In Chap­ter 260 of “All the Col­ors of the Dark,” the set­ting unfolds in the pic­turesque Out­er Banks, char­ac­ter­ized by its expan­sive shore­line of ivory sand and crys­tal-clear waters. Char­lotte, adorned with a wide-brimmed hat, stands on the beach, gaz­ing at dis­tant sail­boats glid­ing beyond the bar­ri­er islands. The nar­ra­tive cap­tures the slow move­ment through var­i­ous small towns and tourist attrac­tions, evok­ing a sense of long­ing and prayer for hope­ful end­ings, par­tic­u­lar­ly for Char­lotte and Saint.

As they spend their days watch­ing the waves, the atmos­phere shifts when the islands become less crowd­ed. Evening brings forth the return of fish­ing boats. Char­lotte, immersed in her thoughts while stand­ing at the shore, fix­ates on the ves­sels, where­as Saint lingers behind, count­ing boats and feel­ing the emo­tion­al weight of the moment. She sens­es Char­lot­te’s ris­ing hope, which soon faces a melan­cholic turn as the boats begin to dwin­dle.

The scene is beau­ti­ful­ly lit by a sun­set that splin­ters col­ors across the water, stir­ring emo­tions with­in both char­ac­ters. Just as Char­lotte turns, Saint clos­es her eyes to shield her­self from the tears. Saint con­tem­plates express­ing her sor­row when her atten­tion is cap­tured by a white sail­boat, sleek and grace­ful, mak­ing its way toward them. The sight of its black flag, embla­zoned with a skull and cross­bones, ignites an unex­pect­ed joy in Saint.

As the sail­boat docks, the moment freezes – Patch, a sig­nif­i­cant fig­ure in their lives, is onboard. He leaps from the boat, rush­ing toward Char­lotte, who begins to move towards him, filled with an unde­ni­able excite­ment. Their reunion at the water’s edge is poignant, as Patch’s warm smile rekin­dles mem­o­ries for Saint. The moment is charged as Char­lotte hes­i­tates for just a moment before jump­ing into Patch’s wel­com­ing arms, sym­bol­iz­ing a ten­der recon­nec­tion amidst the vibrant col­ors of the sun­set and the deep emo­tion­al cur­rents of their jour­ney.