When a racoon savages Emily's cat Pandora, Aunt Laura takes the cat to Dr Burnley where they share a bitter-sweet moment. When Ian Bowles asks Laura to marry him, she says yes, but not with her whole heart.

Overjoyed at finishing her first book she goes to see Teddy to see what he thinks of it. Only he breaks her heart when he is brutally honest about it bringing back memories of Dean Priest.

Emily then falls down the stairs and remembers back through a series of flashbacks the moments in her life that have shaped her future.