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Xavier nodded and went to the microwave. I watched as he moved around the kitchen without hesitation. He got himself a plate for the chicken pot pie, then grabbed himself a soda from the fridge. I expected him to take it all back out of the house and to either the bunkhouse or, more likely, the foreman's private residence, but to my surprise, he began walking toward the stairs at the opposite end of the room.
"Xavier, come sit here and eat with us," Uncle Curtis said. "I'll be getting my pie out of the oven soon. It's apple, your favorite."
Xavier actually looked like he was considering the request, but then he shook his head. "Thanks. I'll hang out in my room, if you don't mind. Give you and your nephew some private time." He practically sneered the word "nephew." Then he left the room and headed upstairs.
His words sank in.
My room?
"Wait," I began as I stumbled over my own thoughts. I shook my head in disbelief. "He lives here? In the house with you?" I said to Uncle Curtis.
"Course he does," Uncle Curtis responded. He looked at me like I was crazy for even asking the question.
"Why does he live here? You have a house specifically for the ranch's foreman."
"That place is falling down around our ears, son. Xavier is fixing it up by hand, but it's going to take a while."
"What about the bunkhouse?" I pointed in the direction of the bunkhouse. "What? He too good to stay in the same place as the rest of the help?"
My uncle's mouth pulled into a frown and his eyes narrowed. He didn't say it, but I could tell he was disappointed in me and it felt like I'd been punched in the gut. It actually hurt more than when Xavier had wrapped his hands around my throat. "Now you know each one of those men out there is family, Brooks," my uncle admonished.
I nodded quickly because I did know that. "Sorry," I responded.
Uncle Curtis nodded and then covered my hand with his on the table. "Xavier's got his reasons for not staying in the bunkhouse, but they ain't got nothing to do with those men working beneath him. You want any more explanation, you're going to have to ask him. Ain't my story to tell."
I pulled my hand free. Was he kidding me? "Uncle Curtis—" I began, but he waved me off.
"If you got some other questions for me, now's the time to be asking them, son."
As kindhearted as my uncle was, he was also as stubborn as a mule. Not that I really knew what a mule was or how it differed from a donkey. It was just another one of my grandmother's expressions.
"Okay, fine. Why did you hire him? After what he did to our family?"
"Because he needed a job, son." I expected Uncle Curtis to say more, but he just looked at me like it was an answer I should've already known.
"Uncle Curtis," I said softly. "He tried to kill my father." The memory of that night came back in waves.
I’d been so excited because I’d finally convinced Xavier to give me a riding lesson. I hadn't cared about actually learning to ride a horse; I'd just wanted to spend time with Xavier. And somehow meeting at night when it was just the two of us had been something I'd wanted more than anything else. I hadn't even really understood at the time what I'd wanted. Now that I looked back on it, I knew the answer to that question… Xavier.
I'd wanted Xavier.
It had been late, and I’d had to wait a long time for my parents to go to bed. Sneaking out had been one of the scariest things I'd ever done, because Brooks Cunningham just didn't do things like that. As soon as I’d stepped outside into the cool Wyoming night, I’d smelled smoke. But I hadn't understood what it meant. Summers in Wyoming could be cool, especially at night, but not enough that people would be burning fires. And my father hadn’t been the kind of man who allowed parties with bonfires on his property. When I'd gone to investigate, it had taken just seconds to realize what it was that had been burning.
Our barn.
I’d started running then. I'd yelled for my parents as I’d dashed to the barn in the hopes that the sound would wake them up, but my first worry had been for Xavier. I'd feared that he was in the barn with the horses, getting one of them ready for me to ride. I've never run so fast in my entire life. The scene that I’d come upon would haunt me forever. The barn had been engulfed in fire, flames licking at the roof and sides of the building. I’d stood there completely horrified and having no idea what to do. Horses had sped past me one by one, disappearing into the night. I'd screamed Xavier's name several times, but there'd been no response. The roar of the fire had been so loud that he never would've been able to hear me, nor I him.
