Thirty-six-year-old Grace McAllister never longed for children. After meeting Victor Hansen, divorced father of two, Grace decides she could learn to be an excellent part-time step mom. How hard could it be, since the kids live with their mother, Kelli? At thirteen Ava Hansen has been the one taking care of her emotionally unstable mother and her little brother. Ava still has hope that her parents would get back together and they could be a family again. After Victor and Grace get engaged, Kelli dies suddenly of mysterious circumstances. Grace and Ava discover there was much more to Kelli's life than they ever knew.