It wasn''t a call, but a message from Moran in their four-person group chat.


    Moran had tagged everyone. [Alright, people, spill. What''s the n for tonight? Are we doing something?]


    Granger''s reply was almost instant: [No ns. What do you have in mind?]


    Moran: [That''s what I like to hear!]


    He then tagged the other two. [Thorne, Vesta, what about you guys?]


    Vesta saw the message but didn''t reply immediately, waiting to see what Thorne


    would say.


    Thorne read the chat, then typed out a response: [I''m at the Ross family''s ce for dinner right now. Not sure about tonight, it depends on what Minnie wants to do.]


    As soon as the message sent, both Granger and Vesta stared at their screens, stunned. They never would have imagined Thorne spending Christmas at the Ross house.


    Moran''s reaction was a string of question marks and exmation points. [WTF! Wait, you''re at the Ross family''s ce? Right now?]


    Thorne: [Yeah.]


    Moran: [...]


    Before Moran could formte another thought, Thorne sent another message: [We''re still eating, so I can''t chat. Have fun, you guys.]


    With that, he put his phone down and went back to his meal.


    It took Moran a moment to recover. [Thorne is really something else—]


    He trailed off unsure what to say. Was it that he doted on Jasmine so much that he''d even spend a holiday with her mother''s family? Then. again Jasmine was his daughter. Wasn''t it natural for a father to makepromises for his child?


    He assumed Vesta must have already known about this arrangement, so after collecting himself, he tagged her again. [Vesta, looks like Thorne''s probably busy tonight. What about you? Are you free?]


    Vesta was still reeling from the news. Seeing Moran''s message, she realized he must think she''d been aware of Thorne''s ns all along, and that he was only there for Jasmine. She decided not to correct him.


    After a long pause, she finally replied: [I''m not free either. I promised my grandmothers I''d stay home with them tonight. You guys have fun without me.]


    Moran: [Alright then.]


    He and Granger then started making their own ns.


    Like Moran, Granger had also assumed Vesta knew about Thorne''s dinner and that it was purely for Jasmine''s sake. A part of him wanted to call Charlene, just as York and Gaylord had and ask her out: But he felt he had no right to They weren''t exactly friends, and he''d never confessed his feelings for her. Shaking off the thought, he focused on his phone and replied to Moran.


    Meanwhile, Vesta sent a private message to Thorne: [So you and Minnie are having dinner with the Ross family? I bet she''s thrilled. Merry Christmas, by the way.]


    Thorne saw the message and typed back a simple reply: [Merry Christmas.]


    That was it. Nothing more. But


    seeing those two words made Vesta smile. Although she had wanted to ask him out, she knew from his group message that the chances of him epting were slim. Sending a sluppet simple text was a safer bet. The fact that he''d replied at all felt like a small step forward for their rtionship.