Chapter Nineteen: Spring Promises
The winter melted slowly, revealing the muddy earth beneath and waking the crocuses from their sleep. Spring in Dalton was always a gentle affair—rain-kissed mornings, crisp afternoons, and a town gradually shaking the snow from its bones.
Ellie stood on the porch of their home, camera in hand, capturing the way the light returned to the trees. Her fingers itched to start a new project—one that wasn't just about Dalton's past, but about the living, breathing stories all around her.
Jack joined her with two mugs of coffee. "You've been quiet today."
She looked up, smiling. "Just watching the world come back to life."
They walked down to the edge of the Lawson property where wildflowers had started pushing through the thawing ground. There, they dreamed. About planting a garden. Maybe fixing up the shed out back into a writing nook. Or traveling—together this time—to places Ellie had always imagined.
Later that week, Ellie got a letter from a publisher. They wanted to turn her Dalton photo essays into a book. A real one, with pages and stories and pieces of her heart.
"I'm proud of you," Jack said, wrapping his arms around her. "You're making something beautiful."
"So are you," she whispered.
They celebrated with wine under the stars and plans for the future. But spring, with all its warmth, also brought new tensions. Jack's mother, who had never been entirely comfortable with change, came for dinner and spent most of it commenting on "how fast things move."
Jack squeezed Ellie's hand under the table. "We move at the right speed for us," he said firmly.
Outside, the night bloomed with peepers and fresh grass. Inside, Ellie realized that building a life wasn't about avoiding bumps—it was about choosing to walk together, even when the path wasn't paved.
And so, the season turned again. From snow to bloom. From silence to laughter. And somewhere between a daffodil and a dream, Ellie and Jack found themselves standing not just in love—but in a future growing wild and real around them.