The Saloon Girl's Only Shot by Dani Collins

Author:Dani Collins [Collins, Dani]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781777904517
Publisher: Dani Collins

Elmer’s offer of a drink at the Dudley Saloon was a pretense to get Owen to the brothel where Elmer witnessed for himself that Owen took over the debt he’d incurred for Mavis’s baby.

Not that either breathed a word about that as Madame Beauville made an adjustment in her ledger for the small fee of five dollars. Owen paid it as a goodwill gesture, since he was now asking her to wait until he’d had a chance to visit Quail’s Creek before he settled up.

Elmer eagerly took Owen to Dudley’s after that. It was the middle of the day, so it held only a handful of patrons turning cards and nursing flat beer. Owen tipped his hat at the men while Elmer, the loudmouth, made a pronouncement that was heard by all.

“Two shots of your best bourbon, Cecil. Three, actually. One for you. You’ll want some comfort once I tell you why we’re celebrating. You’re about to have competition.”

“Oh?” Cecil turned from reaching down the bottle from his top shelf. “Who? Where?”

“This one right here.” Elmer thumbed toward Owen. “He’s bought himself the undertaking parlor. He’s going to turn it into a saloon.”

“Is that true, Owen?” one of the men asked from a table. “Does that mean your claim has dried up?”

“Not at all, Frenchie.” Owen turned to face the man who had been working at Quail’s Creek when Sureshot had turned up there. Owen set his elbows on the bar behind him. “But I can’t pick gold out of frozen ground, can I? I’ll head back in spring and hope to see you there. For now, I’ll focus on this liquid gold right here.”

He picked up the glass Cecil poured him and nodded his thanks, then tipped back his shot.

“Where do you get this?” Owen asked after hissing out his breath.

“Never mind,” Cecil said belligerently. “I let you have that one on account of our good relationship, but that’s the last drink I’ll serve you.” Cecil firmly inserted the bottle’s stopper and gave it an extra bop with his palm. “If you’d opened your saloon in the spring, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but winter is hard times. The men have all left town and the ones who stay are too busted to leave. There are already too many saloons in town. You don’t see me running out there to open up my own gold mining operation, do you?”

“I’m not stopping you.” Owen was amused by Cecil’s outrage, but surprised too. He’d always had a good relationship with the saloonkeepers in town. “And before you take up arms against me, maybe ask yourself where men got the money to buy your whiskey all summer.” Owen answered by tapping his own chest to indicate Quail’s Creek.

“That may be,” Cecil ran his dirty cloth along the bar top, doing nothing to improve its stained appearance.. “but I still say stick to your own business and stay out of mine.”

“And here I was hoping you’d teach me how to make whiskey,” Owen drawled.

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