Champagne Brunch: The Stiletto Sisters Series by Ainsley Claire (easy readers .txt) 📗

her time and praise. She treated wait staff and hotel workers that way too. She was never condescending or difficult. And when that man accosted her at the restaurant, she didn’t confront him or threaten him. Instead, she left the waiter a generous tip and let Peter help her escape and with her head held high.

I’m the biggest jerk ever. Why didn’t I believe in her? Or believe in myself and my ability to judge people’s character? Even Jeremy understood this before I did. I’ve been schooled by a seventeen year old.

I pick up my phone and stare at it. I know Mia’s still out of town, but I can’t let this go for another moment.

I think I’m in kind of a haze, just wandering around and hoping I can fix things with Mia. Jeremy’s still at home with his family, so I don’t have working with him to keep me occupied, and I’ve been letting everything else slide this week—unfortunately. It’s been four days since I left Mia a voice message, throwing myself on my sword, and she’s not responded. I know she was planning to be back from Hawaii by now… Was explaining that I was an idiot not enough? Should I send flowers? Have SoBe deliver an apology message?

My phone rings, and it takes me a moment to find it, even though I haven’t left my desk in hours. I find it under a stack of papers. Jeremy.

“Hey, man,” I answer. “Why are you calling me while you’re home with your family? Is everything okay?”

“I’m calling to see how you’re doing.”

“How I’m doing? I’m good,” I assure him. The rumor mill must have reached him in Nebraska. “What have you heard?”

“You don’t know?” he gasps.

“Know what?” My mind moves to my sister, who I can hear upstairs singing to Tavish. The boys are here and with Nina. I don’t think Jeremy knows about the latest drama with Marco or my parents.

“Mia was on a helicopter that went down way up north, toward the Oregon border. It could be foul play.”

I stand up. “What? Are you kidding?”

“No, man.” His voice breaks. “Do you want me to come back and wait with you? I mean, she’s incredible. She’s my lucky charm. What am I going to do?”

Through my panic, I feel a little jealous of the relationship he’s talking about with Mia. “Okay, first, let me make some phone calls. Stay by your phone, but don’t cut your trip short. I’m sure everything is going to be fine.”

“Man, what are we going to do?” Jeremy implores.

I need to calm him down. “I’m going to call her security team and see what I can find out.”

I hang up and immediately call Bash. “Mr. Remington,” he says, and I can hear strain in his voice.

“What do you know about Mia Couture’s helicopter?”

“Nothing yet. They took off from Portland’s airport helo pad at four thirty-six. They had a mayday shortly thereafter, and the helicopter went down in the mountains between Redding and Eureka.”

“What does that mean? I’ve heard they’re reporting it as foul play. That’s a pretty heavily wooded area.”

“We don’t know why the helo went down. It’s not an area that’s always the safest—giant pot farms and armed men.”

“What can I do?”

“Nothing. Wait. If you hear from her, call and let us know. We do believe from the mayday that the helo was compromised.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. Did she ever get my apology message? Why is she way up near Oregon? “Should I get in my Jeep and drive north to Redding? That way when you find them, I’ll be in the area and can get to them quickly.”

Bash sighs. “No, although I like your thinking. Jim took a chopper and is there now. They’re on the lookout. They’re doing a grid search.”

I sigh in frustration. “I’ve got to do something. I’ve been a jerk.”

“I’ll call you as soon as we know something.”

We hang up, and I pace around my living room. I don’t like just hanging out and waiting.

I have Nate’s cell number!

A woman answers the phone. “Hi, this is Axel Remington. Is Nate available?”

“Hey, Axel. This is Lilly. Nate’s on the phone with Jim. I assume you’re calling about Mia?”

“Yes. Does Nate know anything?” I ask, but before she can even answer, I forge ahead. “I have so much to tell her. I’ve been such an ass. I…I just don’t know what to do.”

“I understand,” Lilly says softly. “We missed you in Hawaii, but Mia said you had unexpected visitors.”

“Yeah, my sister and her four boys came suddenly. It’s been rather chaotic. But I wasn’t there for Mia. She tried to be here for me, but some guy freaked out in a restaurant, and then I fell into an internet hole and shut down.” I can hear myself. I sound like a crazy person.

“I’m not sure what an internet hole is, but I’m sure once they locate her, you can be there for each other again,” Lilly says calmly. I think she might be trying to talk me off the ledge.

“You don’t understand,” I tell her. “She’s not a survivalist. I mean, you know her better than I do, but her idea of roughing it is going to a hotel that doesn’t have room service. She grew up in New York City, for Christ’s sake. Her dad was an investment banker. Survival is lasting through a sale at Barney’s.”

Lilly chuckles. “You know her well.”

“Shit, has anyone called her parents or her sister?”

“I’m sure they’ve been contacted. We’ll find out. Hold on—Nate’s getting off the phone with Jim. I’ll put you on speaker.” I hear her say, “It’s Axel on the phone. He’s looking for an update about Mia.”

“I just got off the phone with Jim,”