Free Xenia’s Renegade by Agnes Alexander

she came to work here. He don’t like the way Seymour treats her, but there’s nothing he can do about it.”
    “She doesn’t seem to have her heart in her work at times.” Ty winked at her. “Not the way you do.”
    She kissed his cheek. “Thank you. But if it hadn’t been about Little Lil, it’d have been about something else. Everybody knows Seymour and Hiram don’t get along, and Hiram is always a grump after they have words. Which happens almost every day.”
    Ty lifted an eyebrow. “I’m like Wilt. I thought they got along.”
    “Not at all. I’m sure if Hiram could find another job he’d take it in a minute, but there’s not that not much of his kind of work available in Deer Meadow.”
    “I don’t guess there’s much calls for barkeeps here in town.”
    “Between him and Little Lil, Seymour has his hands full.”
    “What’s the matter with Lil?” Wilt asked.
    “She doesn’t have the right attitude. She whines when one of the men are a little rough, and she says if she ever gets a chance she’ll leave the business.”
    “If she hates it that much maybe she should quit.”
    “Seymour would kill her if she ever looked for another job.”
    “You looking for another job, Sassy?” Wilt asked.
    “Not at all. I like to entertain handsome men like you and Ty, here.” She gave him a big smile. “Now, how about that bottle of whiskey?”
    “That’s fine, Honey,” Wilt said.
    She kissed Ty on the jaw again. “I’ll get glasses for all of us.” She jumped up and headed for the bar.
    Wilt turned to Ty. “Didn’t take you long to find company.”
    Ty shrugged. “Thought I’d relax a little before heading out to the ranch.”
    “What did the sheriff say when you brought the prisoners in?”
    “Threw the culprits in jail and said he’d check to see if there were rewards while I waited because he figured there would be. I wanted to get a drink so I told him to take his time and let us know later. Undertaker said the county would take care of the dead men.” He looked at Wilt. “Did you get the passengers settled?”
    “Let them out at the hotel. I’m sure they’re snuggled in soft beds and dreaming sweet dreams by now.”
    “Where’s Ray?”
    “I offered to buy him a drink, but he decided to pay the doc a visit. I think his side was hurting him more than he wanted to admit. The doc gave him something for pain and he said he was going to go to sleep.”
    Sassy Sue returned with the bottle, placed it on the table and plopped herself back in Ty’s lap.
    She was followed by Little Lil with the glasses. She put them down and looked at Wilt. “Sassy Sue thought you might like company and I volunteered so I could get away from those rough cowboys.”
    “You should know by now that I’m always happy to have your company, Little Lil. We’ve been friends since you came to work here, haven’t we?”
    “I was hoping you’d say something sweet like that. I wish all the customers were as gentlemanly as the Eldridge cousins.” She sat in his lap and put her arms around his neck.
    He grinned at her. “I appreciate your kind words.”
    Ty watched the exchange and couldn’t help wondering why his cousin was trying so hard. Could it be that he was missing the Poindexter sisters as much as he was? He’d tried to relax and have a good time ever since he’d arrived at the saloon. He could usually unwind and forget everything except having a good time when he came here, but for some reason, tonight was different. He knew it the minute he entered the door tonight. Something just wasn’t right.
    He could tell from Wilt’s eyes that he felt the same way. But he knew they were both trying. In fact, he wondered if taking Sassy Sue upstairs would make him feel better. It usually did. He was on the verge of asking her to go when the men in the room began to whistle and call out things such as, ‘Hey, baby, come this way’ ‘I’m ready to show you a good time, sweetheart’ and ‘Prettiest gal