Chap­ter 107 of All the Col­ors of the Dark fol­lows Saint as she watch­es Jim­my asleep on her grand­moth­er’s porch, wrapped in his jack­et. The image of him, relaxed and unguard­ed, con­trasts with the rest­less­ness she feels inside. Ear­li­er, she had met him after their missed prom, a moment that brought back mem­o­ries of him in his suit, care­ful­ly cho­sen by his moth­er, a sub­tle but poignant detail. Jim­my embod­ies the qual­i­ties of a good man, one raised with sol­id fam­i­ly val­ues, his knowl­edge of nature and tra­di­tion­al beliefs root­ed deeply in his upbring­ing. Yet, despite the strength and wis­dom he pos­sess­es, his child­hood room—well-kept and orderly—reflects the kind of life he has led, one that requires nur­tur­ing and guid­ance to evolve fur­ther as he matures. Saint observes this and, in her qui­et reflec­tion, rec­og­nizes that Jim­my is some­one who, despite his ground­ed val­ues, may still be search­ing for his place in the world.

As Saint shares a meal with her grand­moth­er, Nor­ma, they dive into a deep­er con­ver­sa­tion about the roles of men and women. Nor­ma, with her wis­dom shaped by years of expe­ri­ence, asserts that women have a vital role in teach­ing men how to be men, open­ing up a dis­cus­sion on the dif­fer­ent male fig­ures in their lives. The con­ver­sa­tion touch­es upon Joseph, who strug­gles with emo­tion­al con­nec­tions, and Saint’s own rela­tion­ship with Jim­my, which, despite its inno­cence, has com­pli­cat­ed lay­ers. Jimmy’s stead­fast belief in no pre­mar­i­tal sex and his adher­ence to his faith cre­ate a sub­tle ten­sion between him and Saint, espe­cial­ly as their rela­tion­ship deep­ens. Saint, while desir­ing inti­ma­cy, is con­front­ed with Jimmy’s strict moral com­pass, which cre­ates doubts in her mind about how far she is will­ing to go for the sake of their love. This con­trast between her grow­ing desires and his firm beliefs chal­lenges her sense of self, leav­ing her in an emo­tion­al con­flict about what she tru­ly wants from their rela­tion­ship.

The chap­ter piv­ots when Nor­ma reveals that Jim­my had for­mal­ly asked for Saint’s hand in mar­riage. The news strikes a chord with Saint, prompt­ing her to reflect on her own emo­tions and her readi­ness for such a com­mit­ment. Her heart swells with both affec­tion and uncer­tain­ty as she thinks about the com­plex­i­ty of her bond with Jim­my. The themes of sin, judg­ment, and fate weave through her thoughts, stir­ring a deep­er empa­thy for oth­ers she has encoun­tered in her life. She begins to wor­ry about the choic­es oth­ers have made and the con­se­quences they’ve faced, which only adds to her sense of inter­nal tur­moil. The pres­sures of mak­ing the right deci­sion about love and com­mit­ment weigh heav­i­ly on her, and she is forced to con­front what her future with Jim­my might look like. Despite her emo­tion­al strug­gles, Saint finds her­self wrestling with the idea of judgment—both from oth­ers and with­in herself—and how it might impact her rela­tion­ship with him.

Nor­ma, in her usu­al gen­tle but firm man­ner, offers wis­dom on the nature of love and mar­riage. She advis­es that love is not always about pas­sion­ate emo­tions but about respect, kind­ness, and the mutu­al under­stand­ing that comes with time. Saint, unsure of her feel­ings for Jim­my, lis­tens as her grand­moth­er encour­ages her to see love as a grad­ual process—something that evolves over time rather than a sud­den rev­e­la­tion. The con­ver­sa­tion with Nor­ma pro­vides clar­i­ty, remind­ing Saint that a last­ing mar­riage is ground­ed in respect and a shared jour­ney, not just imme­di­ate emo­tion­al sat­is­fac­tion. Saint begins to under­stand that while love may not always feel intense, it is built on a foun­da­tion of trust, kind­ness, and com­mit­ment. This real­iza­tion soft­ens her doubts and offers a sense of peace as she con­tem­plates her future with Jim­my.

Saint’s emo­tion­al tur­moil inten­si­fies as she con­tem­plates her respon­si­bil­i­ties toward oth­ers, her feel­ings for Jim­my, and the uncer­tain future that lies ahead. She feels the weight of the choic­es before her, each deci­sion car­ry­ing con­se­quences for both her and the peo­ple she loves. The chap­ter explores the com­plex­i­ty of love, the strug­gles that come with bal­anc­ing per­son­al desires with the oblig­a­tions of rela­tion­ships, and the uncer­tain­ties that accom­pa­ny com­mit­ment. Saint is torn between the desire for inde­pen­dence and the pull of her love for Jim­my, uncer­tain about whether she is tru­ly ready to make the sac­ri­fices mar­riage requires. As she con­sid­ers the grav­i­ty of her choic­es, she is forced to con­front her own fears and desires, ques­tion­ing whether she can tru­ly bal­ance the expec­ta­tions of those around her with her own aspi­ra­tions.

The themes of love, fate, and per­son­al growth per­me­ate this chap­ter, offer­ing read­ers a deep dive into the com­plex­i­ties of Sain­t’s emo­tion­al jour­ney. As she nav­i­gates her rela­tion­ship with Jim­my and con­tem­plates her future, she is chal­lenged to reflect on what makes a rela­tion­ship tru­ly mean­ing­ful. Her inter­nal strug­gle with her feel­ings for him, com­bined with her desire for inde­pen­dence, cre­ates a ten­sion that is both relat­able and thought-pro­vok­ing. The wis­dom shared by Nor­ma offers a ground­ing per­spec­tive, help­ing Saint real­ize that love is not a fixed emo­tion but an evolv­ing bond that deep­ens over time. The chap­ter ulti­mate­ly encour­ages read­ers to reflect on their own rela­tion­ships and the foun­da­tions that make them strong, whether root­ed in pas­sion, respect, or a com­bi­na­tion of both. The bit­ter­sweet real­i­ty of Saint’s inner con­flict is a poignant reminder that love requires patience, growth, and a will­ing­ness to com­pro­mise, mak­ing it a cen­tral theme in this emo­tion­al­ly charged chap­ter.