\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 12 Small-town Dinners\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
M\u00a0<\/p>\n
46)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the event, Vincent walked toward the school building with his assistant, Abbott Clarke. Scarlett made sure her students were safely back in their classroom, then headed to the nurse\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent was waiting for Marcus in the office, standing by the window. When he saw Scarlett walk past, he froze. He hadn\u2019t expected to see her here. But Scarlett didn\u2019t even glance at him- she kept her eyes straight ahead, like he was just another stranger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marcus noticed Vincent\u2019s stare and frowned. \u201cMr. Stewart, everything okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent\u2019s gaze followed Scarlett until she disappeared around the corner. He turned to Abbott, his voice low. \u201cDidn\u2019t we keep our travel plans quiet?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abbott nodded, confused. \u201cYes, sir. Only a handful of people knew you were coming here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent\u2019s jaw tightened. He thought back to their early marriage-how Scarlett had once followed him to a business trip, pretending to be \u201cin the area\u201d so she could see him. He\u2019d assumed she\u2019d stopped that kind of thing, but maybe he\u2019d been wrong. \u201cDo you think she followed us here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abbott hesitated, then shrugged. \u201cIt\u2019s possible. She used to do that before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before Vincent could say more, Marcus walked in, apologetic. \u201cMr. Stewart, I\u2019m so sorry for the wait-I had to make sure the kids got back to class. Thank you for being so patient.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent waved it off. \u201cNo need to apologize. I was just\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marcus cut him off, grabbing his arm. \u201cListen, Mr. Stewart-this town\u2019s struggling. Everyone\u2019s moving away, and the kids\u2026 they don\u2019t have much hope. What you\u2019re doing for them? It\u2019s a miracle. The teachers and I wanted to thank you-we set up a small dinner at the diner downtown. Nothing fancy, just home-cooked food. Please say you\u2019ll come.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent was about to decline-he hated small-town dinners, hated the forced chitchat-but Marcus\u2019 eyes were so earnest. He found himself nodding. \u201cSure. I\u2019ll be there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At 5:30, Scarlett got a call from Marcus, begging her to join the dinner. \u201cWe need someone who\u2019s \u2018been around\u201d,\u201d he\u2019d said. \u201cYou\u2019re the only one who\u2019s lived in the city-you can keep the conversation going.\u201d She\u2019d tried to say no, but Marcus was impossible to refuse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When she walked into the diner\u2019s private room, she froze. The table was small-only seven or eight people, all school staff-and at the head of it sat Vincent, with Abbott beside him. She hadn\u2019t realized the dinner was for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent looked up when the door opened. He wasn\u2019t surprised-he\u2019d assumed Scarlett had\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:29 Sat, Jan 31\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 12 Small-town Dinners\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
found out about the dinner and shown up to \u201caccidentally\u201d run into him. But then Marcus spoke, and Vincent\u2019s brow furrowed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Theron! So glad you could make it-take a seat!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Theron?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent stared at Scarlett. He\u2019d forgotten she was a doctor. Back when they were married, she\u2019d given up her career to be a full-time mom-he\u2019d never thought she\u2019d go back to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett ignored his gaze, scanning the table for an empty seat. She picked the one farthest from Vincent, sliding into it quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent\u2019s frown deepened. Abbott noticed, too-he\u2019d worked for Vincent long enough to know Scarlett used to jump at any chance to sit next to him. Now, she was practically across the room. What was going on?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marcus raised his glass, launching into a toast to Vincent. \u201cTo Mr. Stewart-thank you for giving our kids a future!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone cheered, and Vincent took a small sip of his wine, polite but distant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett kept her head down, picking at her mashed potatoes. She joined in the toasts when she had to,\u00a0<\/p>\n
but otherwise stayed quiet. She didn\u2019t want to talk to Vincent, didn\u2019t want to even look at\u00a0<\/p>\n
him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, Marcus turned to her, raising his glass again. \u201cDr. Theron-this one\u2019s for you. In the two months you\u2019ve been here, you\u2019ve fixed every scraped knee, every ear infection, every panic attack. These kids love you-you\u2019re like a second mom to them. Thank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two months?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent\u2019s head snapped up. Scarlett had been here for two months? That meant she hadn\u2019t followed him-she\u2019d been here long before he\u2019d even planned the donation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked at her again. She was wearing a simple blue dress, no makeup except for a touch of lip balm, but she looked different. Happier. More alive. Back when she\u2019d been stuck at Oakland Villa, she\u2019d always looked tired-like she was just going through the motions. Now, there was a light in her eyes he\u2019d never seen before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the first time in years, Vincent found himself wondering-who was Scarlett Theron, really? And why had he never bothered to find out?\u00a0<\/p>\n
1.0K\u00a0<\/p>\n
B\u00a0<\/p>\n
212\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:29 Sat, Jan 3 \u2191\u00a0<\/p>\n
Awakened Housewife Ignore Betrayer\u2019s Begs\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silent Dreams Never Die \u2014 Author: John Miller 12 \u00a0 Chapter 12 Small-town Dinners\u00a0 :\u00a0 M\u00a0 46)\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 After the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-impossible-condition-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}