Chapter 402
As soon as the words left his mouth, there was a knock at the door.
It was Moran and Granger.
Moran swung the door open, eyebrows shooting up at the crowd inside. “Whoa, didn’t expect this many people!”
This was his family’s restaurant, after all. He and Granger had dropped by for dinner, and when the manager mentioned Thorne was here, Moran figured he’d pop in and say hi. He definitely hadn’t expected so many familiar faces.
Suddenly, having dinner alone with just Granger didn’t sound so appealing. “Thorne, with a crowd this lively, you mind if Granger and I join you all?”
Thorne turned to the others. “Professor Mack, Mr. Ferguson, what do you think ?”
Professor Mack had just welcomed the Hawkins and Spencer families to join, so with Thorne’s friends arriving, he couldn’t very well say no. “Of course not, the more the merrier. Mr. Ferguson?”
Stewart grinned. “Mr. Harden and Mr. Albright are old acquaintances of mine. I don’t mind at all.”
He’d been a little annoyed when the Hawkins and Spencer folks joined in earlier, but now? The more, the better. He was half hoping the whole town would pile in at this point.
Leah, who’d been hoping to run into Granger for weeks, finally couldn’t help herself. She stood up, smiling. “Granger, why don’t you sit here by me?”
Granger ignored her, and he and Moran waved over a server to pull up a couple of chairs next to Thorne.
They’d barely settled in when another knock sounded at the door.
This time, Dalton showed up with three of his company’s top engineers.
His firm had a hand in the
Henderson Group’s new project, so it wasn’t a shock to see him here. What did surprise him was the sheer
number of people, and the feer
Vesta, the Spencers, and the
that
Hawkins were all here, too.
He glanced around, then nodded to everyone. “Sorry, folks. Hope I’m not too late.”
Thorne smiled. “Not at all, Mr. Ramirez. We’ve only just started. Please, have a seat.”
Before sitting, Dalton shook hands with Professor Mack. “You must be Professor Mack. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Professor Mack stood and smiled. “And you must be Mr. Ramirez. Pleasure to finally meet you.”
Josh had reserved a massive private room, the kind with a huge round table that could easily seat two dozen. Even with the extra arrivals-Vesta, Granger, Moran, and the rest-there was plenty of space to spare.
Dalton took his seat and asked, “So, what were we talking about?”
Professor Mack jumped in, quickly recapping the discussion.
Dalton nodded, then turned to Vesta. “Mr. Smith went out of his way to let Mr. Hawkins know about this,” he said, “so it’s clear how much he values Mr. Hawkins’ involvement.”
Vesta smiled warmly. “I’m honored to have such support from the professor. I’ll do my best to study that article he recommended and not let him down.”
Dalton felt genuinely happy for her, seeing how much Professor Mack and Mr. Smith appreciated Vesta. t made him admire her even more. He found himself lingering on her face a little longer than he meant to and only looked away when he remembered Thorne was right there.
Of course, Vesta noticed Dalton’s attention, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit pleased. But she also noticed Granger, sitting quietly, sipping his coffee and not meeting her gaze. He hadn’t said a word about the praise coming her way, and that faint frown creased her brow before she turned away.