Chapter 17 - SIX MONTHS LATER
Six months changed more than I expected.
Daniel completed the hospitality management program.
He earned his position without my interference.
His first assignment was at a hotel in Louisville.
Before leaving Nashville, he stopped by my office.
He wore a new suit.
Navy.
Well fitted.
He looked nervous.
“Do I look like management?”
“You look like Daniel.”
He smiled.
“That is more useful.”
Vanessa had disappeared from Nashville society.
Not literally.
She simply stopped attending the events that had once defined her life.
She sold several designer pieces and donated the money to a workforce housing charity.
I only learned about it because Patricia mentioned it.
Vanessa never publicized it.
That impressed me more than any statement.
She completed hundreds of hours of volunteer work as part of a settlement related to her role in the financial matter.
She also began working for a small nonprofit unaffiliated with her family.
Not as director.
Not as spokesperson.
Administrative support.
Ethan heard about it too.
He said nothing.
The Mitchell Foundation was restructured under an independent board.
Patricia remained involved only in a limited advisory role.
George’s case moved through court.
His lawyers negotiated.
His reputation never recovered.
But life did what life always does.
It continued.
One Saturday morning, Ethan joined me at the farmhouse.
We walked through the vegetable garden.
He stopped beside the tomatoes.
“Do you regret testing her?”
I thought carefully.
“I regret that you were hurt.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“I don’t regret learning the truth before the wedding.”
He nodded.
“Neither do I.”
A breeze moved through the trees.
Then he smiled faintly.
“But next time I’m serious about someone, maybe don’t dress like a homeless woman and infiltrate the party.”
“No promises.”
May you like
He laughed.
The sound reminded me that he was healing.
