Page 61 of Craving Chaos

“Oui, I’ll stay the night with a friend. No need to worry about me, belle.” He pushes to his feet. “Do either of you need to freshen up before we go?”

Renzo and I glance at one another. I’m equally as filthy as he is, which makes it almost comical when we both shake our heads.

“I think we’d just prefer to get going,” Renzo explains.

I could spend hours in a bathroom completing all the bathing and grooming I’d like to do, but not until I’m safely in town. I don’t even want to take advantage of his toilet. I just want to get out of here.

Ten minutes later, we’re loaded up in Henri’s small 4x4 truck and one step closer to home.

CHAPTER 35

RENZO

Shae insists on 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.”

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