Joy returns to the library to secretly slip the stolen book into the after-hours return slot. She uses a public computer to research how to support someone with cancer. The initial results are unhelpful, offering only vague advice. Steeling herself, she searches for the prognosis for an 89-year-old with stage four cancer and is devastated by what she finds. She quickly prints the information to avoid becoming emotional in public. Feeling an urge for another rebellious thrill, Joy acts on a long-held fantasy and pulls the library’s fire alarm. As the building evacuates, Max helps her outside. Joy feels a mix of regret for inconveniencing other people and pride for causing the excitement. Eavesdropping, she hears firefighters tell Max the culprit was likely “bored teens” and that the police won’t investigate, even though pulling an alarm is a felony. Feeling triumphant for getting away with it, Joy looks forward to telling Hazel her story.

In a flashback to 1956, a young Joy visits Hazel in New York City for the first time. Overwhelmed by the city’s chaotic energy, she is reluctantly taken by Hazel to a smoky, crowded burlesque club. While Hazel thrives, effortlessly mingling with friends, Joy feels out of place. She retreats to a quiet corner to escape the sensory overload. There, she is approached by a young man who also seems uncomfortable. He introduces himself as Thom Bridport, a new lawyer from a small town in the Hudson Valley. They find common ground in their shared preference for a quieter life over the city’s “mayhem.” Thom tells Joy he is fonder of “quieter gals” and hopes they might have a dance one day.

The narrative returns to the present. Joy travels to New York City, feeling a newfound confidence from her recent rebellious acts. On the subway, she observes a father harshly scolding his young daughter, which reminds Joy of the pressure she felt as a child to always be good. She makes a silly face at the girl to cheer her up. At Hazel’s apartment, she finds her friend wanting to go for a walk despite being weak. When Hazel struggles with pain after a few blocks, Joy feigns a knee injury from her Zumba class to persuade Hazel to rest at a café without wounding her pride. Seeing Hazel trying to hide her discomfort at the café, Joy decides to tell her about pulling the fire alarm. The story delights Hazel, whose laughter and pride momentarily make her forget her pain.

During a piano lesson with a shy boy named Lincoln, Joy uses her patient teaching method of briefly leaving the room to give him the space to begin playing on his own. She reflects that her goal is not to train concert pianists but to provide children with a joyful, confidence-building experience. Joy keeps up with popular music, like songs by Taylor Swift, to teach her students. She also keeps a closet of hand-me-downs for students from difficult home situations, like a former student named Chuck. After the lesson, Joy prepares to call Elizabeth to tell her about Hazel’s cancer. She feels immense relief when the call goes to voicemail, allowing her to postpone delivering the painful news.

In a 1968 flashback, Joy meets Hazel for lunch at a stuffy Upper East Side restaurant that Thom insisted on. Feeling out of place, Joy waits anxiously for Hazel, who eventually makes a grand entrance. Joy notices that Hazel is uncharacteristically quiet about her recent trip to Puerto Rico. Pressing her friend for details and reminding her of their promise to never keep secrets, Joy learns the truth. Hazel confesses she went to Puerto Rico to have an abortion. Joy is shattered. The news is a double blow: Hazel kept a significant secret from her, and Joy and Thom have been trying unsuccessfully to conceive. When Hazel reaches out to comfort her, a hurt and betrayed Joy pulls her hand away.

On her way to a coffee date with Elizabeth, Joy stops at the secondhand shop run by Seth. She asks about the ceramic vase Hazel covets, but Seth refuses to sell, calling it a “trophy” from a 50-year-old grudge. Shortly after, Elizabeth cancels their meeting for a work shift. Disappointed, Joy stays at the café and, in a small act of defiance, decisively claims her favorite table over another older woman. Rowan asks to join her. When Rowan mentions he is going to a movie matinee alone, he invites Joy to come with him. Embracing her new, more spontaneous self, Joy accepts.

After enjoying a Japanese film with Rowan, Joy walks home with him. Their conversation about losing friends leads Rowan to reveal that he is a gay man who lost many friends during the AIDS crisis. He then confirms the rumor that he was in prison. Rowan explains that he was unjustly convicted decades ago after being framed by his boss, a luxury wine merchant involved in illegal activities. Unable to afford a good lawyer, he served an eight-year sentence. As they near their homes, they see their neighbors, Rita and Celeste, gossiping. Joy notices them whispering while watching her and Rowan. She feels a surge of anger at the injustice of Rowan being judged for his past while she, a budding rule-breaker, is still seen as a “sweet little old lady” (283).

In a 1977 flashback, Joy and Hazel walk through Central Park. Hazel senses Joy is upset and coaxes a confession from her. Joy tearfully admits she saw Thom kissing their neighbor, Celeste, in the garden during a party. While she has long suspected Thom’s infidelities, seeing him with a neighbor and someone she knows feels like a deeper betrayal. Hazel is furious and urges Joy to leave him. Joy refuses, citing their five-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, as the reason she must stay. She also feels trapped, believing that as a 43-year-old homemaker with little work experience, she has no way to support herself and her daughter. Despite Hazel’s offer of help, Joy resigns herself to remaining in an unhappy marriage for Elizabeth’s sake.

The narrative moves back to the present. Elizabeth and Finn go to Joy’s for dinner. Throughout the meal, Joy is wracked with nerves about telling them Hazel’s news. Her anxiety spikes when Finn mentions the recent fire alarm incident at the library, but he’s completely unaware of her role in it. After dessert, Joy finally reveals that Hazel has been diagnosed with stage four cancer. As a nurse, Elizabeth immediately grasps the terminal diagnosis and becomes angry and hurt that Joy withheld the information for weeks. She worries Hazel thinks she doesn’t care because she hasn’t called. Overwhelmed, Elizabeth sobs as Finn attempts to comfort her.

Feeling low after the emotional dinner with Elizabeth, Joy attends her water aerobics class. She feels self-conscious and is reminded of a fellow class member who died of a heart attack in the pool years earlier. During the class, she spots Rita and tries to leave without speaking to her. However, Rita intercepts her and immediately criticizes her for “fraternizing with a criminal” (137). Joy sharply defends Rowan, telling Rita to stop spreading rumors. Dismissing her concern, Rita invites Joy to a crafting circle for women of their generation, arguing they should “stick together.” Feeling the sting of her dwindling social circle, Joy reluctantly agrees to attend.

Joy visits Hazel and finds her smoking a joint, the result of the “drug deal” Joy facilitated. At Hazel’s insistence—framed jokingly as a “dying wish”—Joy tries marijuana for the first time. The drug loosens her inhibitions, and she asks Hazel if she ever feels invisible as an older woman. Hazel says she has always made a point to “take up space.” The conversation turns serious as Hazel admits to past regrets, particularly her cruel rejection of a friend, Eric, who had confessed his love for her shortly before his death. When Joy asks what Hazel gets from their seemingly lopsided friendship, Hazel explains that Joy has always been her anchor. Using a kite metaphor, she calls Joy the string that keeps her “tethered and grounded.” Her moving words leave Joy to ponder how she will cope when Hazel is gone.

The narrative flashes back to 1988, where Joy, Thom, and a 16-year-old Elizabeth are having a family game night, playing Sorry!. The evening is interrupted by a phone call for Thom. Elizabeth answers and reports with a sarcastic eye-roll that it’s a woman claiming to be his “assistant.” After Thom takes the call, Elizabeth makes a skeptical remark about a work call on a Sunday night. Joy attempts to offer an innocent explanation, but she secretly shares her daughter’s suspicions. When Thom returns, they resume the game, but the unspoken tension hangs over their attempt to act like a happy family.