Vincent
"God damn it, Mallory," Vincent hissed under his breath, standing at the window. The trees waved lazily in the breeze. Soon their leaves would change color and begin to fall away. Vincent suddenly knew how they felt. He had known nothing but peace since moving here to Dallas, the steady rhythm of life with Alan; they both took community college classes during the day and worked at the same restaurant nights, and now it could all be upended by Mallory's call. She seemed to know Kate was in Skylin somehow, though Vince was the only one she had told, via email.
It wasn't like he hadn't known this time was coming. He just wasn't expecting it to be so soon. But anything that drew him back to Skylin would be too soon for him, although he longed to see Jeanette again, a Jeanette who had been vindicated right alongside Kate Wallis. Jeanette had scored big time with the defamation suit and could have gone anywhere by now, but Vincent knew why she stayed, for the I-told-you-so that was coming, for the arrests, and the trials, and the catharsis of vengeance. Jeanette's only crime had been wanting to fit in, and she had been vilified for it in the court of public opinion. Vincent had begged Kate for details, but she would not budge, and he could understand it.
It might be fun, going home as a character witness. He wanted the chance to rub Ben's face in what he had passed up for the sake of small-town propriety. Ben was still single. Ben would be a 40-year old virgin with a house full of cats unless he learned to break the Skylin chains and move on.
Vincent was grateful for his small town childhood, but he couldn't stay there forever and melt into the background like so many already had. Still, when Kate called, he would answer. As for Mallory, he'd just get a new number.