The next morning, Thorne Henderson, Jasmine Henderson, and Vesta Hawkins arrived early at the sports arena where Jasmine’s competition was set to take

place.

Shortly after, Granger Harden and Daisy joined them. Jasmine waved when she spotted them. “Granger, Daisy, glad you could make it!”

Daisy approached Jasmine with a reassuring smile and shook her hand. “Ready for the big game, Minnie? You nervous at all?”

Jasmine was calm and collected, shaking her head. “Nah, not really.”

Granger had other pressing matters to attend to. He was only there to drop Daisy off.

Thorne, noticing Granger’s urgency, said, “Don’t worry, I’ll look after Daisy. You go take care of your business.”

Granger nodded. “Thanks, I’ll catch up with you all for lunch.”

“Sounds good.”

Their friendship seemed as solid as ever, but Vesta couldn’t help but wonder…

She observed them quietly. If Thorne knew about Granger’s feelings for Charlene Ross, would they still be this close?

Granger noticed Vesta’s gaze and gave her a slight nod, but didn’t speak. He turned and left, leaving Vesta with a wry smile. Ever since Granger took a liking to Charlene, he’d grown noticeably distant from her.

Meanwhile, across town, Charlene was at home when she received a call from Stewart Ferguson. “Hey, my folks and I are heading out for lunch. They haven’t seen you in a while and have been asking about you. Would you like to join us?”

Charlene hadn’t seen Stewart’s parents, Hector and Darleen Ferguson, in quite some time so she agreed. As lunchtime approached, she drove over to the restaurant.

When she arrived, Stewart and his parents were just getting there too. Darleen greeted her warmly, holding Charlene’s hand. “It’s been too long, Charlene. You look wonderful as ever.”

As they chatted, Moran Albright pulled up and paused when he saw Charlene with Stewart and his parents. He seemed surprised, but Charlene’s smile faded slightly and she quickly looked away.

After greeting Hector and Darleen, Moran went inside the restaurant. Once inside, he took out his phone and called Thorne.

Thorne picked up quickly. “What’s up?”

Moran’s voice was teasing. “Guess who I just saw?”

Thorne, unimpressed, asked back, “Who did you see?”

Moran rolled his eyes, knowing Thorne had already guessed. “Charlene, And she was with Stewart, Mr. Ferguson, and Darleen. It looked like a family meeting. Darleen was holding Charlene’s hand like she was already part of the family. I’m telling you, it seems like they’re getting serious!”

Thorne’s response was nonchalant. “Oh, is that so?”

Moran sighed, knowing Thorne wasn’t interested in the gossip. “Has Minnie finished her event yet? How’d she do?”

“She did well this morning.”

“Okay.” Moran realized his gossip wasn’t hitting the mark with Thorne. Still itching to share, he decided to message Vesta and Granger in their group chat.

By this time, Thorne, Vesta, and the others had arrived at their lunch spot, just as Granger rejoined them. Seeing Moran’s notifications, Granger and Vesta checked their messages.

When Vesta read that Charlene was with Stewart and his parents, she assumed her recent conversation with Darleen had influenced their meeting. She thought maybe they were giving Charlene a little reality check.

But then Moran sent another message.

“Darleen was all smiles, calling Charlene by her first name like she’s a daughter-in-law already. Looks like they genuinely like her, and things might be getting serious between her and Stewart!”

“Remember at Irma’s birthday, Darleen mentioned she’d be ready to plan their wedding whenever they were. I thought she was joking, but it seems she was serious!”

Vesta froze upon reading that. As she processed the information, her expression shifted dramatically.