Page 7 of His Christmas Star
“Another,” a voice said as a glass landed on the bar.
I glanced over and nearly fell off my stool. “Tobi?”
“Nash,” she said with slurred sarcasm.
“What are you doing here?”
“Duh,” she said, motioning at the empty glass on the bar.
Alexandria set a new glass down and took her empty. “Last one, Tobi.”
“I’m not driving,” she said, sipping the tequila sunrise. It was always her go to drink when she was feeling down.
“You’re driving a horse, and I will not be responsible for you falling off her and hitting your head.”
“You drove your horse to the bar?” I asked, my laughter bubbling out of my chest no matter how hard I tried to keep it in. “I’ve heard of tractors and lawn mowers, but never a horse. Isn’t it kind of cold out for Starburst?
“I’m a cowboy. We drive horses.”
“Cowgirl,” Alexandria corrected, and Tobi rolled her eyes so hard I was afraid she was going to fall off the stool.
“Fine, I’m a cowgirl. Starburst is fine. The ride back will warm her up.”
What kind of ridiculous woman names a horse Starburst? In fairness, the horse had an oddly shaped star between her eyes and down her nose, but it was a little spot-on if you asked me. Tobi bought the horse because no one else wanted her. Starburst’s growth was stunted in utero and is barely eleven hands tall. That didn’t matter to Tobi when she first saw that little filly. They bonded immediately, and since then, Starburst learned how to take care of her rider, who had hands unlike any other.
“You aren’t getting on that horse if you can’t walk a straight line,” I said, shaking my head at the tiny, drunk woman at the end of the bar. I wanted to walk down there and kiss the hell out of her until her frown turned upside down. I wouldn’t, since I knew how it would end, but I still wanted to.
“It’s not illegal to ride a horse drunk, Sheriff Nash,” she said, emphasis on sheriff. She waved her hand around in the air. “It doesn’t matter because I’m not drunk. Right, Alexandria?”
The bartender snickered and shook her head as an answer. “I’ve had drunker people at my bar, but stone-cold sober you aren’t.”
Tobi drained the glass and slid it across the bar. I breathed a sigh of relief when Alexandria caught it before it hit the floor. She tossed some cash down on the bar. “Thanks for giving me a place to wet my whistle, but it’s a little judgmental in here for me, so I’ll be taking my leave.” She made some strange motion that I think was supposed to be a curtsey before she stomped across the old, scuffed wooden floor and disappeared out the door.
“Wow,” Alexandria said with a chuckle. “That was a dramatic exit if I’ve ever seen one.”
“She gets that way with tequila.” I shook my head and sighed. “Something must have happened for tequila to be involved.”
“If you ask me, I think she needs to face the loss of her brother and move on.”
“Doubt that will ever happen,” I said with a shake of my head. “She still blames me for his death.”
“Cody died of an accident, didn’t he?”
I nodded my head once. “But Tobi has never accepted that. She’s convinced someone is to blame for it, which is understandable, but a dozen years later, it’s hard to keep having the same fight.”
“And you don’t have a problem with her blaming you for his death? That’s not exactly fair, Joe.”
“She needs to blame someone, and I’m the only one left. I understand why she does it, so I don’t take offense.”
Alexandria started wiping down the bar, giving me time to drink my beer, but my mind kept picturing Tobi out there on a horse, half drunk and trying to get home.
“Why do you think she blames you, Joe?”
Of course. Alexandria never let a conversation end before she was done with it. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “My only guess is she thinks if I’d gone hunting with him as I’d promised, even if he had fallen, I would have been able to save him.”
“Would you have?” she asked, her arm pausing in its work.
I pushed the beer away on a sigh. I had just voiced for the first time in twelve years a thought that was never far from my mind. “Maybe.” My shrug said it all. I tossed some bills on the bar and stood, setting my hat on my head. “I better head over to Heavenly Lane and make sure she made it home. Thanks for the beer, Allie.”
