Authors: Luke; Short

Bounty Guns (25 page)

Tip scratched his head. “That's right,” he said quietly. He looked obliquely at her. “Still, it helped to win this fight, sort of.”

Lynn paused in her work, staring at him. “Tip, you aren't apologizing for it, are you?”

“Well-sort of.”

“But why?”

Tip looked at her closely, and the color crept into his face. “This is goin' to be hard to say, Lynn.”

“Then get mad at it.”

Tip didn't laugh then. “Out there at the camp on the line, you told me that night that you almost believed my roughneck way was the only way to settle this fight, didn't you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Well,” Tip said, fumbling for the right words, “all I got in my life has been with those roughneck ways, with fightin'. And to fight I got to get mad. And to get mad, I got to lose my temper.”

“Well?” Lynn said, looking at him.

“A minute ago you were combin' me over for losin' my temper, sayin' it had got me into all my trouble. But I've got to fight to get anything.” He paused. “You don't believe I ought to, do you?”

Lynn looked at him impatiently. “Tip, I'm going to go back to that same night at the camp. Do you remember you said that you were in this fight to earn money? You said you felt ashamed of yourself. Remember?”

“Sure.”

“Do you realize that you haven't got your money, that you never will, that Rig Holman is dead? Do you realize that you came up here, talked to him, fought him, andâand beat him, and not once did you think of what you would get out of it?”

“IâI lost my temper.”

Lynn laughed. “That's it, Tip.” When Tip tried to speak, Lynn held up her hand, “Let me say it for you, Tip. You're wondering if I could ever love a man with red hair, a man who loses his temper often, but always at the right time. You're wondering if you could ask me to marry you. Is that it?”

Tip nodded mutely.

“My answer is pretty simple, Tip. I'll say yes now, if you can find words to ask me.”

Tip put his hands on her arms. “Lynn, will you take a chance and marry me?”

Lynn laughed with delight and said, “Of course, Tip. It's not even a chance.” And Tip folded her to him and held her close, feeling her warm body against his, knowing that something was worth fighting for and that he was holding it in his arms.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Luke Short is the pen name of Frederick Dilley Glidden (1908â1975), the bestselling, award-winning author of over fifty classic western novels and hundreds of short stories. Renowned for their action-packed story lines, multidimensional characters, and vibrant dialogue, Glidden's novels sold over thirty million copies. Ten of his novels, including
Blood on the Moon
,
Coroner Creek
, and
Ramrod
, were adapted for the screen. Glidden was the winner of a special Western Heritage Trustees Award and the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award from the Western Writers of America.

Born in Kewanee, Illinois, Glidden graduated in 1930 from the University of Missouri where he studied journalism. After working for several newspapers, he became a trapper in Canada and, later, an archaeologist's assistant in New Mexico. His first story, “Six-Gun Lawyer,” was published in
Cowboy Stories
magazine in 1935 under the name F. D. Glidden. At the suggestion of his publisher, he used the pseudonym Luke Short, not realizing it was the name of a real gunman and gambler who was a friend of Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. In addition to his prolific writing career, Glidden worked for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. He moved to Aspen, Colorado, in 1946, and became an active member of the Aspen Town Council, where he initiated the zoning laws that helped preserve the town.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Andy Ross

ISBN: 978-1-5040-3978-9

This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

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