Terri comes home to Toronto, after spending several years working in England, to find her best friend avoiding her and her new job, in the family’s store franchising operation, to be less than satisfactory. Alison’s problem is social anxiety and Terri has to learn not to take her odd behaviour personally. Getting past the misunderstandings, Terri and Alison buy a store franchise for themselves and, within a few years, their shopping mall location has become the chain’s flagship store. But, eventually, the time comes to move on…When the story reaches the present, Alison, happily embracing long delayed motherhood, has embarked upon her third career and is writing a series of books to help children learn how not to be afraid of fear.