She narrowed her eyes, clutching her notebooks like they were a life raft. “You never told me you applied to Yale.”
“Yeah, well, nobody likes to advertise their rejection letters, do they?”
“Fair.”
She blinked at him, still trying to process how the boy she had said goodbye to—dramatically, might she add—was now standing here, fate deciding to play a practical joke on her.
Then, before she could overthink it, she grinned, broad and unrestrained.
Joe slung an arm around her shoulder as if they had done this a thousand times before and the last few weeks of missing him had never happened.
“Come on,” he said, steering them toward the heart of campus. “Let’s go figure out what they call the center of this place. Quadrangle? Courtyard? Something fancy, I bet.”
“Ivy League nonsense,” she agreed.
Funny how just like that, the world tilted itself back into place.
“I feel like I should pinch myself,” she said, still half convinced he might be a mirage. “Or maybe you.”
“Don’t do it,” Joe warned, leaning in slightly. “I’m incredibly fragile. One good pinch and I might dissolve into pure charisma.”
She snorted. “Well, I think Yale just got a whole lot better.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said, eyes glinting. “Though, for the record, if you decide you’re sick of me at any point, feel free to flick me off—like rust on a can. No hard feelings.”
She laughed. “I think I’d be a bit more civil than that.”
But then she stopped walking, stopped everything, reaching for the front of his shirt, gripping the fabric in her fists, and pulling him down toward her.
She rose up onto her tiptoes.
And kissed him.
Joe made a small sound between amusement and approval, like he hadn’t entirely been expecting it but also had never wanted anything more.
When she pulled back, she flashed him a bright, carefree smile, her heart doing a little flip at the pure happiness shining in his eyes.
“Yeah,” she murmured, breathless. “This is going to be pretty groovy.”
He exhaled a laugh, shaking his head. “Understatement of the century, babe.”
Just like that, the future stretched ahead of her in ways she’d never even dreamed. Bigger, messier, wilder than the careful plans she once thought she had to follow. And all it had taken was chasing her grandmother across the country, watching her step onto stage after stage, fearlessly belting out the songs she was born to sing. Somewhere between the long drives and late-night diner stops, between the musicand the adventure, Nora had realized that dreams weren’t something she needed to wait for. They were something to run toward, arms wide open, heart pounding, ready to make them a reality.
And now, standing in the middle of Yale’s storied campus, with Joe by her side and the whole world ahead of her, she knew one thing for certain—this was only the beginning.
EpilogueInstrumental Outro
August 2019
Madison Square Garden, New York City
Nora prided herself on easily shifting with the tide. Adapting to new situations and making a plan B if needed. Hell, if life hadn’t taught her that, certainly her career in publishing had. And dancing beside her daughter and granddaughter at a Jonas Brothers concert was most definitely the plan B.
In the immortal words of the Rolling Stones, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” But the current wisdom being belted onstage by the JoBros (Ellie’s affectionate name for the boy band), who were covering the DNCE song, reminded them to why not just have their “Cake by the Ocean.” Nora preferred the more innocent and literalconnotation of eating carbs beachside as she had in her youth, versus the sexualized overtones that had overtaken the song’s popular meaning, but alas, music was meant to be interpreted by the listener. Ironically, the Rolling Stones album featured cake on the cover.
When Woodstock 50 was canceled just a month earlier, Nora had scrambled to find a replacement. She’d promised Ellie a concert, and she intended to deliver. The Jonas Brothers’Happiness Beginstour felt fitting. Born from their reconciliation, it symbolized the journey from youth to adulthood and coming together stronger, united. Ellie was ecstatic, and Nora liked the meaning behind the tour. Not to mention they were Ellie’s current musical crush.
The truth was, no revival could replace that epic summer of 1969. And perhaps that was a good thing. After all, Anne had been right; 1999 had turned into a disaster. Some moments in history were best left to memory and reminiscing, rather than repetition.
