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And right now she was squinting at me like I was a puzzle and the pieces weren’t clicking together right. Then enlightenment dawned. “You’re Suzie’s brother!” she shouted, startling the horse.
I gave the horse a reassuring pat. “Michael West.”
Recognition flashed on Eli’s face. “Oh, hey, man. I didn’t know you were back. Should’ve known it was you from the red hair, but the beard threw me off. Fantastic. Take her home.”
No way in hell.
“You can’t just leave her with me. She’s drunk. You barely know me, and I’ve been gone for three years. How do you know I won’t abduct her or something?” I demanded.
Eli’s mouth twitched with amusement. “AbductNora.” He seemed to find that hilarious. “Remember how Ms. Price made everyone read ‘The Ransom of Red Chief’ by O. Henry in seventh grade? It’s like that.”
I remembered the story. A boy got kidnapped, only for the kidnappers to realize they were in over their heads. They ended up paying the boy’s grandfather to allow them to return him. I glanced at Nora, who was combing through the horse’s mane with her fingers, untangling the knots, humming softly to herself. This sweet little woman? No. She wasn’t a hellraiser. Still, Suzie’s stories about her did give me pause.
I was exhausted. The last thing I needed was to babysit a grown woman. “I could be an axe murderer.”
“You’re not an axe murderer. You’re Suzie’s brother. I used to hang out at your house with Luke and Emma. And I’m not putting a drunk woman on a horse, so it’s either you take her or I call for backup.”
It wasn’t dire, as threats went. But she looked soft and sweet, and even though I was beginning to suspect she was neither of those things, I still didn’t want her to end up in the back of a cop car. Not to mention I would hear about it from Suzie later. My little sister’s voice was already reverberating in my head, shoutingwhy couldn’t you walk her home, asshole?I didn’t have a good answer for that.
“All right. I’ll take her home.”
“Excellent.” Eli clucked his tongue and tugged the reins. The horse heaved a sigh, like he was sayingthis fool, and ambled forward with a loud fart. “I did not sign up for this,” Eli muttered.
“He’s talking about the horse,” Nora said helpfully.
I had my doubts about that.
Still, I couldn’t believe Eli had left her with me. What happened to serve and protect? “Just so you know, murderers can have sisters!” I called after him. “Some of them even have mothers!”
Eli didn’t stop, didn’t turn around.
I watched him go, annoyed. “I can’t believe he did that.”
She shrugged. “Eh. Eli is okay. He’s been grouchy ever since he lost a bet with his girlfriend, Emma. He has to patrol Main Street on a horse until tourist season is over. Eli doesn’t like horses much, but he has to do what she says because she’s the mayor. And also because he lost the bet.”
“Emma Andrews?” I asked, just to be sure, even though I knew it couldn’t be any other Emma, not when it came to Eli. They had both been close friends of Suzie’s growing up, along with Luke Buchanan, who was now the owner of Goat’s Tavern. As Eli had reminded me, the four of them used to hang out in my parents’ basement, watching movies and probably playing Seven Minutes in Heaven, for all I knew.
I didn’t know what surprised me more: that Emma was mayor, or that Emma and Eli had finally worked out their issues. “What was the bet?”
“Emma wouldn’t say. I do wonder what he would have gotten if he had won.” She laughed and shook her head, making her dark hair swirl around her bare collar bone. My eyes rested there for a moment before I jerked them back to her face. “Something to do with sex, probably.”
Sex.As in, that thing I hadn’t had for far too long. And here was Nora, looking like a tempting solution.Little sister’s best friend, I reminded myself. Not to mention, drunk. I changed the subject. “Okay, Nora. Where is home?”
“See, that’s the problem,” she hedged. “I can’t go home. I locked myself out. So I figured I would go to the hardware store. Jimmy keeps a ladder out back. I had a whole plan, but Eli ruined it because he wouldn’t let me use his horse, and how am I supposed to carry a ladder all the way home?”
I looked down at her.
Drama. That’s what this woman was, and that was exactly what I didn’t need. I got enough drama from my job as a wilderness first responder and my family. I told myself this because it was true.
And also because she was biting her lip in a way that did things for me, so apparently I needed the reminder. Dammit.
I looked away. “So…you were going to use the ladder?”
“Right. To climb through my window.”
“That is a terrible idea.” Frustration made my words sound testy. I was tired. It had been a long flight, the airline lost my luggage, and this woman wanted to drunkenly climb a ladder to a second-story window. After transporting said ladder on a stolen police horse. Meanwhile, my apartment was right here.
Don’t do it.
