Texas Tender by Leigh Greenwood

the guns were loaded, but they won’t be.”
    Newt turned angry. “Okay, let me out.”
    â€œNot yet. You might decide to run away before we find out who’s faster.”
    Newt’s expression turned contemptuous. “I’m not afraid to try this with bullets.”
    â€œI am. I wouldn’t want you to have a second sheriff’s scalp to add to your gun belt.” Will handed a gun and holster through the bars to Newt and waited while he strapped it on. “We’ll both nod when we’re ready.” Will removed his coat, hung it on a nail in the wall, and strapped on his own gun. “Then we wait for Emmett’s signal.”
    Newt’s confidence was so high, he was practically dancing in his cell. “You going to let me out if I prove I can kill you in a fair fight?”
    â€œI’ve asked Mara McGloughlin to stop by this morning. I’ll let you out after you apologize to her.”
    Newt stopped dancing and scowled at Emmett. “Hurry up, then. I want to get out of here.”
    Emmett took a deep breath, held it for a second, then said, “Now!”
    Two hands flew to the holsters. Two guns were drawn and two clicks sounded loud in the limited confines of the jail.
    â€œHe beat you!”
    All three men turned to see a dazed Mara Mc-Gloughlin standing in the doorway.
    â€œHe sure did,” Emmett said, looking at Will in shocked disbelief. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”
    â€œYou can’t tell which gun would have fired first,” Newt protested.
    â€œIt was the sheriff’s,” Emmett insisted.
    â€œHow did you do that?” Mara asked. “Nobody’s ever beat Newt.”
    â€œHave you ever heard of Luke Attmore?” Will asked.
    Mara shook her head, but Newt said, “He’s the most famous gunman in three states. Don’t try to tell me you beat him.”
    â€œI never could, though I tried hundreds of times.”
    Newt laughed. “Nobody’s lasted more than one gunfight with him.”
    Will unbuckled his holster. “We didn’t have real fights. He’s my brother. He taught me how to draw.” He was confronted by three disbelieving faces. “My adopted brother,” Will clarified.
    â€œYou going to let me out?” Newt growled.
    â€œAs soon as you hand over the gun and apologize to Miss McGloughlin.”
    Newt unbuckled the holster and pushed it through the bars, letting it fall on the floor.
    Will stopped Emmett from picking them up. “That doesn’t demonstrate good manners,” he said to Newt, “and throws doubt on whether your apology to Miss McGloughlin would be sincere.”
    Mara and Emmett looked at Will as if he were insane. Newt glared at him through rage-filled eyes.
    â€œI’m going to kill you.”
    â€œI expect you’ll try,” Will said calmly, “but you can’t do it from jail. And you won’t get out unless youpick up that gun, hand it to Emmett, and apologize to Miss McGloughlin. If you can’t manage to apologize in the next few minutes, I’ll give you another day in jail to think about it.”
    Newt turned so red in the face, Will thought he was going to start screaming at him. Instead, he collected himself, reached through the bars, picked up the gun and holster, and handed it to Emmett. The deputy handled it like a hot coal.
    â€œI’m sorry I bothered you,” Newt said to Mara. “I was too drunk to know what I was doing.”
    Mara nodded her acceptance of his apology.
    â€œLet him out,” Will said to Emmett before turning back to Newt. “Next time you drink too much, have one of your friends get you out of town before you land in trouble.”
    â€œI’m not done with you,” he said to Will when Emmett stepped back and let him leave the jail cell.
    â€œThen don’t let the grass grow under your feet,” Will said.