Summer Wild ✔️

Chapter Fifteen

"Hey, Gigi, what's up?" James said as soon as he hit the call button on his cell phone. He wondered why she was calling him instead of his sister. When they were teenagers, she had a massive crush on him, but when it was clear he was not interested, she moved on and stopped calling him unless it was something important.

"Sorry to bother you this late at night. Do you know where Lola is? I have been calling her and she is not picking up."

"I have no idea." He put the wine glass on the table and motioned Amelia to mute the movie they were watching on Netflix. "She has been a bit busy since you guys went to England and then to Canada with Meghna. So, how was your vacation? Fun?"

"No, I was on holiday with my partner and Meghna is still in India. The last I knew, she was attending a relative's wedding..." Gigi sounded nonplussed. Her voice became tangled with caution as she trailed off as if cottoning onto something. "Um, we are all supposed to travel together. Maybe this was what your sister was referring to."

"Maybe." James was not convinced. He clearly remembered Charlotte raving about her Vancouver itinerary involving hikes and swims in the lakes. She had used their company, WEC, of which she was a shareholder, to book her flight. "Now you mentioned it. She has been MIA lately." His sixth sense went on alert.

"Oh no, I have talked to her... It's just I can't find her today." Gigi rushed, stumbling over her words as she assured him. It only made James even more wary.

What in the blue blazes is going on? he thought. His lips flattened into a thin line of contemplation.

"I gotta go. When I talk to Lola, I will tell her you said hi. Bye." Gigi bade him night and hung up, afraid she had already given too much away.

"Who was it?" Amelia asked when he stowed his phone away.

"Gigi. She was looking for Charlotte," James told her. "These girls have endless gossip to share. I mean, they were on a trip only a few weeks ago."

"Oh yeah. Lola texted me about it. She went to Lake Joffrey in Canada and sent me a picture. It's beautiful. We should go there. I want to swim in this lake too. It looks as if it's hiding the snow-capped mountains and the lush greenery in its soulful depths. " The writer in Amelia raved about the photograph until she stopped sheepishly. "Sorry, I do get carried away with darlings and adverbs."

Pretending he knew what the 'darlings' were, he laughed and kissed her lips. "Mmm, you taste like popcorn and wine." A soft scent of rose lingered on her skin. The familiarity of the fragrance filled him with warmth and incomparable peace that had been slightly disturbed by his sister's mystery antics of late.

Grabbing her phone, Amelia swiped through it. "Here, let me show you the picture I was talking about. Here. Look."

James stared at it. Charlotte was in her swimsuit in a gorgeous lake besieged with mountains and verdant trees. His eyes snagged on the indescribable happiness on her face. The likes of which he had not seen in a long while. A frown tugged at his lips at the thought of the photographer. If Meghna and Gigi had not accompanied Charlotte on her summer-wild adventures, then who did?

All three girls were tight regarding their friendship, but it had not been enough for Lola. She had slipped into despair since her kidnapping. And no matter how much she hid them with concealer and her breezy persona, the shadows beneath her eyes told a different story.

It's a guy, whispered his conscience. She has found someone.

But then why keep it a secret when her past boyfriend never had been one?