Detours

It should have been a typical day of trimming shrubbery and edging lawns, but Gretchen VanStantvoordt-known to everyone as "Ellis"-first gets caught in a traffic jam and then lands in the emergency room with a badly sprained ankle. Mary Moss, a new-found friend who was caught in the same traffic jam, convinces Ellis that trying to tend to her dog and negotiate the stairs at her walk-up apartment while on crutches isn't such a good idea. Without friends or family in the vicinity, Ellis accepts Mary's offer for assistance. When Ellis meets Natalie, Mary's nine-year-old daughter, she's ready to make tracks away from Mary as quickly as possible, but her bum ankle makes that impossible. Ellis stays with Mary and Natalie while she recovers. Little by little, Ellis develops a fondness for young Natalie... and develops something much deeper for Mary. Ellis and Mary work out a plan for building a future-and a family-together. Destiny, it seems, has other plans and throws major roadblocks in their path. Ellis is forced to reconsider everything she thought she knew about where she wanted to go in life, and Mary learns that even with the perfect traveling companion, not all journeys are joyous. No GPS can help them navigate the new road they find themselves on. Come make the trip with Ellis and Mary as they discover that when life sends you on a detour, the wise traveler finds a way to enjoy the scenery.