Forever and Ever

I’ve always known two things about my future.

I’m going to be a veterinarian.

And I’m going to come home to Holly Well Springs.

Finishing school has never been optional. It’s part of who I am. My heart belongs to animals, to wide open spaces, and to the kind of life that feels meaningful.

What I didn’t plan for?

Jackson Kringle.

He’s charming, confident, and absolutely certain he’s a lifelong bachelor. He teases me about my serious side, I roll my eyes at his jokes, and somewhere between the town’s fiftieth anniversary celebration and Hannah’s winter wedding, everything shifts.

He looks at me like I’m the only person in the room.

And suddenly, leaving in January doesn’t feel so simple.

Jackson belongs to a family built on forever love. I belong to a dream that will take me away for a few more years. Neither of us wants to ask the other to give something up.

But when the heart of our town—the Magic Well itself—disappears without a trace, and an accident reminds us how fragile life can be, I start to understand something I’ve always known deep down:

Love isn’t about choosing between your dreams and your heart.

It’s about finding someone who protects both.

This Christmas, I may have to leave Holly Well Springs again.

But for the first time in my life…

I’m beginning to believe that some loves are meant to last forever.