Free Lost in the Wilderness - The Forest of Evergreen Book 1 by Teresa May B. Bandiola Page A

to a mining company,” Bea supplemented.
    “So, that started it all?”
    “Yes, Sophia. Don’t you know many girls run after Jericho? He’s like the cocaine of every girl here, even of the oldies.” Bea told her in an exaggerated way to play along with Sophia’s changing facial expressions. “Do you want to see him, Sophia? Because if you do... I can find a way,” Bea offered, laughing.
    Sophia smiled and brought up the topic that she was in a relationship now with Giovanni. She told her that Giovanni was a good boyfriend and he was her brother’s best friend too.  
    Bea also smiled but she had always known… always known Sophia’s feelings, for Jericho.
    “Okay, people! Lunch is ready!” Grandma Lucy announced excitedly.
    “Everybody, find your own seat now. As for me, I will bring out the barbecue,” Bea chimed in.  
    “Do you need some help, Auntie?” Sophia offered.
    “No, honey. Just sit there and turn your flat tummy into a hump.”  
    Sophia stretched her lips sideways, still impressed by Bea’s good-humored nature.
    Elizabeth noticed the closeness of her daughter to Bea. She knew that it was she who stood up as Sophia’s mother, when she was still a child. Because of it, regrets troubled Elizabeth again.
    “Sophia, tell us something about the lake,” Alex asked, as they gathered around the table for lunch. “I’m sure you have a lot of stories to tell.”
    “Yeah, Sophie! Tell us some stories, but not with a Jericho!” Nadine overlapped, kiddingly.
    Grandma Lucy’s eyes, at once, dilated, and looked at Sophia penetratingly.  
    “Jericho? So, you’ve been mentioning him to your sister, huh?” Grandma Lucy delved Sophia, even more penetratingly.
    Sophia flushed severely and acted as if she never heard a thing. The name Jericho was always poison ivy to her grandma. Thus, she fared better to just stay, close-mouthed.
    “Okay, enough with that guy! And who’s that guy anyway, huh?” Alex protested.  
    “He’s no one,” replied Grandma Lucy and guzzled a glass of water.
    The moment Sophia heard it, she asked herself why her grandmother never liked Jericho, and mulled over the fact that if Grandma Lucy already knew that he had now a profession, as a doctor, just like what grandma had always wanted for every male member of the family… What, then, would Grandma Lucy think of Jericho, now?
    “Here’s the barbecue!” Bea announced delightedly as she neared them.
    “I super-like barbecue, Auntie Bea. I’m glad you had them prepared,” admitted Nadine, extending both hands to grab one stick of it.
    “So, you call her auntie too?” Alex asked, just to provoke his sister, a bit.
    “Why? Is it prohibited to call her auntie too? Is that word exclusive for Sophie?” Nadine retorted, always in a childish way.
    The Vabuerettis laughed at Nadine’s behavior, and her humor had caught everyone’s attention, including Sophie’s.
    Throughout the chattering after the meal, Philippe’s eyes were entirely engrossed by the lake. He missed it so much so he offered his family a swim.
    “Dad, I am really glad you thought of that.” Alex released his boredom, waiting for his father to finally ask it.
    “Honey, see to it that you don’t go to the deep part!” Elizabeth warned them uneasily.
    “Wow! Dad, teach me how to swim. Please, Dad! Please!” Nadine begged, hopping at where she was standing. Finally, she was on the mode to learn swimming again, after her drowning incident that caused everyone trauma.
    “Okay, honey! Yes, I will.”
    Nadine laughed her excitement away and looked at Sophia. “Dad, how about Sophie?” She wanted her sister to join them but she knew her sister’s fear of deep waters too. Grandma Lucy once told them that Sophia almost drowned in the lake when she was nine.
    “Sweetie, your sister is also afraid of deep waters, okay?” Grandma Lucy intruded.
    Sophia overheard it and flung a heavy sigh. At the back of her mind, she had already overcome it, and she