Joseph’s quick thinking saved the day. The lunch session went by smoothly without more awkward episodes. Everyone ate their fill and dispersed to continue with their respective chores.
Nora arrived as we were about to send Channing home.
“Grandpa!” We could hear her shouting as she ran in from a distance away.
Channing looked up and was elated to see his granddaughter. “What is my little girl doing here?”
“I am here to meet my friends.” Nora held on to Channing’s arms and teased, “Are you here to meet your old friends?”
Channing looked at Ashton and smiled, “My old friend is no longer around. This is the grandson of the old Mr. Fuller. Let me introduce them to you. This is Ashton, and next to him is his wife, Rachel.”
Nora was baffled. She looked at me and mouthed, “Wife?”
I just smiled and did not elaborate.
She scowled at Ashton and spoke sarcastically. “Hi Ashton, when did you get a new wife?”
“You little imp! Mind your manners and stop spouting nonsense.” Channing knocked her on her head and chided.
Nora flinched but did not pursue the matter as she wasn’t sure what transpired. She chatted with Mr. Oberick for a while then arranged for a driver to send him home.
After Mr. Oberick left, she turned back to Ashton and Rachel. “I did not know it is okay for a married boss to have an affair with his subordinate, let alone doing it openly right in the face of the wife! Well done, you two!”
She then turned to chastise me. “Knowing my grandpa is not aware of the situation, why did you not explain to him?”
“It doesn’t matter. Let it go.” I gave her a reassuring smile as I reminded her of the group of friends waiting in the car. “Have all of you eaten?”
She shook her head. “We just arrived and are about to have our late lunch here.”
I nodded and urged them to go for their meal. In the meantime, I headed back to finish off my work. We were all happily looking forward to camping.
It was almost eight at night when we finally set off to the field where we planned to camp. We were a little worried as it was getting late and it would be difficult to set up the tents in darkness. Luckily, the field was not far away.
When we reached the field, someone had already set up a tentage. Nora glanced at me and queried, “Did you invite any guests?”
“Nope. Why did you ask?” I was puzzled.
She pointed at the grey tent. There was a light inside the tent and, in the flickering light, we could see a lanky figure standing outside.
Nora observed I did not figure out who that was, so she forewarned, “That’s Ashton!”
I finally had a better look when we drove nearby. Indeed, it was Ashton. It looked like there was someone else in the tent. Nora let out a curse, “Disgusting! Why can’t they be more discreet?”
She frowned at me and accused, “Don’t you have anything to say? Why are you so emotionless?”
“What should I be saying?” I shook my head and declined to engage her further in her quibble.
I was the one who pushed Ashton away. If he found a better half, I should give him my blessings. I have no right to be jealous nor angry.
Nora was probably exasperated and gave up on me. She jumped off the car and went up to Ashton. “What a coincidence, Mr. Fuller.”
Ashton was poised and composed as usual. “I had heard about this beautiful place. Took the opportunity to visit since we are around the area,” he nonchalantly replied.
“Ohhhh…, looks like we are meant to meet again,” Nora sneered.
Rachel came out from the tent. We could see she was startled and had not expected to see us. She hid her surprise and greeted us with a smile.
The rest got off the car. Tabitha and her fiancé were attracted by the beauty of the place. They immediately went for a nice, romantic tour around the field.
The stars were shining brightly and the field glowed warmly under the moonlight. Laurel and Tessa were also captivated by the beautiful sight. The gentle cool breeze welcomed us to a perfect star-gazing night.
Tessa’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Ashton there, but when she noticed Rachel was next to him, her face fell.
After the earlier incident, Tessa and I kept our distance. We would merely greet each other politely when we meet.
Armond was a quiet and reserved guy, quite the opposite of mischievous Nora. He unloaded the tents from the car and started working on them.
Laurel and Tessa also started putting up their tent. No one knew if they deliberately chose the site next to Ashton’s tent.
Nora was loafing about. She ran to me to gossip. “Do you think Tessa still has an eye for Ashton? And that Ashton, is he really going to share a tent with Rachel tonight?”
I shrugged, ignored her, and continued fixing my tent. I could hear her mumbling, “What the hell is going on!.”
I turned around and teased her, “So, are you going to slip into Armond’s tent tonight?”
