Anger

by Wendymypooh

"I warned you, Bucklin, that the next time you take to using my past as a conversation piece, I was going to do something we both would regret!" Chris Larabee roared as he advanced on Buck Wilmington.

"Now, Chris," Buck said holding up his hands in the air and backpedaling to keep some distance between him and Larabee. "Judge Travis told us to mind our manners around Miss Peters and that's all I was doing."

"You've never been at a loss to find just the right words to sweet talk the bloomers off a woman before, so why use my life to do so now!" Chris continued to advance on Buck, forcing Wilmington to step out of the saloon and onto the wooden porch.

"Because she wasn't interested in what ole Buck was offering." Buck confessed. "She was interested in you, stud. What you liked to eat, what color your eyes were, and if you were married, that's the only reason why I told her anything Chris. You've got to believe me."

Chris took a deep breath. He could see the sincerity on Buck's face and heard it in his voice. He worked to rein in his anger. Buck had sworn never to reveal the details of his wife and son's deaths' again after he'd held a razor to his friend's throat. He'd taken him at his word, but when Miss Peters had told him how sorry she was to hear about his family, he'd immediately blown a gasket. Buck was also telling the truth about Judge Travis wanting them all to be civil to Miss Peters while she was visiting Four Corners.

"Look, Buck, I'm sorry. When Miss Peters conveyed her deepest sympathy about Sarah and Adam when we were having lunch, and that you told her about them, I saw red." Chris rubbed a hand across his face.

Buck relaxed his defensive stance. "I swore I'd never tell folks about Sarah and Adam's deaths' again to get in good with a woman I'm interested in, and I'm keeping my promise. The only thing I said was that you were a widower, and nothing more."

"I should have known that." Chris smiled wryly. "Come on Buck. I'll buy you a drink."

"Two." Buck grinned before he fell into step with the gunfighter and the two men re-entered the saloon.

End