“You’ve spent so much of your adult life being something for everyone else,” she whispered. “Don’t forget to be something for yourself too, honey.”
Leanne blinked fast. For a second, Eleanor thought she might argue. Her daughter had always had that defensive streak. But instead, she just nodded and gave Eleanor’s hand a squeeze. Her throat bobbed like she was swallowing something too big for words.
Then Eleanor turned to Nora and whispered, “And you, young lady… Don’t be afraid to leave. But don’t be afraid to come back either.”
Where her mother had reacted quietly, Nora threw her arms around her grandmother, giving her a tight hug.
“Thank you, Grandma,” she said, pulling back with a grin. “You’re a living example of that.”
Eleanor smiled so hard she felt it all the way through her bones. This new outlook on life might have taken her a lifetime to figure it all out, but she’d finally gotten there. And now she got to leave a few truths behind, tucked in the hands of the two women who mattered most.
They reached Joe’s car first.
“A pleasure meeting you, Joe,” Eleanor said, her voice laced with warmth.
“Likewise, ma’am,” he replied, his grin boyish, his eyes full of something like hope.
“Take care, Joe,” Leanne added.
“You do the same.”
Nora shifted on her feet, glancing sideways in that unmistakableplease don’t embarrass mekind of way that only teenage girls could master.
Eleanor caught the cue and turned to Leanne without missing a beat. “Come on, darling,” she said with a wink. “Let’s give them a minute.”
Leanne laughed, falling into step beside her mother, and for once, didn’t argue.
Eleanor leaned into her daughter as they ambled a little farther down the road, leaving Nora and Joe behind in the soft, golden light of the afternoon. The crowd around them moved in a lazy tide, the festival winding down into quiet hums and goodbye hugs.
“He seems like a nice young man,” Eleanor said, nudging Leanne gently.
“I think he is,” Leanne said with a soft sigh. “I just hope this doesn’tend like every other relationship Nora’s had. She falls hard, fast…and then it’s heartbreak city.”
Eleanor chuckled, a knowing twinkle in her eye. “Well, if she truly wants to be a writer, a broken heart will give her enough material to fill volumes.”
Leanne tilted her head, surprised. “How did you know she wanted to be a writer?”
Eleanor glanced up at her, squinting against the setting sun. “Isn’t it obvious? That notebook is practically glued to her hand. She’s been scribbling stories since she could form a sentence. She’s always lived half in the real world, half in some imagined one.”
Leanne smiled, a swell of emotion catching her unprepared. “She just told me this summer. Said she doesn’t think she wants to go into marketing after all.”
Eleanor nodded with approval. “That’s a dream worth chasing. The real ones usually are.”
They walked in companionable silence, the breeze tugging gently at the fringe of Eleanor’s shawl.
“Joe, on the other hand…” Eleanor mused, breaking the quiet. “He’ll probably fade.”
“Maybe,” Leanne said with a shrug. “But maybe not. You never know with these things.”
“No, you don’t. But either way, he’s a chapter. And those matter too. And what about you and Dean?” Eleanor’s voice was gentle, almost like she was afraid of pushing too far.
Leanne’s smile faltered. Her features shifted, sobered. Eleanor immediately wished she could pull the question back into her mouth.
She had tried so many times over the years to broach the subject of Dean and Leanne’s marriage, but it had always felt like knocking on a door no one wanted to open.
“Things are going to change,” Leanne said finally. “I just don’tknow how yet. I know what I want. And I know I’m going to tell him what I want. It’ll be up to him what happens next.”
“Or,” Eleanor said softly, “you could tell him what happens next.”
