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Texas Rebels: Quincy
Linda Warren
A HEART DIVIDED…Quincy Rebel lives by a strict code of honour. Family first. Which means Jenny Rose Walker, his younger brother’s ex-girlfriend, will never know he loves her. That is, until his brother gets engaged to someone else… Jenny is ready to sever all ties with the ranching clan who have been like a second family to her. Even if it means giving up working with her best friend, Quincy, who’s always been there for her. But when Jenny starts to see a new side to the tall, masculine Rebel, ignoring her heart becomes impossible…
Cast of Characters (#ulink_95c88b91-c1d4-5002-bdc1-5e97d91336b9)
Kate Rebel: Matriarch of the Rebel family.
Falcon: The oldest son—the strong one. Reunited with his wife, Leah, and proud father of Eden and John.
Egan: The loner. Married to Rachel Hollister, daughter of the man who put him in jail.
Quincy: The peacemaker. In love with Jenny Walker, his brother’s girlfriend.
Elias: The fighter. Falls in love with the archenemy of the family’s daughter.
Paxton: The lover. Never met a woman he couldn’t have, but the woman he wants doesn’t want him.
Jude: The serious, responsible one. Raising his small son alone.
Phoenix: The wild one and the youngest. He’s wild and free until Child Protective Services says he’s the father of a small boy.
Abraham (Abe) Rebel: Paternal grandfather.
Jericho Johnson: Egan’s friend from prison.
Texas Rebels: Quincy
Linda Warren
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Two-time RITA
Award–nominated and award-winning author LINDA WARREN loves her job, writing happily-ever-after books for Mills & Boon. Drawing upon her years of growing up on a farm/ranch in Texas, she writes about sexy heroes, feisty heroines and broken families with an emotional punch, all set against the backdrop of Texas. Her favorite pastime is sitting on her patio with her husband watching the wildlife, especially the injured ones that are coming in pairs these days: two Canada geese with broken wings, two does with broken legs and a bobcat ready to pounce on anything tasty. Learn more about Linda and her books at her website, www.lindawarren.net (http://www.lindawarren.net), or on Facebook, LindaWarrenAuthor, or follow @Texauthor on Twitter.
I dedicate this book to Jaci Siegert, my
goddaughter. May you always love to read.
Contents
Cover (#uf38cf973-af3e-5887-b9b7-3285a2945e97)
Cast of Characters (#u214a29a5-d873-5438-9ef5-bd2f525e6884)
Title Page (#u3d36bdc5-1b34-5bd2-b945-cb2027b9e3fb)
About the Author (#uf61465dc-2376-5101-a946-392778344ed3)
Dedication (#ua6774742-c185-5440-8bda-8dfa5b12fd52)
Prologue (#ub1361a6d-c4fd-5f5a-b134-2bb2e5440909)
Chapter One (#u6bd87ce7-925c-5c38-a49d-d7700673d810)
Chapter Two (#u97251d42-d0ed-51eb-8285-72b959ad0aa9)
Chapter Three (#u9724f8ec-040c-5973-acfb-32b073f45978)
Chapter Four (#u5e16b2e0-0aa1-5b82-8e1b-e7339f41e182)
Chapter Five (#u2c9b409d-a960-574d-a399-3d2c94b3bec6)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue (#ulink_1b13fa10-1f6b-574d-9e21-6f7e2348459e)
My name is Kate Rebel. I married John Rebel when I was eighteen years old and bore him seven sons. We worked the family ranch, which John later inherited. We put everything we had into buying more land so our sons would have a legacy. We didn’t have much, but we had love.
The McCray Ranch borders Rebel Ranch on the east, and the McCrays have been a source of stress for my family. They’ve cut our fences, dammed up creeks to limit our water supply and shot one of our prized bulls. Ezra McCray threatened to shoot our sons if he caught them jumping his fences again. We tried to keep our boys away, but they are boys, young and wild.
One day John was out working and two of our youngest, Jude and Phoenix, were riding together bareback. When John heard shots, he immediately rode to find his boys. They lay on the ground, blood oozing from their heads. Ezra McCray was astride a horse twenty yards away with a rifle in his hand. John drew his rifle and fired, killing Ezra instantly. Both boys survived with only minor wounds. Since my husband was protecting his children, he never spent one night in jail. This escalated the feud that still goes on today.
The man I knew as my husband died that day. He couldn’t live with what he’d done and started to drink heavily. I had to take over the ranch and the raising of our boys. John died ten years later. We’ve all been affected by the tragedy, especially my sons.
They are grown men now and deal with the pain of losing their father in different ways. One day I pray my boys will be able to put this behind them and live healthy normal lives with women who will love them the way I loved their father.
Chapter One (#ulink_d4ba709b-df5c-5d87-bf21-bdca04e8745d)
Quincy: the second son—the peacemaker
The cowboy who couldn’t ride away...
Always being the nice guy must have finally brought out the bad boy in Quincy Rebel. There was no other way to explain how he could have fallen in love with Jenny Rose Walker, his brother’s girlfriend.
It broke the brothers’ code, as told to the Rebel boys by their father: never betray your brother with a woman. There will be many women in your lives, but a brother will be a brother forever. Strong words. Their father’s words. As the peacemaker in the family, Quincy would not do anything to cause a rift with his brothers or to dishonor his father’s memory. This was his heartache. His pain. His secret.
