalgic. She imagined she would reach a time when popcorn would remind her of movie nights cuddled together.

"Happy birthday, baby." She felt the tears as she leaned over Chloe.

"I'm not a baby. I'm six."

She smiled and kissed her forehead. Maya was waiting on her bed for her to read another chapter in Ramona Quimby, Age 8. She remembered reading the series as a girl. It was late at eight-thirty when she kissed Maya goodnight.

She pulled the covers over Chloe, who fell fast asleep while Tessa read. She always kicked them off. She was a kicker, even in utero. Six years ago, she was born just after nine pm. Tessa knew she shouldn't watch the clock. She should sweep the memories away, but it was too hard. For a long time, she was angry with David for leaving her to go through labor and delivery alone. She'd still be angry if she hadn't loved him so much. Too sad to sweep, she gave in to her tears.