That Song in Patagonia

by Kristy Tate

  “Soup?” she asked.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Me neither, but I thought maybe you’d be.” Adrienne cleared her throat. “This all belongs to someone.”

  “We’ll leave money and a thank-you note on the table.”

  She didn’t doubt that Nick would be generous. “What if they find us here?”

  Nick looked out the window at the now-raging storm.

  Lightning lit up the small room, momentarily blinding Adrienne. After a moment, the room returned to a cozy glow.

  “Your pants are wet,” she said.

  Nick turned from the fire, rifled through his bag, and pulled out a large T-shirt, the sort of thing he slept in when they stayed at hotels. He tossed it to her and she caught it. It smelled of his cologne. He had thought to bring his bag, but she’d left hers in the car.

  She quickly stepped out of her jeans and pulled the T-shirt over her head, hypersensitive to him, wondering if he was watching her. Her skin tingled. She heard him moving behind her and turned to see that he’d taken off his jeans and now wore only his boxers. He pulled back the covers on the bed.

  She folded her arms protectively across her chest and frowned at him.

  Nick sighed. “As much as I’d like to, I’m tired and cold. You’re swaying on your feet. Tonight, I think you’ll find sharing my toothbrush to be as much intimacy as you’ll be able to stand.”

  He knew her too well.

  He gestured at the bed. “Would you like the right or the left side?”

  #

  Adrienne shifted. She couldn’t find a comfortable place. The bed groaned every time she moved. Staring at the embers smoldering in the fireplace, she willed herself to sleep. The colors in the grate shifted, and she turned her attention to the much more boring and static ceiling.

  Beside her, Nick lay on his side with his back to her. She knew by his breathing that he wasn’t sleeping. It’d taken her weeks to get used to sleeping without Seb beside her, and now she couldn’t sleep because of Nick. He didn’t seem bothered at all, whereas she had morphed into a collection of protruding, restless bones. She tucked her knees into her chest, lying on her side, her arm pinned beneath her, its circulation cut off, slowly growing numb. She eased onto her back and the bed groaned again.

  The sheets smelled musty, but they seemed clean enough. No obvious stains. She didn’t think she could have tolerated that. As far as beds went, this one wasn’t so terribly uncomfortable. Just noisy.

  She considered the mound in the blanket beside her. Why was she so ridiculously aware of his breath, his smell, the warmth of his body? Adrienne tried to make herself as small and still as she could. Huddling in the fetal position, she wondered how they’d get out tomorrow. No cell service —they’d have to walk to the main highway and then hitch a ride into town. Of course, being with Nick would be much better than being alone. Safer.

  Her neck hurt. She rolled over and punched her pillow. She had down pillows at home. This pillow must have been made from shredded cardboard. It smelled like oatmeal. Maybe it’d been made from a recycled cereal box. Why wasn’t she asleep?

  “Adrienne?”

  She went still. Played dead.

  The blankets rustled as Nick rolled over. Adrienne scooted to the edge of the mattress.

  “Why are you awake?” he asked.

  “How could anyone sleep? This bed is noisy. The pillow is made of gravel.” She didn’t like the sound of her voice. She knew she sounded petulant, and she hated being the spoiled princess. “I’m cold.”

  Nick hitched himself onto his elbow. “Here,” he said, enveloping her in his arms and pulling her against him.

  She nestled against his warmth.

  His arm draped across her, holding her against his chest. Nick adjusted so his chin rested on her head. He smelled of cologne and of the fire, a mixture of the familiar and the primitive.

  “Adrienne,” Nick murmured into her hair.

  #

  Adrienne woke with the sun on her face and quilts tangled around her legs. She watched Nick sleep for a minute. She’d forgotten what this was like, watching someone in unguarded moments. He looked different. Older. He hadn’t shaved and his hair had been mussed.

  Stirring, he flung his arm over her. In his sleep, he pulled her close and she let him draw her to him.

  She had so many questions. A night in a cabin didn’t answer any of them. In fact, their night together just seemed to highlight all her questions in red. Had he come to South America to visit his uncle, or her? Did he really love her? His hold on her tightened and his breath fanned her cheek.

