Sunday morning Paul and I had brunch at the hotel and then I would have to leave in short order to return to my children who had spent the night alone. They were good kids, so I had no worries. Amazingly, I had managed to be completely in-tune with Paul that evening, as Brady never once entered my mind. I wandered if that was progress or something not to be desired.

Paul drove me back to Casa Amor and I allowed him to have his first real kiss. The kids were happy to see me. They, too, had stayed up until the "wee" hours of the morning playing board games and watching movies. Isabella took me aside when the chance made itself available and asked me how it went. I told her exactly as I would have told any other, "Time will tell...". For a moment, she seemed excited which made me feel worthy of having "completed the exercise", so to speak.

We would only have three days left. Silvio would be returning on Tuesday, we would be packing, and by Wednesday; Casa Amor, "My Casa Amor", would e returned to its present owner. Just as the rest of the summer had, Wednesday would usher itself in like a horse jaunting toward the finish line in the last quarter mile in the Kentucky Derby. As I was packing Tuesday nite, I received a call from Silvio. We made arrangements to trade keys once again, and it would be back to North Carolina.

On Wednesday morning, Silvio met us at a very early 5:30 AM. I wanted to get a jump-start on returning to North Carolina. I had successfully; to this point, created a memorable summer experience that my children would not forget, and I didn't have any doubts that a couple of days in the car would spoil any of the memories. Besides, we were so worn out, that Isabella and Liam would sleep most of the way home. They had played all the games, sang all the songs and seen all of the sites on the way out. Coming back east would not be as enthralling.

It did take us all but three days to return to Asheville. I had promised Paul I would call when I returned, so that we could reconnect. He had promised to make some time to make his way to Asheville; somewhere he had never been. IT was all up in the air now, and I felt a heavy feeling on my chest as I pulled into my driveway and turned off the car. After traveling three-thousand miles, what was going to happen next?