Katherine Waring is a survivor. And she has friends and associates with whom to share her life, even if she is lacking a family. Still, something is missing. Some elusive something.
The Special Delivery package which arrives one morning via UPS provides a partial solution to that enigma. The package has been sent by a legal firm in Boston, at the direction of a Frenchwoman: Kate’s grandmother, whose existence, till now, had never been disclosed.
After a lengthy courtship, which included being separated by the width of an ocean, two continents, and a world of cultural differences, Kate Waring and Christophe Beauchene have wed in a fairy tale setting and now reside in San Francisco.
For five years, the couple and Christophe’s daughter, Chantal, lead what seems to be a charmed existence. Ordinary daily routine involves school, some social functions, and business: Kate with her successful chain of spas, Christophe with the law practice he has established. Their idyllic union is marred only by the minor upsets here and there experienced by every family as it stretches and grows.
Then the unthinkable happens. As tragedy suddenly strikes, the Beauchenes’ comfortable existence is turned upside down and torn apart. Despite their frantic attempts to make everything right again, the fissures merely deepen and widen.
Only time can heal this most terrible of wounds. But time is fast running out.