As Grace steered her car onto Hwy 101 and away from Agate Cove, she realized that leaving her new and challenging life here, was much harder than leaving her old life in Sausalito. In fact, she could hardly wait to cut her ties with the past and get back to her three little girls.

The thick fog that had settled in during the night was beginning to give way to filtered sunlight. Wisps of gray swirls floated in front of her headlights and rubbed against her windshield. The effect on Grace was one of isolation, and she felt a deep stab of pain driven by loss and fear. She had to fight the strong urge to turn her car back towards Agate Cove.

As the sun burned away the heavy silver blanket, Grace was able to catch a glimpse of the beautiful ocean out her side window. This lifted her spirits. She watched the dark gray-green water churn into a thick white cylinder rolling over the brown sand. Once the curtain of gray mist lifted and blue sky made an appearance, Grace was in a much happier frame of mind. She felt focused and centered on her mission at hand. She remembered that she needed to look for costumes for the girls and this made her feel more connected to them. By the time she reached Sausalito she was ready for the challenge of closing up her old life. What had seemed like a laborious chore, was now a quick errand.

After getting settled in her apartment she met with the landlord. Paying rent through November, she told him she would be disconnecting all services at the end of the week. She gave him the okay to rent the apartment any time after November 1st. She assured him everything of hers would be out when she left on Thursday morning. The extra month's rent was in lieu of notice. She was glad that the apartment had come furnished. This allowed her to move without having to rent a storage unit to put furniture in.

Feeling she had a good start, Grace decided to wait until tomorrow to tell her boss that her temporary leave was going to be permanent. She freshened up and walked a few blocks to a favorite Chinese restaurant. After a quick dinner, she began walking back to her apartment. She noticed that the late October day had turned to evening very quickly. She could feel that the mist in the air had gotten heavier and lights glowed stronger as they pressed against the opposing darkness of nightfall. She thought to herself this is 'the children's hour'. She suddenly felt homesick as she made her way through the gloom to a place she realized never really did feel like home – not like Agate Cove.

Spending the next morning in San Francisco, Grace terminated her employment and had lunch with two of her girlfriends from the paper. She wandered around the city for a few hours doing some shopping, then drove back to Sausalito and to the Chinese restaurant for an early dinner, and to collect the boxes she had asked the manager to save for her. She was excited to begin packing and loading up her belongings for her new life in Agate Cove.

Before she got started, Grace phoned the girls to see how everyone was doing. Alex answered the phone.

"Hi honey, it's Aunt Grace. How are you?"

"Aunt Grace, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Alex. I miss you all." A stab of melancholy hit her again when she heard her voice, "Is everything all right?"

"Come home, Aunt Grace. Please come home now!"

"Alex, let me speak to Michael."

Michael came on the phone, "Hello, Grace?"

"What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," he assured her. "Alex had a bad dream last night. She'll be good as new when you get here."

"Okay, I'll be home the day after tomorrow. I'll see you all on Thursday."

With that, she hung up feeling slightly more homesick than she had before she made the call. She began to pack up her things, hoping it would distract her. She worked late into the night.

~~~~~

The next morning Grace made a pot of coffee and sat down with her phone to call the utility companies. By her third cup of coffee, she was done. Looking over at her laptop, she made a decision. She entered a search for a Karen Morgan in or around the Santa Barbara area. Nothing struck her as familiar, while she searched page after page. Grace struggled with her memory. Not Morgan she told herself, Mason. Entering a new search, she paged down looking for a catering business attached to the name Karen Mason. She couldn't remember the name of the business, but she recalled the white van. There was some kind of graphic on the side, it just wasn't clear in her memory. Then, it popped up in front of her on the screen – a Karen Mason who owned Hidden Beach Catering. There was the logo of a sheltered shoreline kissed by blue waves.

"That's it!" she exclaimed breaking the thick silence of her concentration. She copied down the information and closed the laptop. "Now what? Should I call her? What will I say? Oh God..." She struggled with herself until she finally dialed the number. After four rings an answering machine picked up.

A woman's voice instructed the caller that no one from Hidden Beach Catering was available to answer the phone at the present time. Leaving her name and number Grace hung up. She wondered if Karen would return her call. There was no question she'd remember her mother, but whether she'd want to talk to Grace or not, she wasn't at all sure.

She finished packing. She set the bag from F.A.O. Schwartz with the girls' costumes by the five boxes and two suitcases next to the front door. She was about to take a walk and grab some lunch when her phone rang.