Chapter 29

Everlee

Later that night, I'm in bed staring up at the ceiling, my thoughts all over the place, trying to process everything I learned today.

After more heated words, some pleading, and me ultimately putting my foot down, I finally managed to get Dad and my brothers to leave and go home. Well, most of them anyway. They only agreed to leave if one of them could stay. Thankfully, it was Joe who was nominated for babysitting duty. Joe may be hot headed when pushed, but he's also the most level-headed and the one I'm closest to. I'd much rather it be him than any of my other brothers.

Of course, this still doesn't mean I can sneak away. Just because they aren't in my house anymore, doesn't mean they aren't around. I'd bet my last dollar that at least one of my brothers is parked somewhere outside on the street keeping watch. They know me too well. When I set my mind to something, there's nothing that will keep me from following through with it, and I'm dead set on going back into the wilderness to find Wild Man.

Joe's sleeping on the couch since Rika, who flat out refuses to leave, has taken up residency in my spare bedroom. It's been nice having her around, but I'm sick of peopling. I'm tired of pretending that I'm okay when I'm far from it. I'm heartbroken, not just because I'm not with Wild Man, but also because I have no idea what condition he's in. I've kept myself from thinking of the worst case scenario, but sometimes those thoughts sneak in. When they do, I want to curl up into a ball and cry until there's nothing left inside me.

I roll to my side and hug my pillow to my chest. Tears slide down my cheeks, soaking the cotton material.

I've played nice to Dad in my demands he let me go find Wild Man. That changes tomorrow. If he doesn't agree, I'll take drastic measures. One way or another, I will be leaving tomorrow.

Making that decision, my thoughts drift back to Camille. I found out through her that Wild Man is twenty-eight years old. He's been living in the wilderness for a little over twenty-three years. His birthday is in a couple of months, on December thirteenth.

Camille didn't have to answer Mad's question on why her and Wild Man's parents decided to leave her in that hospital and take that last trip into the wild, but she did anyway. Apparently, Gabriel and Josie Salone were avid outdoors people. They loved spending time in nature and living off the land. That's how they met thirty-four years ago. They were both backpacking in Hawaii and stumbled across each other. Camille says it was love at first sight for them both. They met, fell in love, and never left each other's side.

When they found out Josie was pregnant with their third child, they decided to hang up their adventure hats by taking one last trip. They wanted to take Camille with them like they had previously, but with her being so sick the last couple of years, they felt it best for her to stay behind. She was left in Josie's sister's care. They were only supposed to be gone for a couple of weeks in the Appalachian Mountains of upper New York state. When they didn't come back after that week and they heard no word from them, a rescue team scoured the mountains. The Appalachian Mountains are over two-thousand miles long and span from Canada all the way down to Alabama. No matter how many people were searching, there was no way they could cover every square foot.

It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Gabriel and Josie weren't in the Appalachian mountains. They were in Black Ridge National Forest in west Texas. It's anyone's guess why they ended up there and not where they originally planned, and there's no way to get those answers now.

Camille and I both cried when I told her what happened to her parents and the things I knew about Wild Man. What he endured and how hard he fought to stay alive. I told her how strong and brave her brother was, that he was a true survivor. A protector.

She asked why I called him Wild Man, and I explained that the folks in town gave him the moniker years ago when they first heard of the man who lives in the wild. I didn't give her the more gruesome details of my first few days with Wild Man. I could tell Maddox wanted to enlighten Camille, but he wisely kept his trap shut. She didn't need to know those things about her brother. I smiled a little when I told her I used the name because Wild Man acted… well, wild when we first met. She smiled when she told me the name Fey was indeed a nickname for Phenix. It was the one she gave her baby brother when their parents brought him home from the hospital after being born. She was only two years old and had trouble pronouncing Phenix, so she called him Fey. I could tell that she really loved that, although he didn't remember his big sister, she was still with him in a way.

It was by pure luck that Camille heard of the story of what happened to me. She and her two-year-old twin boys live in Oklahoma. She was in the kitchen making breakfast for her boys when she overheard the news story on the television. There weren't many details because I refused to talk to the media, but it was enough to trigger Camille's curiosity. On a whim and with a premonition, after getting as much information as she could, she arranged a babysitter for her sons and then headed to Texas.

When Camille left hours after she arrived, I gave her my promise that I would find Wild Man. She gave me her phone number and the name of the hotel she's staying in for the next week. I have every intention to call her with good news soon.

I roll to my other side, my eyes drifting closed. Today was a long day and all of the new information has left me exhausted, but I can't get comfortable. The bed is too soft and the smell of my apple-scented candles is irritating me. The blankets are too restricting, so I kick them off, but then I don't like having nothing covering me so I pull just the sheet over me. I miss the warmth of Wild Man. I miss his heavy arm wrapped around my stomach as he pulls me back against his hard chest. I miss his steady breath fanning across my ear as he sleeps. The kiss to the back of my neck he always gives me before he drifts off. There are so many things I miss about him.

I kick the sheet off me and get up from the bed. At my window, I pull the curtains aside and push the pane of glass open halfway. I want to feel the fresh breeze on my skin while I sleep. It won't be the same as sleeping in Wild Man's tree hut, but who knows, maybe it'll help just a little.

I crawl back in bed, bringing the sheet up to my waist. I'm naked because I can't stand sleeping in clothes now. The slight breeze that comes through my window feels good, and I release a long breath.

My eyes drift closed and I will my brain to let go of all its erratic thoughts.

Within seconds I'm drifting off to sleep.