Chapter One Hundred Fifteen
Xavier
By the next afternoon, I’ve scared off another receptionist. Dad informs me the second I walk into the office. “She quit at lunch.”
I stop in the middle of the room while dragging off my coat. “Why?”
His brow rises as he leans back in his chair, causing it to squeak. “Apparently, you made her nervous.”
“I barely talked to her.”
“That was part of the problem.”
I drag a hand down my face. Maybe I shouldn’t have glared at the woman every time I walked by because she wasn’t Ruby.
The office feels wrong without her behind the desk. Nobody humming while she works. Nobody stealing Dad’s coffee or bitching when I track mud across the floor.
Just fucking silence.
Fucking wrong.
I toss my coat onto the empty receptionist’s desk, not like anyone’s using it now.
“You look like hell.”
“Thanks.”
He crosses his arms. “You’re also making everybody around you miserable.”
The last thing I need is another fucking lecture. I’m tired of people getting in the middle of my business. “Sorry my girlfriend got assaulted.”
Dad goes silent. The clock behind him clicks once. Twice.
Movement catches my attention near the open shop door. Travis has apparently wandered close enough to hear us. He takes one look at Dad. Then me.
“Sorry, man.” He raises both hands and backs into the shop. “Not touching this one.” He pulls the door shut behind him.
Dad’s attention returns to me. “So you’re finally admitting she’s your girlfriend?”
Shit. I look away.
“You’ve spent your whole life pretending you don’t care about things,” he says.
I laugh without humor. “That’s rich coming from you.” Fuck. I rake a hand through my hair. Starting a fight with Dad isn’t going to solve anything. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Dad’s jaw tightens, but instead of getting angry, he nods. “Yeah, you should’ve. It’s my fault.”
That gets my attention.
“When your mom left, I didn’t know what the hell to do. So I worked. Kept busy. Figured if I didn’t talk about it, eventually it wouldn’t hurt.”
We’ve never talked about this. Not once.
“You never said anything.”
“No. And that was a mistake.” He rubs a hand over his jaw. “You stopped talking too.”
“She left us. Never even came back—no birthday cards. No calls. Nothing.” Even after all these years, my eyes burn as I say the words. What kind of mother does that to her child?
Dad’s features tighten. “I know.” He looks down at the desk. “And then Claire dumped you.”
I skirt the desk and drop into Ruby’s chair. “She cheated on me. Said I wasn’t fun anymore because I was depressed.”
Dad’s face changes. “I didn’t know that.”
“Nobody did.”
“Jesus, Xavier.”
I shrug, but there’s nothing casual about it.
Dad looks away. “I should’ve handled things differently. You watched me shut down after your mom left, and then you did the same damn thing.”
“Why did she never come back?”
Dad stands, and for a moment, I don’t think he’s going to answer.
He bites his bottom lip before letting out a long breath.
“She wanted to go back east. I’d promised her years before that we’d move when you got older, and I changed my mind.
Brookhaven was home. You were almost out of high school. I couldn’t uproot everything.”
“That’s why she abandoned me?”
“No.” His voice firms as he walks toward me. “She left because of problems between her and me. She was angry. She blamed me for breaking the family apart, and I think part of her wanted you to blame me too.”
I stare at him. It doesn’t make what she did okay. Nothing ever will. But for the first time, I understand that maybe I wasn’t the reason she left.
Dad grips my shoulder. “What matters now is that you love Ruby.”
Guilt hits immediately. “I hurt her.”
“Yeah. You did.” I appreciate that he doesn’t lie. “But hurting somebody doesn’t mean you stop trying.”
The bell over the door jingles before I can answer as Brent walks in with a brunette I don’t recognize. His expression hardens when he sees me. “Oh, good. The stalker’s here.”
“I’m not stalking you.”
Dad posts up beside me like he’s ready to throw down if needed. It’d be comical if everything weren’t a complete shitshow.
“You’ve driven past my house four times a day.”
More like ten. But correcting him at this point probably isn’t a good idea.
The brunette blinks. “Seriously?”
Brent gestures toward me. “He thinks I attacked Ruby.”
I plant my hands on the desk and push to my feet. “You threatened her.”
“I warned her.”
“There’s a difference?” Everything that’s happened to Ruby flashes through my head. The notes. The gifts. The smashed windows. Ruby unconscious in the grass.
My fists tighten against the desk.
Brent takes a step back. “Yes,” he says. “I was worried about her.”
“Son.” Dad grips my shoulder. “Don’t.”
Every inch of my body is coiled to strike, but I stay where I am. There’s no proof it was Brent. If there was...
“Brent didn’t hurt her,” the woman cuts in. “I was with him.”
“When?”
“I got into town before ten that night.”
Ruby was attacked around nine thirty. Not enough to clear him. But close.
“We’ve been seeing each other for a few months,” she adds. “He told me about Ruby. He was worried you were leading her on.”
Brent slides an arm around her. “You done following me now?”
Brookhaven isn’t big. He still could’ve gotten from Ruby’s house to his before ten.
But for the first time, I’m not sure he did. And if Brent isn’t the one doing this, we’re no closer to finding whoever is.