It's 1959. Bobby Darin is on the radio. Fidel Castro is in the news. And Emma Chandler is back at Willette College for her junior year. She'll soon be turning twenty-one, which means she can petition the court for her original birth certificate. Will the county records office have the answers she's been searching for? If not, where will she turn?

We Six are back... minus one. Since Beth is staying in Sacramento to be with her grieving family, Emma faces the prospect of a new roommate. When she meets Maddalena Del Vecchio smoking in their dorm room, it's obvious they'll never be friends. No one could have filled Beth's shoes, but this foreigner—this interloper—is a complete nightmare. Then, an unexpected wedding in the New Year reduces their numbers even more.

Paul has kept his promise and written Emma regularly during his summer away at music camp. But their joyful reunion is short-lived. As a graduate student, Paul spends little time on campus. And then there's Isabella—the brilliant cellist he meets in the Pasadena Civic Orchestra. The beautiful, brilliant cellist. The one Paul takes for coffee after the Civic's rehearsals nearly every week...

Will Mel give up her baby? Will Carolyn finally share the secret she's been keeping? Will Emma and Paul's relationship survive? As she crosses the threshold of Aurora Hall that brilliant September afternoon, Emma can't imagine what the answers might be... only that her heart is crying, let it be me...