“Jolly! Why are you here? Didn’t you go to Europe?”
Rachel couldn’t believe that Jolly, who had been missing for some time, appeared in front of her as if she had fallen from the sky.
“We did, but we went back to Enistan because we were worried about you guys when we heard that something happened back there after a few days of being there. We still didn’t hear anything about you at all. We didn’t know what happened until we returned to Riverdale.”
“You even went back to Enistan? Have you guys gone crazy?!”
“Don’t worry. Things were a little unexpected, but Leroy and I are safe now. I will explain to you later.”
“Is Leroy here as well? Where is he?”
“He is outside.”
Following Jolly’s gaze, Rachel looked outside the French windows of the homestay, and suddenly saw a man and a woman standing in front of a stall selling lollipops that was set up in front of a shop across the street.
Surprised, she asked, “Isn’t that…
“Carmen Frazier? The beloved daughter of the Grandeur Group?”
Justin seemed slightly startled as well upon hearing that before he looked outside.
At this moment, Leroy and Carmen were standing in front of the stall that sold lollipops outside.
“Which one do you want? I’ll buy it for you.”
“The orange-flavored one is delicious. The strawberry one is good, too. Let me think about it.”
Even though the woman who had a simple ponytail and was dressed in jeans overalls was in her twenties, she looked as innocent as a lamb with her waist bent, her face almost sticking to the glass cabinet where the lollipops were sold. Her eyes were wide as she watched the lollipops intently.
“Excuse me.” Leroy smiled helplessly. “We will take both.”
“No, no.” Carmen quickly waved her hand in rejection. “Leroy, I can’t eat two.”
“Don’t worry about it. You can take your time with them.”
She still shook her head, but after hesitating for a long minute, her eyes suddenly lit up when she suddenly thought of something. “Right! We can buy two, and give one of it to Jolly!”
The stall owner looked at her stunned, but after coming to his senses, he had sympathy in his eyes as he bagged the lollipops and handed it to Leroy.
“Thank you!” Carmen cheered with a sweet smile on her face.
Rachel and the rest of them came out of the homestay right then.
As soon as Carmen saw Jolly, she immediately hopped over. “Jolly! Leroy bought me lollipops! What flavor do you want? We have an orange and a strawberry one. I’ll let you pick.”
Hearing that, Jolly resignedly cooed, “You can go ahead and eat it first. I won’t eat it now.”
“I won’t eat either then. I will eat with you.”
Leroy came up from behind and said hello to Rachel and Justin as the women talked.
It was only then did Carmen see them behind Jolly. She then tilted her head and looked at the small group with curious eyes.
“Carmen, this is Chris and Justin. They are both Leroy’s and my friends,” Jolly introduced.
As realization hit Carmen, she quickly greeted, “Hello!”
“Hello, Miss Frazier.” Rachel returned the greeting with a start.
Carmen then waved her lollipop around and said, “You can just call me Carmen.”
Rachel and Justin exchanged glances when they heard her words.
That’s weird, they thought simultaneously.
Jolly, too, had a complicated expression on her face. “I will tell you later.”
Back at the homestay, Carmen, who was attracted by the pig’s oink, ran to the back kitchen to watch. After Rachel asked Bobby to help keep an eye on Carmen, the four of them finally had time to sit down and talk.
“What is going on? Why is Carmen Frazier with you?”
All of them saw how Carmen had an epilepsy episode on the day of the wedding. Only then did Rachel and Justin realize that the reason why the Grandeur Group had been hiding Carmen was because they were afraid of her having an attack. However, it seemed like that wasn’t the only reason.
Rachel and Justin had their suspicions back then, but there was no way to confirm it.
“Let Leroy explain to you. He knows better,” Jolly said, to which Leroy nodded.
“Carmen has neurodevelopmental delay, which is why she may look like an adult, but her mind is only equivalent to a 10-year-old’s. Plus, she has epilepsy. She is prone to fall ill when she gets excited or nervous. She has been kept at home since she was a child, and has rarely gone out.”
Hearing that, Rachel replied thoughtfully, “I see. Then, why is she with you?”
“This was a surprise to us as well.”
“Geez! Let me tell the story.” Jolly was getting impatient. Seeing how much time Leroy was taking but still hadn’t finished speaking, she interrupted again, “Remember how I went to Leroy to take him with me on the wedding day? Carmen saw us when we were leaving. She insisted on coming with us. We had no choice but to bring her to not make things messier than it already was.”
Rachel’s jaw almost dropped from the shock.
This was the first time she had heard of someone taking the bride along when they were there to steal the groom.
She continued to ask about the baffling situation. “Didn’t the Fraziers or Lush come after Carmen after that?”
“We find it strange as well, but we haven’t dared to reveal our whereabouts until now.” Jolly shrugged. “To hell with them, though. Isn’t us being okay a good thing?”
Rachel only gave Justin a look that made him ponder.
“Even though Carmen Frazier is in poor health and has a disability, I heard that her father and brother love her very much. It is indeed strange that they haven’t stirred up a commotion with her gone.”
“Let’s not worry about that for now.” Being the careless person that she was, Jolly whined, “Anyway, she is with us now. She is so energetic every day that Leroy and I can’t keep our eyes on her all the time. I almost pissed my pants when we nearly lost her in Europe. At least we are home now.”
“You both are pretty amazing, aren’t you?” Rachel commented, amazed. “I would stay out of your business as well if I were from the Fraziers. This is the same thing as assigning two 24-hour personal nanny to their young miss.”
“So be it. She is in our hands now anyway. The Frazier Family and Lush wouldn’t dare to do anything rash.”
Jolly then raised her eyebrows slightly as she added, “It is not like we are dumb.”
The corners of Rachel’s mouth twitched when she heard that. “I have never seen a kidnapper catering to their hostage,” she mused.
Even though Carmen wasn’t mentally sound, Rachel could tell that she was a kind lady who was easy to get along with.
The only worry was what was going to happen in the future.
It was something Rachel didn’t want to think too deeply into for now.
However, she and her friends had gone through so many ups and downs, and had even cheated death. There was nothing that they were afraid of at this point.
“By the way, I haven’t asked, but how did you know we were in Somerset Mountain?”
“Take a guess.”
“How am I supposed to guess something like this?”
Rachel stopped Jolly from pouring tea. “Don’t keep me guessing. Spill!”
“Nope.”
“It was Officer Hawkins, wasn’t it?” A deep, rumbling voice of a man rang out from beside.
Justin had casually brought up Janice, which made Rachel freeze.
Jolly was as surprised as Rachel was. “How did you know?” she sputtered.
“Rae came to Somerset Mountain by herself. I didn’t tell anyone about my guess that she was here, and you couldn’t possibly know Mr. Hudson and the others. Officer Hawkins was probably the only other person who knows about Rae’s whereabouts.”
Even though Rachel and Janice had an inexplicable relationship, Justin already knew that Rachel must have informed Janice that she was here once she had calmed down even though she had come to Somerset Mountain on impulse, lest Janice couldn’t reach her when needed.
“Hold up. Why is this about Mr. Hudson?” Jolly questioned.
