Chapter 869
Friday afternoon, Charlene Ross finally wrapped up the paperwork on her desk.
Rubbing her aching shoulders, she took a quick breather. Suddenly remembering something, she grabbed her phone and dialed Jasmine Henderson.
Jasmine picked up almost immediately. “Mom.”
“Hey,” Charlene said gently. “Are you out of school?”
“Yeah.”
They had only spoken once since Jasmine started the new semester, and Charlene had been the one to initiate it.
Over the past few days, neither of them had reached out.
Charlene wasn’t particularly surprised, nor did she mind.
Regardless of the distance between them, Jasmine was still her daughter. She had a responsibility to check in on her.
Guiding the conversation, she asked, “Do you have any fun plans lined up for the weekend?”
“No,” Jasmine said, her tone flat. “Dad’s on a business trip. He’s not home.”
Charlene never went out of her way to track Thorne’s whereabouts, so she was completely clueless about his trip.
“I see…” She paused for a beat before offering, “My company is having a weekend retreat. We’re heading out soon. Do you want to come with me? It’ll just be my coworkers, though no other kids. And I’ll probably be busy with work, so I can’t keep you company the whole time—”
Jasmine hadn’t sounded thrilled when she first answered, but her mood visibly lifted at the offer. “That’s okay. I want to go.”
“Great. Have someone pack your bags. I’ll come pick you up in a bit.”
“Okay!”
Just under an hour later, Charlene pulled up to Thorne and Jasmine’s residence.
Jasmine was already waiting at the door. Wearing her backpack, she sprinted toward the car the second it stopped. “Mom!”
“Hey there.” Charlene bent down and gave her a warm hug.
The butler, standing nearby, chimed in, “Dinner is already prepared, Charlene. Would you like to eat before you head out?”
Not wanting to step foot inside, Charlene declined. “No thanks. The company has a dinner arranged tonight, so I’ll just eat at the hotel.”
“As you wish…”
The butler didn’t push. Charlene and Jasmine climbed into the car and drove off.
Once they were settled, Charlene pulled Jasmine’s backpack onto her lap. “Did you bring your homework?”
“I already finished it.”
“…Alright then.”
She still unzipped the bag, noticing that Jasmine had packed a few schoolbooks anyway.
Having rarely involved herself in Jasmine’s life over the last couple of years she flipped through the pages to see what the curriculum looked like these days.
After skimming through the material, she slipped the book back inside Watching Jasmine flip through a
comic she asked, “How are you g
adjusting to the new school
“It’s fine. The teachers and kids are nice.”
“Did you join any extracurriculars you like?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good.”
Charlene was about to ask another question when her phone rang.
It was Gaylord Hearst.
She answered, but before she could get a word in, he asked, “Are you bailing on the retreat?”
“No, I’m coming. Why?”
“Oh, nothing. I just… didn’t see you at the office and thought you changed your mind.”
If she wasn’t going, there was no point in him going either.
He had been looking forward to this for days. After all, he rarely
getaw
ever got to spend time with her
outside of work.
“I’m coming. I just had an errand to run, so I left the office a little early.”
“That’s a relief,” Gaylord said.