When Chloe's mom, Sal, rejected her for being a lesbian, it was the worst thing that had ever happened to her. She mourned the loss of the woman who had been the center of her world and wondered if her mother could ever truly have loved her. Devastated but determined to have a good life anyway, Chloe slowly inched forward, meeting the love of her life and finding a career she loved. Together, she and her wife Rhonda had two children and became the center of a loving and supportive community.

But at every milestone, Chloe felt the sting of her mother's absence, and felt discarded for something she could not change. Would they ever find their way back to each other? Could anything bring her mother back to her? It was beyond Chloe's imagination that the other worst thing ever to happen to her would finally open her mother's heart. When Chloe's life is threatened by cancer, Sal must face the harm she has caused and the ocean she must cross to love Chloe again.