CHAPTER 2
Riggs
This isn’t going to end well.
Eighty-four days in the jungle, and because the universe hates me, our satellite phone stopped working on day thirteen. We have no idea why, but for the past seventy-one days I’ve been completely cut off from Veronica.
I can’t begin to imagine what she’s been going through, or maybe I just don’t want to imagine it. I’m sure it’s been pure hell for her.
For the past ten days, with each mile bringing us closer to the end of this epic journey, a sick feeling tortured my gut whenever I thought about what I would say.
Sorry, but my phone broke, and I couldn’t be bothered to make a detour to look for some way to let you know I was okay, doesn’t seem to cut it.
She’ll want more. Hell, she deserves more.
But we couldn’t make a detour. This part of the world isn’t exactly safe.
There were too many bad actors—drug lords and cartel soldiers we needed to avoid.
One wrong turn and we could have run into any of them, so that left one option, to keep moving forward on the path that we were told was the safest route.
For three months it’s been a grueling hike through a dense jungle with no electricity, and, unfortunately, no phones.
So here we are, at the end of another amazing adventure. With each step bringing us closer to the rendezvous point, I try to work out how this is going to play out. After not hearing from me for so long, I’m sure Veronica either assumes I died, or worse, I met someone else.
Knowing her, it wouldn’t surprise me if she skipped the first option and jumped right to her usual he-must-be-cheating-on-me conclusion.
She’s accused me of being unfaithful before, a few times actually.
Well, they weren’t really accusations if I’m being honest, more like deeply expressed concerns.
She’s a bit gun-shy after walking in on her fiancé sprawled out butt-naked on top of her little sister, who also happened to be naked, so I guess I understand her paranoia.
But I had nothing to do with that. It was long before we met, and I’ve never given her a reason not to trust me.
Besides, she should know me well enough to know I wouldn’t just disappear without talking to her, not if I could help it.
Maybe I’ll fly her down here. Or better yet, fly her to Paris and meet her there.
Before I left, she said she wanted a vacation in France. I can’t think of a better time.
“I guess this is it,” Ash says, coming to a stop. There’s a melancholy in his tone that I totally get.
I slide the straps off my shoulders and set my pack on the ground, then plop my ass on it. Ash does the same. It’s not the first time our packs have doubled as furniture; besides, there’s nothing else to sit on in this meadow.
Our ride to the city won’t arrive until tomorrow, which means we’ll set up camp for the night out here in the open, away from all the trees, which means away from the howler monkeys. Besides being loud as hell, the little thieving bastards steal everything.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I have mixed feelings about leaving the rainforest. It’ll be good to eat real food and finally talk to Veronica.
At the same time, it was a hell of a trek, and I’m not sure how I feel about it ending.
I know one thing for sure—I’m certainly not going to miss those damn monkeys.
Ear-piercing primates aside, Ash and I got a ton of great footage. Our sister, Elsie, is going to lose her mind when she sees it, especially when she finds out there’s enough for at least five episodes, maybe six.
We started in Colombia. After a ton of research, Ash mapped out a path that we could trailblaze to the city of Manaus in Brazil. I can’t believe we did all 681 miles with only what we could carry. It’s our hardest trip so far and that’s saying something. Regardless, we loved every minute of it.
I take a moment before turning my phone on.
The sun is doing its best to hide below the tree line in the west. I should start a fire, but not just yet.
I take in a deep breath through my nostrils, pulling in the scent of the tall grass and bask in the bubbling sounds of the creek running through the middle of this lush paradise.
The meadow, with its surrounding canopy of every shade of green, calms my nerves.
This just might be the last moment of peace I’ll get to enjoy for a very long time, and I savor every millisecond.
Ash has stepped away out of earshot with his phone to his ear. We chose this location because it’s within cell service.
Left alone, I grip my phone, hesitant to turn it on. I guess there’s no point in avoiding the inevitable. I’ll apologize, tell her how deeply sorry I am, then… then I’ll just listen. It’s the best I can do. Hopefully, it’s enough.
As soon as I power it up, a series of pings indicates more missed messages than I can count.
I ignore all of them and go straight to the only one I care about—the last one from Veronica.
But I can’t help noticing it’s from three weeks ago.
Should I be concerned? I guess there’s one way to find out.
Filling my lungs with a desperate pull of air for courage, I man up and press play.
“Where are you? I haven’t heard from you in months. I was worried, but Elsie said she was still able to track your movements, so you must be fine. I don’t understand why you haven’t called, but I guess that really doesn’t matter anymore.”
I press stop. Doesn’t matter anymore? I can hear it in her voice, and a river stone the size of a watermelon settles in the pit of my stomach. I know what comes next, and somehow, I’m not surprised. Not really.
With an anguished sigh, I bite the bullet and press play again, not because I’m curious, and not because I want to hear the rest of her heart-wrenching message, but because I deserve the pain. I did this to myself.
“I wanted to tell you in person, but how could I when you’re never here?
You’re a great guy, but this just wasn’t working for me.
I waited for as long as I could, hoping to hear from you, but when I never did, I met someone else.
He manages his own hedge fund, which means he’s always here.
That’s what I need. It’s what any woman needs, so you don’t have the right to blame me or even be mad at me.
I wish I could say it was good while it lasted, but you had to know how hard it was to never see you.
I deserve better. Any girl deserves better.
Maybe keep that in mind the next time you flash those gorgeous baby blues at a girl.
I’m only telling you this as a friend. Anyway, I should end this now.
I hope you have a great life, and I really mean that.
Meanwhile, please don’t try to contact me. I’m moving on, and so should you.”
My heart sinks.
Ash is a good distance away with his phone back in his pocket.
He’s standing there with his chin propped on the tall walking stick that he made from a hickory limb when he was fifteen.
When we make eye contact, I shake my head, but instead of saying something, he just eyes me with a raised brow.
Maybe it’s because I’m in a bad mood, but it’s like a cheese grater down my spine.
I know he knows what happened. Unfortunately, he’s seen it before, my I-want-to-stick-a-pencil-in-my-eye expression.
I also know how bad he wants to tell me he told me so.
When it comes to relationships, he keeps insisting that our lifestyle makes this sort of outcome inevitable, and because I’m an idiot, I keep ignoring him.
I’m starting to think he has a point. Still, he doesn’t say anything as he swaggers over.
He knows better than to give me the smart-ass remark I know he’s dying to share with me right now.
It’s too soon. But he can’t help himself.
He may not use his words to antagonize me, but he has other methods.
Quietly, he sets his meaty butt on his pack after moving it so close I could reach over and deck him.
And despite that very real possibility, with a fearless, wry grin, he pulls out his pocketknife and starts carving a new notch in that damn walking stick.
This makes the eighth notch—one for each girl who’s dumped me while we’ve been out in the wild on our many adventures. I bring a hand up and try to rub the tension out of the back of my neck. I need a moment to think.
Meanwhile, Ash’s silence is like a loudspeaker pressed against my ear screaming at me to get my head screwed on straight.
You know what? As much as I hate to admit it, maybe he’s right.
Actually, I know he’s right. I don’t even have to think about it. I’ve had years of disappointing heartbreaks to figure it out, and it’s never going to change. Damn.
With that settled, my mind is made up. It’s so obvious I don’t know why I couldn’t see it before. I’m done with his fucking notches. From now on, no more relationships!