The Keeper of Stars

Jack drives Ellie to her interview on a Friday morning. After he drops her off, he takes a walk. He stops at the bookstore that Ellie frequents because he sees a poster of his book in the window. Sam recognizes Jack from many years ago. He is thrilled to hear that Jack and Ellie are back together. Jack asks whether it is true that Sam is selling the bookstore. Sam explains that although the bookstore is his dream and he has poured his life into it, he now realizes that nothing is more important than his relationship with his wife and moving to protect her health. He mentions that Ellie has expressed interest in owning the bookstore herself. Jack later learns that Ellie has always dreamed of owning a bookstore and using its collection to promote various career paths to girls. When Jack collects Ellie after her interview, she is shaking with nervous excitement. She tells him that, unofficially, she is now one of two remaining candidates for the job. The problem is that she has learned that NASA would want her to move to Houston and work full-time.

That night, Jack and Ellie have dinner with Zora and her partner, Trey. Ellie mentions that if she known about having to relocate to Texas, she would not have applied for the NASA job, as she considers Bloomington her home. When Trey and Jack have a moment alone, Trey asks whether Jack would consider moving to Houston to be with Ellie there. Jack says that his business and his mother are in Sims Chapel, so he must stay there. Trey tells Jack that he moved with Zora to Bloomington so that Zora could work for Ellie. Jack asks whether Trey has any regrets, and Trey assures Jack that he has none.

Back in Sims Chapel, Ellie and Jack discuss their dreams for marriage and children. When Ellie talks about wishing she could stay in Sims Chapel, Jack tells Ellie that she can: They have enough money that working is not necessary for either of them, and she can simply quit working and stay in Tennessee permanently. She tells him that her work is important to her and that, like him, she would feel lost without it. For the first time, Jack wonders if their relationship is doomed to fail a second time. When NASA calls to invite Ellie to Houston for a final interview, Jack tells her that he does not like the idea of her moving to Houston. He asks whether she could really leave teaching, Zora, and Amelia behind. She asks whether he would consider moving to Houston with her, and he says that he would have to think about it.

While Ellie is in Houston, Jack throws himself into work and tries to distract himself with fishing and a visit to his mother. Helen notices his mood and comments that he is head over heels in love with Ellie again. When he complains about being asked to move to Houston, she counsels him to listen to his heart and seek clarity about whether Ellie is or is not his highest priority. She reminds him that Ellie’s intelligence and ambition are part of what made him fall in love with her. If he lets Ellie go this time, Helen warns, it is unlikely that he will get another chance.

Ellie returns from Houston, excited to announce that she has been offered the job. Jack tells her that he thinks she should turn the job down. She is taken aback and tells him that she needs a little time to think. Over the next few days, Ellie vacillates between wanting to go and wanting to stay. She still has hope that Jack will change his mind about going with her, but when it becomes clear that he will choose Sims Chapel over her, they argue bitterly. Jack accuses her of never being satisfied with what she already has and having an endless need to rack up new professional accomplishments. He accuses her of abandoning him again, and she questions whether he can ever really forgive her for leaving him when they were younger. Ellie leaves that night, leaving behind a note saying that she will be in touch in a couple of days once she knows what she wants to do next.

Ellie takes the job in Texas. Jack tells her that he will be staying in Sims Chapel and does not want to try to maintain even a friendship, as “with a woman like Ellie, it [i]s all or nothing” as far as he is concerned (271). Knowing that she will miss Zora, Ellie invites her to work with her in Houston, but Zora says that she cannot ask Trey to move again. Zora urges Ellie to reconsider. She calls Ellie “too driven” and says that Ellie should think about the future (273), when her job is no longer so important to her. Zora tells Ellie that love, unlike a career, is forever. Amelia calls Ellie a few days before Ellie is supposed to move to beg her to see their mother, whom Ellie has still not spoken to. 

When Marie arrives, she immediately apologizes to Ellie for the way she acted during their last conversation and for interfering in Ellie’s life. She explains that she treated Ellie differently from Amelia because she saw a potential in Ellie that she did not see in Amelia. As they talk further, Ellie feels her anger fading. She confesses to her mother that Jack has refused to come to Houston. Marie tells Ellie that her own beliefs have changed since Clara’s death: “Life is too short to throw away love” (278), she tells Ellie, counseling Ellie to give Jack more time to come around.

Ellie goes to see Sam to tell him that she cannot buy the bookstore and that she is moving to Houston. He is shocked to hear that she and Jack are likely breaking up again. He gives her a copy of Seeing Stars, the book that first got her interested in astronomy when she was a small child, telling her to share it with her own daughter someday. That night, Ellie wonders if she is making the right choice and considers calling Jack. Finally, she decides that if he wanted to speak to her, he would call. The next morning, there is a knock at the door: It is Jack, who apologizes for the way he has acted and says that he would like to come with her to Houston. She tells him that she declined the job offer earlier that morning. She apologizes for her part in their fight, and they kiss.

Ellie returns to Sam’s store to let him know that she has changed her mind and would like to buy the store. He tells her that someone has already bought it but that perhaps she can wait for the new owner, who will be by soon, and try to buy the store from him. Jack arrives, and she tells him the bad news. When he sees how crushed she is, he tells her that many years ago, someone advised him to win her heart by getting her an unexpected gift. He slips the key to the store into her hand. She asks how she can ever repay him, and he gets down on one knee to propose. Ellie joyfully accepts.

On Jack and Ellie’s wedding day, Amelia, Ellie’s maid of honor, helps her get dressed. They head for the boats that will take everyone to Parrott Island. Helen tells Jack how pleased she is to see him marrying Ellie and offers him items belonging to her father and brother to carry with him during the ceremony. After Jack and Ellie exchange vows, he whispers the word “Mockingbirds” into her ear (293).

In September of 1993, in Bloomington, Ellie looks through her memory box at mementos of her years with Jack, their daughter, and their granddaughter. She is feeling wistful; after a long career, she is finally retiring. She and Jack head for the university, where Ellie is being honored. The university president speaks about how valuable she has been to the school and how respected she is for her work and dedication. He presents her with a prestigious teaching award, and then Dr. Dale Clement, the scientist who once offered Ellie the job at NASA, surprises her with an appearance. Clement explains that years after Ellie turned down the job on the lunar team, NASA offered her a part-time job on the Hubble Telescope team, and Ellie split her time between Bloomington and Houston for many years. He presents Ellie with the NASA Distinguished Public Service Award. After Ellie accepts the award, she makes a brief speech, talking about her love for astronomy and for the people who have been a part of her professional journey. Finally, she thanks Jack and their daughter, Caroline, as well as the members of their families who could not be present at the ceremony, for their patience, understanding, and love.

In May of 2020, in Sims Chapel, Jack returns to his frame story. He is on the water, and as he passes sites that figured in his and Ellie’s love story, he recalls their lives together, spending winters in Indiana and summers in Tennessee. He imagines Ellie sitting in the bow of his boat, speaking to him. They reminisce briefly, and then Ellie tells him that she knows what he is doing is difficult but that it is the right thing to do. Jack is headed for Parrott Island to lay Ellie’s ashes to rest. On the island, he follows her directions, scattering her ashes in places where she will be able to see the stars. To his astonishment, he finds the memory box that was missing from the house. Inside is a letter from Ellie. She has placed the box here for him to find after her death. She tells him that, like mockingbirds, they will find one another again—this time, in heaven. She asks him to rebury the arrowhead so that someone else can find it, and she thanks him for their time together. Ellie closes by saying that he is right about people being the “authors of [their] own destiny” and thanks God for making Jack her “keeper of stars” (307).