Page 96 of The Comeback Summer

We’re in a rented double kayak, skimming across the surface of the river, slicing through the heart of downtown. Buildings rise sharply on either side of us like steep canyon walls, their windows gleaming in the evening sun. Down here, the air is cooler, the traffic muffled by the sounds of water and birds calling as they swoop above us. The sky overhead is so blue my chest aches.

Josh is in back, providing power, while I steer up front. As we make a turn past a riverboat full of tourists, he asks, “So... did you email them?”

He means Serena and Preeti. Instantly, the butterflies in my stomach take flight. “Yes. Right after lunch.”

It took me six drafts to get the email right, and a few hours to work up the guts to send it. I introduced myself and saidthat if they need a publicist, I’d love to be considered. I explained that I have plenty of experience in PR, but none as a book publicist, so I would do it pro bono in exchange for an endorsement if they’re happy with my services.

I don’t think I would’ve done it without Josh’s encouragement.

“Well done,” he says. “I know that wasn’t easy.”

“I’ve been stress-checking my inbox every ten minutes. I keep reminding myself that they’ll need a day or two to decide, but I’m still so nervous! I know, it’s silly—”

“It’s not silly,” he says, knocking his paddle gently against mine. “It’s brave.”

I smile and dig my paddle into the water, propelling us past a riverfront restaurant, where couples sip their drinks and eat dinner, their conversation floating on the breeze. Behind me, Josh hums something off-key. My heart soars with contentment; I get to be with this man. I get to share a kayak with him. And later, a bed.

“What?” he says.

Confused, I twist around to look at him. “I didn’t say anything.”

His eyes crinkle with laughter. “I could hear you thinking.”

I smile and continue paddling, trying to put what I’m feeling into words. “I was thinking about how we’re... here. Just kayaking on the river.”

And to anyone else, that probably wouldn’t make sense, but Josh says, “Like all those years we weren’t together didn’t exist.”

“Exactly. Like they were outside the space-time continuum and we’ve finally returned to our real lives.”

We pass under a bridge, and a shadow falls across us for amoment before we burst into the sunlight again, dazzling me. I stare up at a massive redbrick building topped by a clock tower.

“Have you heard the theory that every decision we make splits the timeline into different versions?” I ask.

“Yeah. Like, today I drove in from Evanston but in a different reality, maybe I took the train. It makes you wonder—”

“If there would’ve been a terrible train accident? Someone on the tracks?”

He snorts a laugh and uses his paddle to lightly splash me with water. “No, Miss Intrusive Thoughts, but thanks for that mental image. You know the movieSliding Doors, with Gwyneth Paltrow?”

“Young Gwyneth, pre-Goop,” I say, nodding. “We watched it with your mom—remember?”

Josh laughs. “Oh yeah. She kept an eagle eye on us so we didn’t get up to any hanky-panky under the blanket.”

“How is Jeannie, anyway?” I ask. “What does she think about us being back together?”

When he doesn’t answer, I glance back at him. His face has a pinched look, his eyebrows pulled together.

“What?” I ask, my stomach knotting. “You haven’t told your parents?”

“No, I have.”

“And?”

His forehead furrows, and my heart sinks.

“They’re not happy about us being together?” I say, almost whispering. It feels like a knife in the back. I loved Jeannie and Karl.

He hesitates, then shrugs. “It’s more that—well. I’m staying with them right now, so...”

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