  At this moment, should she turn away? Sanity told her she must, but she closed her eyes, seduced by the warmth, quiet, and comfort.

  She had so many questions, but they could wait.

  #

  Cold. The smell of doused fire drifted from somewhere. Instinctively, she reached for Nick’s warmth, but found only icy sheets. Realization washed over her, and she sat up. Her eyes felt gritty, her teeth fuzzy. She needed a bathroom. A real one. One with white porcelain and running, flushing water. She wanted bath salts, body gel and a loofa. Lying down, she pulled the quilt over her head.

  She’d spent the night with Nick. Her husband’s cousin.

  Nothing had happened.

  That, at least, was good. Right? Sex would only have complicated things.

  She’d cuddled up to him. For warmth.

  Peeking out from under the quilt, she wondered where he’d gone. And why.

  Outside the window, a bleak sun shone in a steel gray sky. Adrienne sat up and looked at all the damage the storm had caused—downed branches, bent trees and thousands of pinecones scattered on the ground. Just yesterday, it’d been warm. Or was it two days ago? She couldn’t remember.

  Where had Nick gone? She knew he wouldn’t leave her alone. Adrienne climbed from the bed, taking the quilt with her. She spotted his bag in the corner.

  He’d left the bag but taken his wallet and phone. Twinges of guilt pricked her as she went through Nick’s things. She told herself he wouldn’t mind.

  She gathered what she needed—toothbrush, toothpaste, and comb. Her hair, a snarled curly mess, resisted her efforts, and she twisted it up into a bun. She went outside in search of a privacy tree or makeshift potty. Lots of trees, but no Nick.

  She returned to the cabin and put Nick’s toiletries back in his bag. Her fingers hit something smooth and the light from Nick’s phone flashed at her.

  A text from Seb lit the screen.

  After a quick glance over her shoulder, she drew out the phone.

  Thanks for keeping her away.

  Adrienne had always thought the cliché the headlines screamed ridiculous, because how could printed words be at all vocal, let alone scream? But Seb’s words tore through her and thundered in her mind. Her thoughts skittered back to yesterday’s hike to the glaciers and the sound of the splintering ice breaking and falling into the lake. That was how she felt. She was breaking and the sound of it was deafening.

  Sitting on the bed, she cradled the phone in her lap, longing to read the entire text message chain. But she couldn’t. The only text showing was the one. To access the others, she’d need Nick’s password.

  But this one was enough, wasn’t it? Seb wanted her out of the way so badly, he’d sent his cousin to keep her entertained.

  And Nick. What exactly was his role? He’d said he loved her, but did he really? And how could he, when she was so broken?

  She threw on her jeans and sweater, slipped into her shoes and stepped out into the bleak sunshine.

  Up the road, she saw Nick talking to a man in baggy pants standing beside a truck. A thick yellow tow rope attached the truck to their rental car.

  Adrienne didn’t know what to say. Should she tell him she’d found his phone with the text message? A part of her wanted to tell him she was sorry, but she didn’t know exactly what for, and she didn’t know if he would misconstrue her apology as somethi
ng she didn’t mean. She didn’t know what she meant. She didn’t know what she wanted.

  Should she go home?

  Should she try to fight for her marriage?

  Should she ask Nick to open his phone so she could read all the messages from Seb? No. Definitely not. She was tired of being pathetic, and even though she didn’t know what she wanted, she knew exactly what she didn’t want. She didn’t want to wait around anymore for someone who valued her company so little that he would employ someone else to keep her occupied. She felt like a puppy in need of a dogwalker or a child requiring a nanny.

  “This is Mario,” Nick said, motioning to the mammoth man sitting behind the wheel. “He’s going to give us a ride into town.”

  Mario wore a straw cap and a polo shirt with gray chest hair poking through the buttonholes. His skin had weathered to a wrinkly rawhide, tanned to the middle of his biceps but paler beneath the sleeves of his shirt.

