Rachel comes home to Boothbay Harbor to find the bench, a site of childhood happiness and dreams, denied to her even as she struggles with the reality of her mother's illness. She lashes out at the tired, old soldier who has moved into Holmes Cottage and has fenced the bench from the people who visit and live in the Harbor. In no way can she foresee the paths of despair, guilt, hope, and love that will mingle when her angry visits to the cottage become a need to help and to find help.