Chapter 14 - The Summer of Light
One year later.
The Dordogne Valley was bathed in the soft, lavender light of a late summer sunset. The air was rich with the scent of blooming jasmine, ripe grapes, and fresh-cut grass.
The gravel driveway of Château des Jumeaux was no longer a place of terror and screaming high heels; it was filled with the joyful, high-pitched laughter of two two-year-old toddlers.
Claire and Eleanor, wearing matching yellow sundresses, were chasing a golden retriever puppy across the smooth, soft lawn that had replaced the harsh white stones. Their dark curly hair bounced in the warm breeze, their bright blue eyes sparkling with health and boundless energy.
Josephine sat on a wooden bench near the new rose garden, wearing a simple, elegant floral dress. She held a sketchbook in her lap, her pencil moving smoothly across the paper, capturing the joyous scene before her.
Bennett walked out from the open, sunlit French doors of the mansion, carrying a tray with two glasses of chilled white wine produced from the estate's own vineyard.
He set the tray on a small table beside her, sitting down on the bench and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"How is the drawing coming?" Bennett asked softly, resting his chin on her shoulder.
Josephine turned the sketchbook toward him.
On the paper was a detailed, beautiful charcoal drawing of the front of the château—not as a dark, imposing fortress, but bathed in sunlight, with two little girls playing on the lawn, and a mother and father watching them from the bench.
"It's perfect," Bennett whispered, kissing her cheek.
May you like
"It's complete," Josephine corrected gently, closing the sketchbook and resting her head against his chest, listening to the steady, strong beat of his heart.
They watched their daughters run through the grass, their small feet untroubled by the past, their laughter filling the warm valley air like a song of pure, unshakeable triumph.