Riding into the barn on his paint stud Red Hawk, he felt sure he could continue to hide his feelings. He dismounted and ran a hand around the back of his neck to unstick his sweaty collar from his skin. The sultry August heat had lingered into the first week of September. Before he’d left at the start of the day, he’d opened both double doors of the barn, and a gentle breeze stirred the heat like a slow-moving fan. The scents of dust and alfalfa filled his lungs.
Quincy bred paint horses and had his own barn and corrals away from the main ranch. He’d picked out the spot near the neighboring Walker property because of the huge live oak trees that had grown there for over a hundred years. He’d always loved paint horses, ever since watching reruns of Bonanza with his grandfather. The character Little Joe rode a paint.
One day, Rebel Ranch would be divided into seven parcels and Quincy had already staked the land he wanted. His mother and brothers had agreed. So after long days working on the ranch, he then took care of his horses. He had a registered stud and five mares, but one day he hoped to have a larger operation. For now it was just a hobby.
At the sound of hooves pounding against the dry, hard ground, he swung around to see Jenny ride in bareback on the black-and-white paint horse he’d given her for her birthday. She loved the paints, and helped him all the time. They’d become close friends, but it had turned into much more for him.
Jenny slid off the horse in one easy, fluid movement. With long dark hair and riveting dark eyes, inherited from her mother, who was part Italian, she was every man’s dream of the girl next door: beautiful, smart and funny. And blessed with a friendly disposition that endeared her to everyone, especially Quincy.
“Is it true?” Her eyes sparkled with high energy.
He mentally snapped to attention. “You’ll have to be more specific.” He knew exactly what she was talking about, but he was stalling for time.
“Is Paxton engaged?”
And there it was. Jenny and Paxton, Quincy’s younger brother, had been an item since high school. Their on-and-off relationship had been the talk of Horseshoe for over a decade. Jenny wanted a home and family. Paxton favored the rodeo circuit and any pretty thing he could find. Quincy had never understood why Jenny put up with Paxton’s many affairs. It was none of his business, though. Other than the fact that he’d been in love with her for years.
Quincy just wished she had asked someone else besides him. It wasn’t his place to tell her about the new woman in his brother’s life. But again, he and Jenny had grown close over the years and she considered him a friend, as he did her. His feelings were his own.
His hand tightened on the horse’s reins. “That’s what I hear.” Hawk sidestepped, snorting. Quincy needed to unsaddle his horse.
“When did this happen?”
“I don’t know. Mom just told us Paxton had called and said he was engaged.”
“To whom?”
“I don’t know, Jenny. You’ll have to talk to Paxton about that. I’m not the person you should be asking.”
“Don’t you think I’ve tried? I’ve called and texted him and he doesn’t respond. Why would he do this?” The pain in her voice twisted Quincy’s insides. He’d never understood how she could keep clinging to a relationship that was so one-sided.
“Haven’t you been broken up about two months now?” He hated to be blunt, and there was nothing as blunt as the truth.
She slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, stretching her blouse taut across her full breasts. He looked away.
“Yes. But he always calls and we get back together.”
“I guess he met someone else.” He stroked Hawk, calming him, and searched for a way to end the conversation.
“A buckle bunny who fawns all over him.” Her pain echoed in her voice.
He had no words to soothe her wounded pride. “I don’t know. All I know is what my mother told us.”
Her glistening eyes stared at him and this time he couldn’t look away. “I heard there’s an engagement party here on Saturday night.”
Nothing in Horseshoe, Texas, stayed a secret for long. This was faster than usual, though. “That’s what I’ve been told.”
She turned toward her horse. “If Paxton doesn’t answer my calls by then, I’ll be coming to the party.”
“It’s by invitation only,” he reminded her.
“Miss Kate won’t care if I come.”
His gut tightened like a cinch on a saddle and his nerves kept applying the pressure. He didn’t want to hurt her, but she left him no choice.
“Mom would rather it be a fun evening. Please don’t embarrass yourself by showing up. It would only cause tension.”
“Embarrass myself?” With a twist of her head, she tossed her long, tangled hair back in anger. “Everyone in Horseshoe is talking and what they’re saying is she waited all these years and he’s marrying someone else. That’s embarrassment, Quincy. And I can take the tension.”
“Don’t do it, Jenny. It will only hurt you.”
“As if I’m not hurt now? He’s going to tell me to my face that he’s fallen in love with someone else.”
“He’s engaged. I think that pretty well says it all.”
She fixed her heated gaze on him. “You think it’s okay what he’s done to me?”
“You broke up with him,” he told her. “You always break up with him because it bothers you that he sees other women while he’s on the circuit.”
“I thought he would change,” she murmured, almost to herself.
“Let it go, Jenny. It’s time for you to move on.”
“How do I do that, Quincy? I spent half my life waiting for him to grow up and want the same things that I do. I guess...”
He wanted to take her in his arms and hug her, because he knew things were only going to get worse. She’d lost Paxton and she didn’t want to face that, but in reality, she’d lost him a long time ago. She just hadn’t realized it until now.
“Hawk is getting restless. I have to unsaddle him,” he said instead.
“When will Paxton be home?”
He shook his head. “Jenny, I honestly don’t know.”
