The Best Is yet to Come

The novel opens in a courtroom where John Cade Lincoln Jr., a wounded army veteran, pleads guilty to charges including disorderly conduct, assault and battery, destruction of property, and resisting arrest. Cade has been estranged from his family for six years, ever since his father, John Senior, berated him for enlisting rather than attending law school to join the family firm. His mother, Sara, remained silent during that argument, a silence Cade experienced as betrayal. Judge Walters notes his military service and Purple Heart, then sentences him to 365 days with 360 suspended, plus two years' probation requiring physical therapy, counseling, restitution, and 500 hours of community service. He ignores Sara when she tries to speak to him afterward.

Hope Goodwin, a teacher with master's degrees in education and counseling, has recently moved to the small coastal town of Oceanside, Washington, from Los Angeles. She teaches computer science and U.S. history at the local high school and serves as a school counselor. Hope is grieving the death of her twin brother, Hunter, who was killed in Afghanistan nearly two years earlier. Raised by grandparents after their mother abandoned them, Hope has no remaining family. She rents a cottage from Preston and Mellie Young; Preston runs the local animal shelter. When she finds Hunter's photograph among her unpacked boxes, grief overwhelms her. She confides in Willa O'Malley, owner of the coffee shop Bean There, who lost her own sister. Their shared grief forges a bond, and Preston soon asks Hope to volunteer at the shelter.

There she encounters Shadow, a severely abused German shepherd who is aggressive toward everyone but does not growl when Hope speaks gently to him. She also meets Cade, a withdrawn fellow volunteer who walks with a limp and barely speaks. Over the following weeks, Hope visits Shadow daily, slowly earning his trust. When Preston warns that Shadow may need to be euthanized if he cannot accept other people, Hope declares she will adopt him. Cade tells her Shadow watches the door, waiting for her to arrive, and Hope senses that Cade, like the dog, needs someone to believe in him.

Cade continues sessions with Harry Milton, his counselor at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and a fellow veteran. Harry reveals that Judge Walters's leniency stems from personal loss: Her son, a marine veteran, died by suicide six months after discharge. In group therapy with other wounded veterans, including Silas, who has severe burn scars, the sessions help reduce the nightmares that have plagued Cade since combat.

At school, Spencer Brown, a brilliant senior and likely valedictorian, confides in Hope that he wants to be more than friends with Callie Rhodes, a popular dance team member. Hope encourages him, and when Callie asks Spencer for help with a computer problem, he proposes a homecoming date in exchange. Callie reluctantly agrees. When Hope falls ill, Cade delivers medication and soup to her door. Mellie later reveals that Cade is completing court-ordered community service, but Hope decides his genuine care for the animals proves his character.

Tensions escalate at school. Hope catches Scott Pender, the football quarterback, pinning Spencer against the lockers and reports the incident to Dean Wilcox, the school's administrator. Her car tire is deliberately slashed, and Cade replaces it at the tire shop where he works. Hope invites him to dinner as thanks, but he declines. In group therapy, Silas confronts Cade, arguing they all cling to pain because it is familiar and reject good things out of fear. Cade begins to recognize the truth in these words.

Hope adopts Shadow and takes him to the beach, where Cade approaches, apologizes, and buys hot dogs from a food truck for their first real date. They share personal histories, though Hope holds back the full weight of her grief over Hunter. She asks Cade to chaperone homecoming with her, and after agonizing over his physical limitations, his concern for her safety around Scott overrides his fears. He arrives at her cottage to accept and kisses her.

At homecoming, Callie's true request is revealed: She found pills in her twin brother Ben's backpack and needed Spencer to hack into Ben's devices for evidence of the supplier. Despite this fraught beginning, Callie is warm at the dance, choosing Spencer publicly over Scott. As their relationship deepens, Hope finally reveals what she has been hiding: Hunter died in Afghanistan, and she has no family left. Cade holds her and promises she is no longer alone. He texts the next morning that he dreamed of her instead of having nightmares.

The fragile peace shatters when Sara visits Hope at school, asking her to serve as an intermediary for reconciliation with Cade. Hope declines, explaining it would betray Cade's trust. When Cade spots them together at the coffee shop, he assumes betrayal and blocks Hope's number. In therapy, Harry dismantles Cade's assumptions, but Cade refuses to reach out.

Callie tells Spencer she witnessed Scott handing Ben pills. When she confronted Scott, he claimed Coach Simmons would never let anything threaten the team. In desperation, Callie told Scott that Spencer was gathering evidence, putting him in danger. Hope reports the allegation to Dean Wilcox, but Coach Simmons dismisses it. Days later, Spencer's 1965 Dodge Dart, the car he and his father rebuilt together, erupts in flames in the school parking lot. Cade, working across the street, sprints to pull Hope and Spencer to safety. When he checks Hope for injuries, the wall between them collapses. That evening, she explains Sara came to her, and Cade accepts the truth and asks to start over.

During their suspension for fighting with Scott, Spencer and Callie reconnect and begin a genuine relationship. When Ben fails to answer his phone on a game day, Callie's twin intuition tells her something is wrong. They track his phone to the school, where Hope and Cade are already present. Cade picks the lock on Coach Simmons's office closet, and they find Ben bound and gagged. Ben reveals that Coach Simmons, not Scott, has been providing performance-enhancing drugs to the team, that Coach set Spencer's car on fire, and that Scott slashed Hope's tire on his own initiative. When Coach walks in and Hope reaches for her phone, he grabs her and flings her into a desk, knocking her unconscious. Cade struggles with him while Spencer calls 911. Sheriff Terrance arrests Coach Simmons, and Hope is treated at the hospital and released.

The fallout reshapes Oceanside. Coach Simmons is held without bail, and the football program is suspended. Spencer and Callie begin dating officially. Cade reaches out to his mother, and Sara invites him and Hope to a Veterans Day dinner. At the Lincoln home, Cade's father greets his son with a hug, choosing to move forward without mentioning their past argument. On the drive home, Cade tells Hope he loves her, and she feels the same.

In his final therapy session, Cade announces plans to pursue an engineering degree, supported by his parents. He asks Silas to be his best man. In the epilogue, Cade visits Judge Walters to thank her for the second chance that transformed his life. His limp is barely noticeable. He invites the judge to his January wedding to Hope. Outside the courthouse, Hope waits, and together they head home.