Romance: Cowboy Romance: Riding The BIG Bull (BBW Romance, Western Contemporary Romance, Cowboy Romance) by Sara Snow

Author:Sara Snow
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2015-05-21T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 3: High Noon

Mary paced along the saloon floor, her long skirt flaring as she turned back and forth. Outside, the entire town was gathered to see the showdown between Rowdy Paul and Marshall Tom Willis. Mary looked at the clock that ticked on the bar. A pair of wire-rimmed glasses sat on the bar in front of it. The glass covering the clock was long since broken, the victim of some brawl, but Earl always checked it to ensure the time was right.

Two minutes until noon.

Mary wrung her hands together and continued her pacing.

She had thought to watch the showdown and found her nerve gone. She had watched many of them. Most were fools, boys who decided they had to prove something for some reason. Occasionally, it would be over the attentions of one of her girls. More often, it was over a slight at the poker table.

Mary liked the excitement of a good showdown. The pounding of boots against the dirt, the sound of leather rustling against cotton, they were all music to her ears. She would pick out her own favorite, and when the guns fired and the dust cleared the air, she would either cheer his victory or be the first to lay her flower over his dead body.

Sometimes showdowns became their own show to watch. When the town was between Sheriffs, Paul had decided to face down a trio of ranch hands who had decided to go rogue on their employer and rustle some of his herd away from him. He had taken out the first two before the dust cleared, all shots going wide of hitting him. The third man ducked behind the saloon’s water trough and Paul danced around his bullets, trying to keep them clear of spectators and use the man’s anger to draw him back into the open. It had worked, and as he came out, Paul took him down with a single shot to the head.

This would be Paul’s last showdown. Mary knew that she should be there, but suddenly her lust for the spectacle was gone.

The tiny chimes of Earl’s clock sounded for noon. Mary listened as the townsfolk outside cheered for Paul. Mary stood still and waited. She could not see outside from where she stood by the bar. She could still hear the sound of boots against packed dirt. As the hush moved over the crowd, she even though she heard the swoosh of leather holsters against thick cotton.

Outside the world was a deathly quiet. Mary’s breathing stopped. The world itself, she thought, had stopped. Then gunshots broke through the silence. Mary heard a cry of pain answer them and fell to her knees, her head down. Her body shook as her tears touched the top of her breasts.

Paul was gone. She thought of the way the sun played in his light brown hair, bringing out flecks of gold. She thought of how his eyes matched the hue of the sky on a clear day. She thought of the touch of his hand, rough and calloused but so gentle over her body.

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