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I sat at the table for a long time, torn between going upstairs to find Brooks and escaping back outside in the hopes I could somehow clear my head.
Outside won, but by the time I returned to the house several hours later, my head was anything but clear.
Chapter 19
Brooks
I had a lot of regrets in life, but my decision to say yes to Xavier's invitation to go with him and his sister to the county fair would rank right up there at the top of the list.
Logically, I’d understood that the people of Eden weren't happy about a convicted felon being back in their midst, but I hadn't considered what that really meant… or looked like. But now that I was watching it play out, I wondered why people considered me so smart when I was actually so incredibly stupid.
For starters, the invitation hadn't really come from Xavier, but his sister. I'd stayed clear of the driveway when Mrs. Price had brought Sara up to the ranch early this morning so she could spend some time with the horses before Xavier took her to the fair. Once the woman had left, I'd joined Xavier and Sara in the barn and we’d spent a few minutes grooming the horses.
I adored Sara. She was exactly as Xavier had described. Smart and quiet, but also very sweet and observant. She'd asked straight off if I was Xavier's boyfriend and both he and I had stumbled over our responses. She'd actually rolled her eyes at us as we’d stopped and started our combined answer multiple times. By the time we’d finished spouting some nonsense about life being complicated and some other bullshit I couldn't even remember, she’d waved her hand at us and had said to let her know when she could refer to me as her brother's boyfriend.
The kid was ten going on thirty.
And I was extremely fond of her.
But in reality, she'd been the one who'd asked if I wanted to come to the fair. Foolishly, I hadn't even considered the ramifications. I’d just looked at Xavier in the hopes that he'd ask me as well, or at least say it was okay. Any excuse I had to spend time with the man, I jumped on it. I should've realized when Xavier had hesitated with his response why he’d done so in the first place. But I hadn't really even noticed.
Like they said, hindsight is twenty-twenty.
From the moment we’d gotten out of Xavier's truck a few minutes earlier, there’d been whispers all around us. I’d thought at first that it was because I'd returned to Eden and people were starting to recognize me, but it’d actually had little to do with me at first. It wasn't until I’d heard the word "murderer" spoken softly from somewhere behind us that I'd realized no one had even really noticed me at that point.
Xavier had been ignoring all the talk and the looks sent his direction and instead had focused on interacting with his sister. If it hadn't been such a terrible thing to witness, it would've been almost comical how heads had turned as we’d walked by. I'd wanted to yell and scream at all the people to mind their own business, but obviously that hadn't been an option. I’d hoped the furor would die down, but it had only gotten worse when Ronny from the gas station had called my name and asked what I was doing with the murderer.
Yeah, he'd done it just like that. There’d been no pulling me aside, or subtle motion to get my attention. He’d just yelled my name and screamed the question across a small crowd of people. From there on out, the news had spread like wildfire that Brooks Cunningham was walking next to his own father's would-be killer, Xavier Price. The crowd hadn't even had a clue that Xavier and I were in an actual relationship. After what had happened to Jules, I was even more frightened about us being found out.
Jules was still at Black Hills Ranch, though he hadn't strayed far from the house. He also hadn't told me the specifics of what had happened beyond that he’d been in one of the Eden stores and had bought a bottle of nail polish that he'd then asked the clerk if he thought it would look good on Jules. Five minutes later, Jules had been confronted outside the store, but he hadn't told me by whom or what exactly had happened beyond the obvious punch he’d taken. My friend was a beast when it came to navigating the streets of New York, but that city was also a place where there were a lot more people like him and me.
A guy buying a bottle of nail polish in a convenience store in New York might've turned a few heads here and there, but it wouldn't have resulted in a violent attack. And while Jules joked about targeting straight men, I knew it was all talk. He knew how to do things like fight for a cab or argue with the vendor about a bill, and he'd stood up to Xavier to protect me, but he wasn't a tough guy who knew how to use his fists to defend himself. Even if he had been, my gut was telling me that there'd been more than one person who'd been involved in the attack, and few people would've stood a chance when outnumbered like that.