  Nick held the truck door open for Adrienne. “I’ll sit in the back.”

  But the back was full of chickens—dozens of them. They clicked their beaks against the wire cages and clucked and shook their downy feathers at Nick.

  “Where?” she asked. “You need a beak to sit back there.”

  “There’s plenty of room up here,” Mario called out, smiling at Adrienne.

  Nick and Adrienne looked at each other. It’d be a squeeze. She’d have to wedge between Nick and Mario. Nick would never fit in the middle, not with the gear stick.

  Adrienne climbed into the cab. It smelled of mud and grease. Nick clambered in beside her, put his guitar case between his legs and rested his arm across the back of the bench seat. To keep from touching Mario, Adrienne pressed herself against Nick’s side. He felt warm and solid against her goosepimply skin. By necessity his thigh ran alongside hers.

  “Are you selling your chickens?” Adrienne asked, attempting small talk.

  “Yep,” Mario said, looking her squarely in the eye. “Tomorrow being the Lord’s day, I do all my trading on Saturdays.” His big beefy hand rested on the gear stick inches from her knee.

  “Are you a commercial chicken farmer?” she asked.

  “No.” Mario shifted from second to third gear and his hand grazed Adrienne’s thigh. She scooted closer to Nick. “I just raise a few chickens on the side and trade my leftovers to the Gallo Pasada over in Puerto Natales. He looked from Adrienne’s legs to Nick’s face. “You two married?”

  Neither replied for a moment. Finally Nick said, “No.”

  Mario chuckled and shifted into fifth. Adrienne crossed her legs, trying to avoid contact with him and the gear stick.

  “Bet you will be soon,” he said.

  What is that supposed to mean? “Nick is my husband’s cousin and best friend,” Adrienne put in.

  Mario’s grin didn’t fade. He shot a quick glance at Nick’s thigh pressing against Adrienne’s. “Not for long, I’m guessing.”

  Was Mario a Dr. Phil in overalls? He knew nothing about either of them. Adrienne tried to pull away from Nick, but that brought her knee closer to Mario’s hand resting on the gear stick.

  “So how is it you’re traveling together?”

  You don’t have to answer him, Adrienne mentally told Nick. We need a ride, not a counseling session.

  “This is a business trip,” Nick said. “Of sorts.”

  Mario snorted and threw Adrienne a quick glance. “Some hanky-panky business.”

  Adrienne stiffened. Again, what is that supposed to mean? She’d just been insulted. She didn’t speak until they pulled up at a stop signal next to a tavern called El Toro Enojado.

  “Thanks, Mario. We’ll get out here,” Nick said, opening the door and pulling Adrienne out with him. He slammed the door as Mario got out to unhook the rental car from the tow line.

  “Wait, why here?” she asked Nick’s retreating back. He was already climbing onto the porch of the tavern.

  “I didn’t like Mario,” he said over his shoulder. He stopped beside the tavern door. “Did you? Were you comfortable with him pressing against your thigh every time he shifted gears?” He waited a beat. “I didn’t think so. We’ll get roadside service. But first, I need a human moment.”

  While Nick went inside to use the restroom, Adrienne settled onto a wooden bench on the porch. Wondering if she might finally have reception, she fished her phone out of her bag.

  Her pulse quickened when she read a text from Aubrey that said, Call me now.

  CHAPTER 6

  “Dad’s in the hospital,” Aubrey said. “Where are you?”

  “Patagonia.” Adrienne glanced around at the windswept, barren landscape. “Literally the middle of nowhere, but I think Puerto Natales must be close because we have reception. Tell me what happened.”

  “They think he had a stroke.”

  “Is he going to be okay?”

  “They don’t know. My flight leaves tomorrow, but I can’t stay for more than a few days.” Aubrey’s unuttered question hung in the air. “Mom is…well, she shouldn’t be alone.”

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Adrienne promised.

  The sound of a clicking keyboard came through the phone. “I found you a flight from Punta Arenas to Seattle.” She softly swore. “The fastest flight is more than twenty-four hours. Want me to book it?”

