Renee’s eyes went wide as his words settled in. He was looking at the ground, and this Karen person was glaring at her. Karen tilted her head to peek into their room. “Where’s Angela?”
Renee’s heart hit the floor. Her mouth ran dry, and tears threatened to expose themselves. “Who?” she asked any one of the three of them, although Chad had yet to say a single thing. Theo finally lifted his head and looked at Renee. His eyes spoke volumes to her. The tears she had been holding back flowed like a waterfall. She let the door go, and it slammed shut on Karen and Chad.
“Renee,” he said her name softly, but she wasn’t listening. She walked into the room, looked around at the beautiful scenery outside their large picture window. The desk clerk had been right; you could see people skiing down the mountain from their room.
On the table near the window sat a bottle of champagne, and next to it a dozen roses. For months, she’d questioned things around her. The hushed phone calls, missing important events, the excuses. Each time he chalked it up to work. Without a word to Theo, she grabbed the bottle of champagne and flung it toward the wall. The shattering was unsatisfying, and she sought out more things to destroy. The chair was next. She picked it up and heaved it at Theo. Even in his drunken stupor he was able to dodge the flying wood. The chair crashed into the wall and stayed fully intact when it landed on the floor. The only visible damage was the deep gash missing from the wallpaper.
Weak hands clamped down on her arms, and she moved out of Theo’s grip. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
“I need you to listen.”
She turned and saw the man she had fallen in love with standing there looking defeated, and she didn’t care. Not about him or what he had to say. Yet, he spoke anyway.
“This isn’t what you think.”
“No? So, you’re not married? Engaged to someone else? Have a girlfriend? What the fuck is it, Theo?”
He sighed and studied something on the floor. She stepped closer and bent slightly so he had no choice but to look at her. “What is it, Theo? Let me guess—you’re going to leave her but haven’t had the chance?”
He said nothing.
“Answer me!” she screamed, and he flinched. “Give me your sorry excuse so I can leave.”
“Where will you go?”
“That’s none of your business,” she told him. “Are you married? And what I mean is, do you live with your wife, Theo? Are you fucking married?”
He nodded.
“Un-fucking-believable. You had no fucking right to put me in this situation.”
He reached for her, but she pulled her arm away. “Don’t touch me.”
“Baby, listen.”
“I’m not your baby, your sweetie, your love, or your fucking darling. To you, I’m nothing. I don’t ever want to see or hear from you again.”
“You don’t mean that, Renee.”
“Oh, I do, Theo. You’re a piece of shit. You cheated on your wife and did so without even telling me about it. You didn’t give me an option as to whether I wanted to be in a relationship with a cheater. News flash, I don’t! I would never do something like that to another woman. I don’t care how much I liked someone.”
She went to get her bag and pulled the handle so she could drag it behind her and grabbed her purse from the edge of the bed where she’d dropped it.
“Renee—”
“Don’t talk to me. Don’t call me. Don’t even come to see me. You and I—we are done.” With those last words, she left the hotel room. She sensed Theo would come after her, so she followed the sign for the stairs. She picked up her suitcase and carried it, making it down a few flights until her emotions overtook her. In the corner, surrounded by gray cinderblocks, she pulled her phone out and sent a text to Graham: I’m in Whistler at the Grandview Hotel. Can you come to get me?
Graham Cracker: Everything okay?
No, please hurry.
Graham Cracker: I’m on my way.
Rennie pocketed her phone and slid down the wall, pulling her knees to her chest and letting out the most agonized wail she had ever experienced.
EIGHTEEN
Graham was in the back room doing inventory when his phone dinged. Seeing Rennie’s name pop up made him smile, but the words to follow changed his demeanor instantly. She needed help. Worse, she had gone to Canada for vacation, and now she needed him. He didn’t want to think of everything that could’ve been wrong; all he thought about was how quickly he could get there, even though a million questions swirled in his mind as he entered the bar, told Krista he needed to leave, and asked if she could close for him tonight and open in the morning.
“Of course—is everything okay?” Krista was aware of the issues surrounding Grady, and since her employment with the Whale Spout had begun, Graham had considered her a friend.
“I’m not sure,” he told her. “I’ll let you know if I won’t be back tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ll be in by the time your shift ends.”
“Okay,” she agreed without hesitation before heading back to the customers and her daily to-do list.
Graham left Cape Harbor right away, only stopping to fill his gas tank and grab a coffee. Something terrible must’ve happened to Rennie for her to call and ask him to come get her. It would take a lot for her to bail on a vacation she had really been looking forward to and which had barely just begun.
When he reached the border, he showed the Canadian agent his enhanced driver’s license, thankful to at least have this documentation to cross international lines. He had let his passport expire years ago, after never having used it. He didn’t see a reason to have one.
“Where are you heading?” the agent asked.
“To Whistler. I have a friend there who needs a ride back to the States.”
“When are you coming back?”
Graham thought for a moment. He wasn’t sure but imagined their return would be right away. “After I pick her up,” he said. “Although, if it gets too late, we might stop at a hotel along the route back.”
“Will you be spending any money while you’re in Canada?”
“Yes, on gas and food.” Shopping, although beneficial with the exchange rate, was not on his list of activities.
The agent handed Graham his license back and told him to drive slowly, letting him know that due to the recent weather pattern, snowcaps were falling off cliffs and could hit the roadways. Graham thanked him, rolled up his window, and drove away slowly. He adjusted his digital speedometer to read kilometers, turned the dial on his radio up, and set his cruise control. Getting a speeding ticket in Canada was not something he was willing to do, no matter what.
When he was about an hour out, he stopped to use the restroom, unable to hold it any longer. He also bought a couple of pops, bags of chips, and candy bars. He passed by the small travel-size bottles of wine and thought Rennie might need one but decided to wait until he had her safely in his car. Before he got back on the road, he sent her a text letting her know how far away he was, and she replied, letting him know she’d be outside waiting for him. He thought about asking her what was going on but refrained. She’d tell him on their way back or sometime later, if she wasn’t quite ready. He wasn’t going to press her. Graham knew Rennie well enough to know she’d talk when she was ready.