Page 22 of A Christmas Mystery

Some people get angry when they’re drunk. Some people, on the other hand, are utterly compliant. Fortunately, Reston is the latter. He obediently gets off the bench and collapses into the chair across the table from me.

Theo slides onto the bench right beside me.

It’s a relief. He’s close but not all over me. And he smells pleasant—like soap and laundry and coffee—not like beer.

He slides a glass of light white wine in front of me. “What have you been up to since high school, Graber?”

Reston looks annoyed and confused both. Like he’s not getting something he wanted, but he can’t actually remember what that was. He shrugs. “Hanging out.”

His family has money. That much I remember. And he must be one of the trust-fund kids who don’t work.

Not all the wealthy in Green Valley are like that, but a lot of them are.

“Are you two together?” Reston asks, still looking rather baffled by this whole encounter.

“Yes,” Theo says blithely with no hesitation at all. “Sorry to disappoint, but she’s not available.”

I shoot him a quick look, slightly annoyed with his high-handedness but not enough to make a fuss. After all, his bristly attitude has saved me from Reston’s unwanted advances.

“Too bad,” he says with a sigh, wrapping his fingers around his glass of beer and standing up unsteadily. “We could have had a damn good night.”

“I’ll live with the disappointment,” I reply.

I don’t think this man can be my pen pal any more than Billy or Mick, and I don’t want to waste more time talking to him.

His name is getting crossed off my list for sure.

He reaches over toward me. I’m not exactly sure why since he’s so wobbly, but it feels like he’s going to touch me again, and I don’t want him to. I shrink toward Theo.

“Hands off,” Theo says bluntly, wrapping an arm around me.

Reston gives a little huff. “Y’all are no fun at all.”

I giggle as he slouches away. Then I can’t seem to stop. I turn my head and laugh against Theo’s shoulder until I realize what I’m doing.

This is not how we interact at all.

I don’t even like this man. Why am I snuggled all up against him?

When I straighten, he retrieves his arm, but he doesn’t get up and move to the chair. He stays right beside me on the bench until we’ve finished our drinks.

***

WE’RE WALKING OUT ATthe same time as Reston has gotten refills of beer for him and his friends. He’s loping toward us, carrying two glasses in each hand. Maybe he does it on purpose. Maybe he’s really that drunk.

Either way, he doesn’t steer clear of our path. And when we draw abreast of each other, he bumps into me, spilling two of the glasses all down the front of my favorite red-and-brown dress.

I let out an exclamation, and Theo barks out something to Reston about watching where he’s going. The bartender points out a restroom where I can clean up, but I can only do so much.

The front of my dress is drenched, and I can smell nothing but beer.

It’s almost sickening.

I’m drooping when I come out of the bathroom and walk over to where Theo is waiting for me.

“Well, this has been a messy end to an unsuccessful day.”

“We were able to cross three names off your list, so it wasn’t entirely unsuccessful,” he says, putting a hand on my back as we start toward the door. “But I agree the end could have been better.”

---