Texas Tender by Leigh Greenwood Read Free Book Online

any.”
    â€œLead the way,” Will said. “I want to get rid of this man.”
    The news that a stranger had beaten Newt Mandrin in a fight and was taking him to jail spread through town faster than a plague of locusts. By the time Will reached the jailhouse, half the population of Dunmore was on the street—including every boy over six and under sixteen. Will ignored all requests to describe the fight until Mara’s description so far outstripped reality, he had to intervene.
    â€œNewt was so drunk he could hardly stand up,” he snapped. “One punch to the windpipe, and he was down for the count.”
    As brief as it was, that description excited the boys more than Mara’s more extravagant version. In secondsthey were pantomiming hitting each other in the throat and falling on the ground, noisily gasping for breath. Will was relieved to reach the jail and be able to close the door on the crowd. Bud Fox retrieved the keys from the desk. Will propelled Newt into one of the two jail cells, and Bud locked the door behind him.
    â€œWhat’s going on here?”
    Will turned to see Andy Davis enter the jail followed by a man he didn’t know.
    â€œI found Mr. Mandrin trying to force Miss Mc-Gloughlin to kiss him,” Will said before Mara could launch into what he was certain would be a version of the evening’s events with only tenuous connections to the truth. “He was drunk, so I thought it would be better if he sobered up in jail.”
    â€œHe knocked him down with just two punches,” Mara informed the two men, her bright eyes looking at Will with utter adoration. “He drew his gun on Isaiah so fast I couldn’t see his hand move.”
    â€œThat’s because I wasn’t wearing a gun,” Will explained. “I had to borrow Newt’s.”
    â€œYou
borrowed
his gun to draw on Isaiah?” Andy asked in disbelief.
    â€œActually, I took it,” Will said, “but he was in no condition to object.”
    â€œHe was on the ground gasping for breath.” Mara dropped to her knees and gave a performance that equaled that of any of the boys outside.
    Will wondered if the extreme heat could account for the behavior of these people. All this excitement didn’t seem normal. Hell, any one of his brothers could have done what he did.
    Two more men entered. Before they could introduce themselves to Will, a tall, handsome man who appeared to be about fifty burst into the jail.
    â€œDaddy!” Mara cried and threw herself at him.
    Nobody made a move until Mara had finished sobbing and spinning a tale that made Will blush.
    â€œIt really wasn’t that dangerous,” he insisted. “Newt is drunk. It didn’t take much—”
    â€œYou saved my daughter from the shame of having that man touch her,” Jordan McGloughlin declared.
    â€œIsn’t he wonderful, Daddy?” Mara practically swooned, and Will started looking for a way out before things got too ridiculous.
    â€œI don’t know anybody else who’d have had the courage to tackle Newt and Isaiah at the same time,” Andy Davis said. “Newt’s killed two men. Everybody tries to stay out of his way.”
    â€œI’m Lloyd Severns,” said the man who’d entered with Andy Davis. “My wife told me how you stopped Van Sonnenberg from running down Pepper.”
    â€œHe very neatly disposed of Van when Van tried to attack him from behind in the Swinging Door this morning,” Andy added.
    The three men looked at each other. “I think he’s the very man we need,” Lloyd said.
    Jordan and Andy agreed. All three men turned to Will.
    â€œWe want to offer you the job of sheriff,” Andy said.
    Just the idea of his being sheriff of any town, regardless of how small, was absurd. His whole family would laugh themselves silly if they ever got wind of it. If he weren’t so shocked, he’d probably laugh,