  “What’s going on?” Nick sat beside her, his breath tickling the back of her neck.

  “My dad has had a stroke,” Adrienne told him.

  Aubrey swore again. “The cheapest flight is thousands of dollars.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Nick said. “I’ll pay for it.”

  “No,” Adrienne protested.

  “You’re here because of me,” Nick said. “Let me get you out of here.”

  “I’m here because I want to be here.”

  “And now you want to be home.”

  “I’m not arguing with you,” Adrienne said.

  Aubrey laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” Adrienne demanded.

  “You sound just like Mom and Dad,” Aubrey told her.

  Aubrey made the arrangements using Adrienne’s credit card, but Adrienne only half-listened to the particulars. Her thoughts were already with her parents.

  #

  “This time with you has been amazing,” Adrienne said to Nick as they stood on the curb of the Punta Arenas airport. She leaned in to kiss his cheek. “But this is goodbye.”

  “For now,” Nick put in.

  She had so much more to say, but she had no time. He drew her in for a quick hug. Briefly, she allowed herself to sag against him.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Keep to the plan. Sing your songs. You never really needed me, you know? Get yourself a tripod—”

  “I can’t replace you with a tripod,” Nick told her. “You were my cheerleader. No, more than that. You were my catalyst. You made everything happen for me.”

  “And I can still do that, but from a distance. I need to be with my parents.”

  Nick nodded, hugged her again, and turned away. Adrienne’s heart twisted as she watched him walk through the airport . He looked naked without his guitar bumping at his side. She felt torn between wanting to stay with him and burning anxiousness for her mom and dad.

  It dawned on her that for Seb she felt nothing at all.

  #

  A day later she arrived in Seattle to find a weak sun struggling to break free from a shroud of clouds. She shivered in the misty gloom as she waited on the curb for Aubrey to pick her up. After several minutes, she spotted her parents’ aged Oldsmobile puttering through the line of cars.

  Aubrey steered the Olds alongside Adrienne. Moments later, Adrienne was slowly thawing beneath a blasting heater.

  “How are they?” she asked.

  Aubrey nodded. “Good, but try not to be shocked when you see Dad. He’s lost use of his left side. The doctors are hopeful, though. He’s in amazing co
ndition for his age.”

  “And Mom?”

  “It’ll be hard. He’s always been large and in charge. He’s not going to surrender his dominance just because half his body refuses to work properly.”

  “Do you think,” Adrienne swallowed, hating the thought and not even wanting to know the answer, “that this could be permanent?”

  “They’ve scheduled a brain scan for tomorrow. We should know more then.”

  Adrienne nodded and looked out the window. Her parents had always been such brainiacs. It was impossible to think of them in any other way, but she supposed it could happen. In time, one or possibly both could lose their mental capacity. Maybe her dad already had.

  “Are you going to see Seb?” Aubrey asked.

  “Yes.”

  “What are you going to say to him?”

  Adrienne sucked in a deep breath. “What do you think about divorce?”

  “That it’s a whole lot easier if there aren’t children involved.”

  Adrienne thought about this. Of course she agreed, but it wasn’t really the answer she was looking for. “I made a vow before God.”

  “So did Seb.”

  “I can’t let his behavior determine mine.”

  “You’ve told me this before,” Aubrey said through tight lips. “Who are you trying to convince, me or you?”

  “You don’t like him.” This wasn’t a question.

  “I never have.”

  “Why?”

  “He was always smarmy. Trying too hard to be something he wasn’t.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this before I married him?”

  “Would it have stopped you?”

  Adrienne thought about pointing out that Aubrey, who had never been married, was unqualified to be handing out marital advice, but since she didn’t want to start an argument she bit her lip.

  “Where are we going?” Aubrey asked. “Will you stay at your apartment or at the house?”

  “With Mom.” Adrienne slid her sister a glance. “My being here has everything to do with Mom and Dad and very little to do with Seb.”

  Aubrey smiled. “Of course. Why would you stay with your husband when you can stay with your parents?”