Texas Tender by Leigh Greenwood Read Free Book Online Page B

day,” Lloyd said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we have women lining up to cook for him.”
    â€œOf course they will. He’s gorgeous,” Mara gushed.
    Sometimes Will got impatient with people’s reaction to his looks. After all, he could have been as evil as he was attractive, but occasionally his looks came in handy. Besides, with two deputies, he wouldn’t have much to do. Getting to meet a different family every time he sat down to eat might be an interesting way to pass the week.
    â€œIs it a deal?” Will asked.
    â€œIt sure is,” Lloyd said. “And to prove it, you’re coming home with me for supper. Andy can arrange for breakfast tomorrow and Jordan for supper. By then we ought to have the rest of the week taken care of.”
    Will could practically hear Jake laughing at the mess he’d gotten himself into. At least he’d have something decent to eat. And as soon as he got a chance, he’d look into what had happened to Idalou’s bull.
    â€œMy first act as sheriff will be to make it a rule that no young woman is to be out alone after dark,” he said, directing his remark to Mara. “There are too many drunks wandering around for that to be safe.”
    â€œI already have that rule,” McGloughlin said, giving his daughter a severe look.
    â€œThen I’ll leave it up to you to enforce it,” Will said.
    â€œAnything else?” Lloyd asked.
    â€œYes. My stomach thinks my throat has been cut.”
    Lloyd laughed. “Come on. If we don’t hurry, we’ll be late for supper.”
    Being sheriff had its advantages. Will had gotten up from Dorabelle Severns’s table the previous evening feeling in charity with the world. A good wine and a stout brandy had topped off a very satisfying meal. Mrs. Davis’s breakfast this morning hadn’t been as spectacular, but he’d had to push back from the table while he was still able to stand. He seated himself at his desk, opened a drawer, and idly surveyed its contents. “How’s the prisoner this morning?” he asked Emmett, one of his two deputies.
    â€œMad as hell and threatening to plant you in the ground next to our last sheriff.”
    â€œSince I have no desire to be planted in the ground, regardless of whom I’m next to, maybe we ought to let him spend a little more time in his cell.”
    â€œWe never keep drunks longer than overnight.”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo there has to be some reason you want to keep him locked up.”
    â€œYou think I’m afraid of him?”
    â€œEverybody else is. He’s the fastest draw in three counties.”
    â€œI keep hearing that,” Will said as he got to his feet. “I think I’d like to see for myself.”
    Emmett blanched. “You going to face him in a gunfight?”
    Will opened drawers in the desk until he found one with a pair of guns. “How else am I going to find out?”
    â€œIt won’t do you no good iffen you’re dead.”
    â€œI don’t plan to die.” He checked each gun for bullets. Both were empty. He held up one to show Emmett. “I don’t plan to use bullets.”
    Emmett followed Will back to the jail cells, shaking his head as he went. Newt sprang to his feet.
    â€œLet me out,” he shouted. “I ain’t done nothing wrong.”
    â€œI suppose you consider it perfectly okay to force an unwilling young woman to let you kiss her.”
    â€œI didn’t mean no harm,” Newt said.
    â€œI’m not interested in that just now,” Will said. “I want to see if you’re as fast as everybody thinks.”
    A calculating expression claimed Newt’s face. “How do you aim to prove that?”
    â€œI’ll give you a gun. On Emmett’s signal we’ll both draw. He decides which one is the fastest.”
    â€œThe bullet will do that,” Newt said with a grin.
    â€œIt might if