Chapter 453
“I wasn’t involved in the company’s later development,” Thorne said, his voice calm.
At that, Lean turned to Vesta, surprise flickering across his face. “Wait, Vesta, you’re that talented?”
Vesta shook her head. “Not really. The credit goes to the engineers. Most of them were already with the company before I took over. If the company’s doing well now, as you said, it’s all thanks to Thorne. I can’t really take much credit for it.”
Lean grinned. “You’re far too modest, Vesta.”
When Lean first heard that Vesta owed her career to Thorne’s generosity, he’d thought she wasn’t really all that remarkable, maybe even a little mismatched for Thorne.
But listening to them now-watching the way Thorne and Vesta spoke up for each other-he started to reconsider. Maybe Thorne really saw Vesta as an expert in her field, someone even more specialized than himself when it came to Al. Perhaps he’d handed the company to her because he believed she could lead it even further than he ever could.
After all, Thorne was known for his generosity-and his humility.
It made perfect sense that he’d do something like this.
Vesta caught Lean’s compliment and quickly shook her head. “No, really, I’m not just being modest…”
Soon, the conversation shifted and they moved on to lighter topics, swapping funny stories about their time in Goldland.
They’d all studied abroad there, so there was plenty of common ground, and Vesta, ever the natural conversationalist, found it easy to connect with Lean- even though this was their first real meeting. By the end of dinner, everyone was relaxed and at ease, laughter flowing freely. In fact, at times, Vesta and Lean seemed to get on even better than Lean and Thorne did.
Lean was only in town for business with his father, and he’d be heading back home tomorrow.
After dinner, with other plans still ahead of him, Lean stood to leave.
Before going, he shook Vesta’s hand. “Vesta, it was great meeting you. You’re interesting and very charming.”
He paused, glancing at Thorne with a brief smile as if wanting to say something more, but before he could, Vesta responded graciously, “You’re too kind, Lean.”
After saying their goodbyes, Lean waved, turning toward his car-only to spot Charlene and Stewart Ferguson walking out of the restaurant with their business associates.
Lean didn’t recognize Stewart or the others, but he spotted Charlene right away.
He pointed, surprised, and turned to Thorne. “That woman over there isn’t she
?”
Thorne didn’t answer. Charlene had
noticed Lean too. For a moment, she seemed to recognize him, but she quickly looked away. Normally, she wouldn’t have paid any attention to Thorne’s companions, but something about Lean nagged at her memory. Content befongs to
They’d only met once, years ago, back in Goldland. She’d known he was one of Thorne’s closer friends from their university days. When Lean visited Thorne during a trip home, she’d happened to be there as well, and they’d crossed paths-though, if she recalled, it hadn’t been the most pleasant encounter.
But that was all a long time ago.
She felt a strange sense of nostalgia—so much time had passed in the blink of an eye.
A business partner was speaking to her, pulling her back to the present. Charlene turned away, focusing on the conversation and deliberately avoiding another glance at Thorne’s group.
Lean took the hint from Charlene’s cool demeanor. Glancing back at Thorne and then at Charlene with her new companion, he seemed to understand something unspoken. He didn’t say anything more just offered a brief farewell to Thorne and Vesta before climbing into his car and driving off.
Vesta wasn’t surprised that Lean knew Charlene. She’d only glanced at Charlene and Stewart when they’d appeared, then thought nothing more of it.
Thinking back on the dinner, Vesta smiled at Thorne. “Mr. Lean really is a good person-straightforward and easy to be around. I actually enjoyed his company.” Thorne smiled back. “He is,” he agreed.