Chapter 21: The Familiar Smile

A brilliant, radiant smile broke across her face, bright and utterly true, mirroring the exact expression he had flashed her across the sandbox all those years ago when they were just small children arguing over the structural integrity of wet sand. It was the exact same James she had always known, yet he was now entirely transformed- the boy who had scraped his knees by the creek was looking at her with a profound devotion that made the rest of the world fade completely away.