"Lord help that girl as she attempts to resist Buck's charms," Josiah smirked.
He, Ezra and J.D. had been walking along the road when they had just seen Buck as he had rushed into Nathan's clinic, and now they were stood on the street below, looking up. Ezra turned to grin at Josiah's comment, they all suspected just why Buck was paying Nathan's medical centre a visit,
"I gather the impression that Miss Duke will advantage me in my wager with Mr. Wilmington," a cheeky grin filled Ezra's face as he spoke the words.
J.D. turned to face Ezra with a look of annoyance on his face,
"C'mon guys, give Buck more credit! You've seen wha' he's like with the ladies, I think ya'll underestimatin' him!"
Vin Tanner was so engrossed watching the whole scene from where he was perched outside of the saloon, that he almost didn't notice the long black coat out of the corner of his eye. He drew his attention away from Ezra, Josiah and J.D. and twisted round to face his friend.
"Was startin' ta' think you'd skipped out on me Pard," he grinned.
"Never hear the end of it if I did tha', figured I'd save myself the ear-ache," Chris smiled back briefly, before nodding his head in the direction of the other men, "What's goin' on over there?"
Vin followed Chris' eye line to J.D. defending Buck's 'animal magnetism', whilst Josiah and Ezra were trying hard not to laugh and rile J.D. up even more.
"I believe that Buck is tryin' his luck with our new friend," Vin was still grinning as he said the words, "Not that he's getting' anywhere by tha' looks of things."
Buck had just reappeared at the top of the stairs. Vin had clearly understood the look on Buck's face to be one of disappointment, it was an easy mistake to make, and Chris suspected that Ezra, Josiah and J.D. would do too, but he knew Buck too well. He could tell that something was bothering Buck, he had only seen him furrow his brow like that a few times before, and those had been when Buck was really concerned about something. Without a word he started walking over towards where the other men were stood on the road. He could sense that Buck was staring at him as he made his way across the dirt track, and the other men had obviously noticed this too, as they all turned to face him approaching towards them. Josiah was the first one to click the situation, and grabbed Ezra and J.D. by the arm,
"I think we'd better join Vin over at the saloon for a drink, don't you?"
"But Mr. Sanchez I have yet to establish just how successful Mr. Wilmington was with his little endeavour…" Chris could hear Ezra as he was dragged away. Buck had reached the bottom of the staircase by now and the two men stood directly in front of one another staring at the dusty ground. Chris cleared his throat to speak, he had been preparing himself for a cold reception,
"We seem ta' keep here, Nathan must be getting' pretty sick o' the sight of us," he jested. Buck continued to look down but Chris noticed the corners of his mouth turn up in a hint of a smile.
"Look Buck, you're my oldest friend. You've been with me through ma' worst and darkest times, and lord knows, they've been pretty damn dark…" Chris paused, drawing his breath, he wasn't one for emotional talk, and this was making him feel uncomfortable, but he knew he needed to continue. "An'…well I'm not prepared to throw all of that away over something like this. An' I know that you aren't either."
"It ain't about Amy."
Chris stopped, caught off guard as Buck spoke. Buck finally raised his eyes to look at Chris, and he could see what he thought was guilt in them. "It was never really about her, I mean it was a little bit to start with, but…not really."
Buck sighed, frustrated as he either failed to find the words he wanted to use, or couldn't bring himself to speak them.
"I know. I figured it out Buck. An', I'm sorry about how I things have been since Ella."
Buck stared with his mouth slightly agape at Chris.
"How'd you know?"
It was Chris' turn to smile now,
"We've been friends for a long time Buck. Sometimes I think I know you too well," he winked at his moustached companion as he finished the sentence.
"You don' need to apologise though Chris. I've been overreacting about the whole situation. But I've been thinkin' about it a lot. What happened with Ella I mean…An' I wanna help ya', more than I have been doing." Buck stopped for a moment, as a sheepish look filled his face, "but I mean it Chris. I know it sounds corny and tha' but, whatever you wanna do I'll be right there at your side. If ya' wanna find her, I'll be the first one saddled up and ready to ride out."
Chris smiled at Buck,
"Just like old times."
"Just like old times. C'mon I'll buy ya' a whisky, and then we can figure out why my animal magnetism ain't working on Miss Duke up there. Who better to test it out on than Inez?" a wicked grin grew on Buck's face, as he wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulder, and the two men walked over towards the saloon together.