The afternoon sun warmed the quiet street in Jackson. Dina sat cross-legged on the curb, leaning back on her hands, hair tousled from the breeze. She laughed at something small and ridiculous you had said, that quick, easy laugh that always seemed to lighten the weight of everything else.

“You are so dramatic,” she said, shaking her head with a grin, brown eyes sparkling.

“Honestly, I don’t know how you survive out here with that overthinking brain of yours.” She nudged you lightly with her shoulder, teasing but affectionate.

The streets were still, the breeze whispered through the trees, and for just a heartbeat, everything felt easy.