Page 79 of Ten Years and Then…
She slipped an arm around him as they walked. “Yeah. I know all about and then, Danny. You keep forgetting I’m older than you.”
He laughed. “You keep forgetting to act like it.”
She grinned, jabbing him lightly in the ribs. “You mean like that? I could give you a wedgie, too, if you want.”
“No thanks, I’ll pass.” He paused. “Anyway, yeah. You can guess what happened. It was like we were still back two years ago. Like New Year’s Eve. Or my birthday.”
He blushed at the memory of that night. Of course she noticed.
“You never told me what happened with her that night.”
“And I never will,” he said, still blushing. “Some stuff you can’t even tell your favorite cousin.”
“Danny!”
“Well, I guess I can say this much. Remember what you wrote in my card? Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do?” She nodded. “I’m pretty sure I did.”
Nora, a few minutes later
There he was, sitting on a bench on the north side of the quad. She was at least a hundred feet away, and seeing him from the back—but it had to be Daniel. Of course it was—she’d known he’d be there, ready to go in his graduation robes, half an hour before he was supposed to be there.
Who was he talking to? A woman. Not his mother or his sister, but that’s all Nora could tell from the back. The woman had her arm around him and they were leaning close—there was only one person it could be.
“Daniel!” Nora called out when she was just a few steps away.
They turned in unison, and she saw she was right. The woman was a little older than him, but not much. Dark haired, like Daniel, with the same nose. “And you have to be Bianca.”
The woman stood up and—Nora hadn’t expected this—came straight up to her and hugged her. Tightly, the way you hug someone you love but haven’t seen in months.
“Nora! It’s so great to meet you. I mean, in person. I feel like I know you from everything Daniel’s told me, but …” Bianca let her go, took a step back, and gave her a long, appraising look. “Wow, you really are beautiful. He showed me pictures, but they don’t do you justice.”
Nora wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Uh—thanks?”
Bianca smiled and it was nothing but honest and kind. “It wasn’t a trick question, Nora. I’m just telling you what I see.” She turned to Daniel. “And I’ll tell you what else I see. I see how much you love my Danny. Our Danny.”
She leaned in again, kissed Nora on the cheek. “Thank you for that. For loving him. You changed his life, Nora.”
“Bee, that’s enough,” Daniel said, but there was no edge to it. Just fondness. “I think Nora and I need a moment alone.”
Bianca patted Nora’s arm. “I’ll go check on Uncle Tony. But I want to hear all the details later. Promise?”
Daniel nodded. Bianca gave Nora a wink, and headed off.
Once she was out of earshot Nora sat down on the bench, and gestured for Daniel to join her.
“I see why you love her so much, Daniel,” she said. Then she grinned. “Or should I start calling you Danny now?”
Daniel, a moment later
What Daniel wanted to say was, You can call me whatever you want, for the rest of our lives. But that was impossible. Their time together—last night, and now—was one final gift, and that would have to be enough.
“I never liked being called that. Except by her.”
She nodded. “I get it. I’d probably be okay with Rachel calling me a nickname, even if I hated it. Not that there’s anything you can do with my name. You can’t shorten it or make it cute or whatever. It’s always just Nora.”
Again, he couldn’t say what he wanted to. So he settled for, “There’s not a thing in the world wrong with just Nora. Except that you aren’t just anything.”
She blinked, and he wondered if she was holding back tears.
