Page 31 of Begin Again
“You’ve been distracted all day,” she huffs.
“I know.” I reach for her hand when she tries to walk away. “Charlie, wait, I’m sorry. Really, I am. It’s been a weird day.”
She wants to be mad, and I can’t say I blame her, but the annoyance begins to fall from her features.
With a slight huff, she readjusts her hand to hold my good one, and I do my best not to reject it. I don’t need to start a war right now. Swinging our hands slightly, she says, “I have to get to Lady soon, but I’m dying for a coffee.”
“Let’s get you one,” I say with a small smile, motioning for her to lead the way.
Charlie gets annoyed when I pay for her coffee, saying something along the lines of she “can pay for her own damn coffee,” but I refuse to let her. I’m a gentleman and this is technically a date. She has thirty minutes before she needs to be down at the event tent where the rodeo is set to take place, but she doesn’t want to be too early, so we find a table on the outskirts of the food area.
“How do you like it so far?” Charlie asks, taking a sip of coffee.
“The festival?”
What she means is: how do I like her so far? She disguises the question by talking about the festival instead.
“It’s…fun. I get the appeal. Company isn’t too bad, either.”
“You’re just saying that.” Charlie rolls her eyes.
“No, I’m not.” Okay, maybe a little, but I won’t tell her. I promised her today, so I need to make good on my promise…even if I haven’t been doing a good job of it thus far. “Charlie, I’m sorry I’ve been so distracted. I promise not to let it happen the rest of the day.”
“Everything okay?”
“Everything is—”
“Xavier!” Chief Sloan shouts when he and Doris break through the crowd. “There you are. I was starting to think Iwasn’t going to see you.” Sloan whispers something to his wife as they approach the table, and she nods. “Charlie, you mind if I steal him for a minute?”
“Be my guest, Danny. Not like we’re on a date or anything,” Charlie says, lifting her brows briefly before smiling at him.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you company,” Doris says, sitting beside her.
“You’re better company, anyway.”
“Don’t you know it?”
I hear them giggle as I follow Sloan through a small crowd of people and behind the food vendors, giving us a quieter and more private place to talk, away from the prying eyes and listening ears of everyone in the damn city.
“What did the sheriff say?” I ask, earning a sigh from Sloan. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Xavier, I’m sorry, but there wasn’t anything. It was for someone completely different.”
A swell of emotions floods my entire being, but I bite down on my bottom lip, trying to hold them back. Tears burn the corner of my eyes, but I fight like hell to keep them inside, to keep it all inside.
“I’m so sorry. I was…I really thought this was it, but I guess it just wasn’t your time yet.”
I can’t bring myself to look him in the eye. I’m scared if I do, I’ll finally break. And I have to hold it together until I get back to the house. I can’t allow myself to break when I just promised Charlie I’d be on my A-game the rest of the night. She’s counting on me. But as I stare up into the abyss above us, I wonder if this is some kind of punishment for something I’ve done in the past. Am I doomed to walk the earth day in and day out without a single idea of who I am or where I come from? A single tear slips down my cheek when I ask, “Do you think anyone even cares that I’m gone?”
“Trust me, kid. There are people out there looking for you.”
My gaze falls back to Chief Sloan. Something in his voice strikes a chord in my mind. Why did he say it likethat?
“I mean, I have no doubt in my mind about it,” he says, almost like he’s trying to cover his tracks. “How could they not be?” Sloan clears his throat and pats me on the back. “Don’t give up yet, okay?”
I rub the emotion from my eyes, taking a deep breath to try and eliminate the rest of it still clawing its way to the forefront of my mind. “What’s the use? It’s been over a year. If there was someone looking, they probably think I’m dead at this point.”
“Don’t say that. Please don’t give up, Xavier. We’ll keep fighting. We will figure this out.” Sloan grips my shoulder. “It’s going to happen. Might take some more time, but it’s gonna happen. For tonight, enjoy the festival. Who knows, this might be the only time you get to do so.” He smiles before pushing me forward and leading me back toward the girls.
