"Claire, tell me right now, were Karla and Oakley the last ones to arrive?" Shirley asked, her voice laced with frantic curiosity.
"Wasn't Latham the last one to show up?" Claire teased on purpose.
"I mean before the banquet started! The one who arrived last and sat at the doctors' table-was that Oakley?"
Karla had sat at the main table, looking incredibly close to Claire. Shirley suddenly remembered Claire mentioning that Oakley's manager had taken her to the movie set. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that the duo from last night was indeed Karla and Oakley.
"Since you figured it out, why didn't you go ask for an autograph last night?" Claire finally admitted it.
A rush of vindication hit Shirley. "It was really Oakley?"
"Yep. Didn't I tell you? Karla is my aunt."
"When Oakley heard she was coming to Apex, he decided to tag along to clear his head."
Shirley gasped in delight. "Does that mean he's fully recovered? I couldn't see any scars on his face."
"He should be just about healed."
In truth, there was still a faint mark, but Claire's scar-removal cream worked wonders. It was exactly because of that cream that Oakley was so profoundly grateful to her.
"Claire, we're such good friends! How could you not tell me Oakley was coming to your Graduation Celebration? I almost screamed right there at the dinner table!" Doing that in front of all their school teachers and administrators would have been mortifying.
"I just wanted to surprise you. It ruins the fun if I spell it out," Claire defended herself. "Besides, if I had told you, you wouldn't have slept a wink the night before. You'd be obsessing over it."
"That sort of makes sense, but it also sounds like a cheap excuse," Shirley muttered.
Claire didn't entertain the argument. Oakley was in Apex for a few days on a private vacation, not a fan meet-and-greet.
"Anyway, you got to attend the same banquet as your idol. That makes you way luckier than the rest of his fans."
Shirley gladly accepted that consolation. Claire hung up the phone, washed up, and went to bed.
The next day, she was scheduled to accompany Pandora back to the countryside. Dane and the rest of the Churchill family came along as well. The open-air village banquets were always much livelier than any city gathering.
Padgett looked around the place where his daughter once lived, a complicated knot tightening in his chest. He couldn't fathom how she had managed to survive out here in the countryside.
Melissa had always been the apple
of the Churchill family's eye,
thoroughly spoiled by everyone. She had never known true hardship. Even during the most difficult times,,
his
Padgett had giver his precious
daughter the absolute best of
everything.
Her two older brothers had always yielded to her every whim. It was true what they said-marrying the wrong man was a one-way ticket to misery Padgett simply couldn understand what had been going through his daughter's mind.
Even though the houses in The James Village didn't look entirely run-down, the dirt roads were clearly rough to navigate. Didn't the gravel hurt her feet?
Taking one look at Padgett's face, Claire knew he was aching for his daughter. However, as they followed the path all the way to The James Estate, his expression shifted entirely.
Clearly, a wealthy rural family was a different breed altogether. It was a sprawling, historic compound with deep courtyards, and just the real estate alone was worth a fortune.
More importantly, people from that era loved to bury their wealth all over their properties. He had once read about an archaeological team unearthing dozens of vats filled with gold bars and silver from a similar estate.
While Padgett wasn't sure if the James family had hidden treasure, their deep-rooted heritage proved they were far from poor. As for why Pandora continued to stay out here, itlikely just came down to nostalgia and a genuine preference for the country lifestyle.