Chapter 35
Shae insistson sitting by herself in the truck’s compact second row. Sitting apart from her wouldn’t be of consequence if it wasn’t for the yawning emotional distance between us. The chasm makes even a few feet feel like miles. I refuse to think about how little I may see her when we get home.
I can’t blame her, though. She has every right to be upset. I get that.
And all things considered, she’s handled the situation with incredible decorum. She could have lashed out at me much more vehemently, if not violently, when I told her what I’d done. Not to mention the way she played along when I introduced her as my wife. I had to. I’d already told the old man I was on a hunting excursion with my wife. It rolled off my tongue at the time, shocking me at how natural it felt.
Most of our trip into town is made in silence. We pass through patches of dense trees, pockets of open field, and even skirt by a large lake. The landscape is breathtaking in its beauty. Especially when we sit in a heated truck with the promise of food to come.
We turn onto a paved and plowed road over an hour and a half into the trip. Within minutes of the turn, we see signs of civilization. Other cars. A stop sign. A restaurant billboard.
Relief that I’m finally headed home takes up arms against my reluctance to part from Shae, launching a bloody war in my chest. I have to focus on my breathing to keep my lungs from seizing tight.
Henri drops us at the local hospital, which isn’t much more sophisticated than an urgent care clinic back home. That’s fine. We don’t need anything fancy.
When they call Shae’s name, she gives me a look to indicate I’m not welcome back with her. I briefly consider ignoring her but decide I can use the time to get ahold of my family. I go back to the reception counter and plaster on the most charming smile I can muster.
“Ladies, my friend and I had an encounter with a bear and lost our phones in the process. Is there any way we can use the phone here to get ahold of our families?”
“Oh! How terrible,” one of them says in a heavy French accent. “Of course, chérie. Call your family.” She hands me her cell phone in a red glitter case, turning to speak French to her coworker, whom I assume doesn’t speak English.
“Thank you very much.” I nod and return to my lime-green vinyl waiting room chair.
Now, who to call? I decide to go with my uncle Gino. Thank God he’s had the same phone number since the dawn of time, or I never would have remembered it. I only know his and two others—neither of the other two options would have been helpful in this situation. I knew my dad’s, but … yeah. Even less helpful.
I have to call three times before he answers the unfamiliar number.
“Yeah?”
“Uncle Gino, it’s me, Renzo.”
“Fuckin’, Christ,” he breathes, then yells, “Etta! Get in here, it’s Renzo. He’s alive.”
“Alive but now I’m deaf. Thanks for that,” I tease with a smile. The ringing in my ears is worth hearing his voice.
“Where the fuck have you been, kid? Whose number is this? Are you hurt?”
I chuckle, comforted by the concern in his voice. I knew my family would be worried, but it still feels nice to hear how much they care. “One at a time. First, it’s a long fucking story, so you’ll have to wait until I get back. The key points are Shae Byrne and I were kidnapped and ended up stranded in a shack up in the middle of nowhere Quebec. We just managed to make it to the nearest town.”
“The fuck you say? You fucking serious?”
I can hear my aunt in the background fussing at him to explain or put the phone on speaker.
“I know, it sounds crazy, but it’s even more insane than that. I’ll tell you everything, but I need help first.”
“Anything. Tell me what I can do.”
“We’re in a small town called L’Ascension. I need you to get us a couple of hotel rooms.” I pause as he gives my aunt her marching orders.
“What else?”
“I need credit card info to pay for some stuff until I can get back.”
“Done. I’ll read it off before we’re done with the call.”
“The other thing I need might take a bit more finesse. We need to get back in the States without passports, and I don’t want to wait for legal channels.”
“Of course not. That would take fucking forever.”
“Exactly.”
“Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll make it happen.”
“Thanks, Gino. It’s been pretty rough going these past three weeks.”
“I can’t imagine. You both alright?”
“Aside from losing some weight and a couple of run-ins with a bear, we’re good.” Physically. I can’t say the same for our emotional status.
“Fuck, a bear?”
I can practically see his eyes bulging through the phone.
“Christ, I can’t wait to hear this,” he says almost to himself. “Etta, babe. They got attacked by a bear—you believe that? I don’t know. I don’t know, I tell ya. He can tell us when he gets back … yah, okay. I’ll tell him. Your aunt says there’s a hotel a few minutes down the main road in a place called … what is it? Oh yeah. Rivière-Rouge. She’s got you two rooms for the night.”
“She works fast.”
“Four kids. The woman can move mountains when she wants to.”
“Give her a big kiss for me. I’m gonna get a burner phone on the way to the hotel. I’ll get you the number once I have it so you can keep me informed on how we’re getting home.”
“Good deal. Fuck, I can’t believe it’s you. I mean, we hadn’t given up hope, but there’s a part of you…” His voice catches, and he has to clear his throat.
“I get it, Gino. There were times we weren’t so sure we were going to make it back.” It’s true for that first week, but hearing his torment amps up my guilt. I’d been so focused on Shae that everything else had been out of sight, out of mind. Now, I have to face the consequences.
Uncle Gino goes quiet. When he speaks again, his voice drips with malice. This version of Gino is all business. “You know who did this?”
“Not exactly, but you better believe I’m going to find out.”
He grunts his agreement. “Get some paper, I’ll give you that card number.”
We wrap up the call not long before Shae returns.
I know she’s pissed at me, but it’s so fucking good to see her that I wrap my arms around her and press my lips to her head. “They got you squared away?”
She nods, not hugging me back but not pulling away either. I’ll take every inch she’ll give me.
I pay the hospital bill with the card info and get the number for a cab company in the area, which apparently consists of a man named Jean hauling people around in his wife’s minivan. Again, you won’t hear complaints from me.
It takes him a half hour to show up, but he’s all smiles and nods when he does. He doesn’t speak a word of English. I’m still able to communicate we need a drug store, then our hotel. When I see a fast food place by the hotel, I have Jean make a quick run through the drive-through.
Food, toiletries, a phone, and minutes away from clean beds and a shower. I should be floating on cloud nine, but instead, all I can think is this is where we part ways, and all the creature comforts quickly lose their luster. White linens and a pillow-top mattress mean nothing if I don’t have Shae.