Ruth seems completely confused. She looks from me to him to the tourists before jumping to Knox’s side, waving her hands, and calling out “Enough!” In the meantime, from William all anyone can hear is, “You’re frightening the horses, the horses!”
But the tourists are not to be stopped. They’re going crazy. I don’t know what shocks me more: the insane situation or their absolutely insane behavior.
Ruth tries to calm the women down, but as the first few begin to fall over Knox, grabbing him wherever they can as if having to checkthat he was real, it becomes clear that we have to get out of here. Right away.God, they’re nuts!
I struggle up out of the hay and grab the Valentino bag just as Knox manages to free himself from their tentacles. We run for the door. It’s only when we’re just about outside that I realize the women want to run after us, but Ruth and William block the way. I’ve got to thank them later on.
Knox and I run the snowy path back into town. As I’m considering whether to call a taxi or whether we should try to catch a bus, a black Volvo pulls up and Wyatt sticks out his head. “You want to tell me why you all look like you’re on the run?”
I hear Knox let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.” He pulls open the passenger side door and swings inside next to Wyatt. When I don’t move, he looks at me. “If you’ve got stolen diamonds in that bag of yours, you’d better jump in. Unless you want to get caught, that is.” He looks over my shoulder and his eyes grow wide. “Oh, man, they’re coming! Paisley, get in, quick!”
The panic in his voice sounds so real that I spin around, my heart pounding. But of course there’s no one there.
Wyatt breaks into laughter. “Your face! You should have seen your face!”
I glare at him, but hurry into the car. Those women were truly insane. They could show up here at any second and start running after the car; I wouldn’t put it past them.
Wyatt is still laughing as he drives off. “Man, are you all lucky that I’m on my way to the game. What did you all do?”
“Nothing.” Knox rubs his neck and closes his eyes. “Some fans totally lost it back there in the barn. That was sick, man. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”
“Oh, shit.” Wyatt looks back at me in the rearview mirror. “You okay?”
Wow, that’s…nice of him.
“All good. I mean, I don’t know…they took photos.”
“Photos? For real? Right now?”
Knox looks at him. “Dude, those were red fans. No shit.”
“Red fans?” I ask.
Wyatt turns on his signal and leaves town in the direction of Aspen Highlands. “Green fans are sweet. Shy and reserved, hardly get a word out. Yellow fans are a bit pushier, they want autographs and don’t let you go. It’s harder to get rid of them. But red fans are crazy. For them, you’re the best pair of shoes at a going-out-of-business sale.”
Knox turns around to look at me. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the photos. The tourists were with Ruth, which means that they’re staying at her B&B. Jennet will get in touch with them.”
“Your spokesperson?”
He nods.
I pray to all the gods I can think of that Jennet can take care of everything. If the fact that I’m in Aspen goes public… I swallow. That can’t happen. Not at all. My career would be over before it even got started.
Wyatt lets us out in front of the resort and drives off. Knox is already on the phone with his spokesperson. “Yeah. Yeah, Jennet, I’m aware of that. My God, you think I did that intentionally? Is my name JasonfuckingHawk, or what?” He opens the front door and attempts to take off his boots with his other hand before simply kicking them off. They land next to the sideboard. “I don’t care. I fell asleep, that’s what. Shit, Jennet. What theIndependentwill pay for the story doesn’t interest me. Make sure these photos disappear!” Then he hangs up. He falls onto the couch and runs a hand over his face. I sit down next to him, pull up my legs, and rest my chin on my knees.
Knox’s eyes look really tired when he looks at me. I can see little bits of hay in between his hair. “I’m sorry that you have to go through all this.”
“It’s worse for you,” I say quietly. “Theytouchedyou.”
He sighs. “Yeah. They do that often.” Seeing my look, he laughs softly. “Not what you’re thinking right now.”
“You don’t know what I’m thinking.”
“True.” Knox turns to observe me. “But I’d really like to know.”
I embrace my legs and bury my fingers between my calves. “Why?”
“You’re so different,” he says after a moment’s hesitation. “I think you’re always looking forward, no matter who’s running behind you. And I think that you’re a real mess, Paisley.”
