Linda Warren - Texas Rebels - Elias

FIRST LOVE, SECOND CHANCE

Maribel McCray knew moving back to Horseshoe, Texas, would mean facing Elias Rebel, the cowboy she was forbidden to love in high school. She just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. With her teenage son, Chase, in trouble, she needs Elias’s help. He may be a Rebel, sworn enemy of every McCray, but he’s also Chase’s father.

For the lone bachelor of the Rebel clan, there’s only one way to make up for lost years with his son—become a family for real. But Maribel’s distance runs deeper than the Rebel-McCray feud. Elias won’t settle for a marriage of convenience with the woman he’s falling for again. How can he convince Maribel some second chances are worth taking?

Cast of Characters

Kate Rebel: Matriarch of the Rebel family.

Falcon: The eldest 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. Son Justin.

Quincy: The peacemaker. Married to Jenny Walker, his childhood best friend. Daughter Martha Kate.

Elias: The fighter. Falls in love with the daughter of his family’s archenemy.

Paxton: The lover. Found his forever love with Remi Roberts and their adopted daughter, Annie.

Jude: The serious, responsible one. Back together with his first love, Paige Wheeler, and raising their son, Zane.

Phoenix: The youngest Rebel challenges his own family when he falls in love with the enemy—Rosemary McCray. Father of Jake.

Abraham (Abe) Rebel: Paternal grandfather.

Jericho Johnson: Egan’s friend from prison.

Dear Reader,

This is the seventh and last book in the Texas Rebels series. The stories are based on how the Rebel brothers deal with life and love after the death of their father.

Elias is the lone bachelor. Work, women and beer define Elias. He’s known to be tough as rawhide and says he’ll never get married and be tied down like his brothers. He enjoys his freedom. That is, until Maribel McCray returns to Horseshoe, Texas.

Maribel’s down on her luck and striving to put her life back together. She and Elias were attracted to each other in high school, but because of their feuding families they stayed away from each other. When Maribel’s son gets arrested, she asks Elias for help. He tells her she would have to give him a good reason for him to help her. She gives him one he’s not expecting and it turns his world upside down.

This is a story about second chances and things that could’ve been. A lot happens in this book and I hope it keeps you captivated to the big ending. It’s time to say goodbye to the Rebel family and the characters I’ve lived with for three years. It’s kind of sad, but my mind is moving forward to more characters and more books.

Until then, with love and thanks,

Linda

PS: You can email me at Lw1508@aol.com; send me a message on Facebook.com/lindawarrenauthoror on Twitter, @texauthor; write me at PO Box 5182, Bryan, TX 77805; or visit my website at lindawarren.net. Your mail and thoughts are deeply appreciated.

Texas Rebels: Elias

Linda Warren

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Two-time RITA® Award–nominated author LINDA WARREN has written over forty books for Harlequin. A native Texan, she’s a member of Romance Writers of America and the RWA West Houston chapter. Drawing upon her years of growing up on a ranch, she writes about some of her favorite things: Western-style romance, cowboys and country life. She married her high school sweetheart and they live on a lake in central Texas. He fishes and she writes. Works perfect.

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To my editor, Kathleen Scheibling, for her patience, understanding and support during a rough year. Thank you!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Cast of Characters

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

My name is Kate Rebel. I married John Rebel when I was eighteen years old and then 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 forever been a thorn in my family’s side. They’ve cut our fences, dammed up creeks to limit our water supply, and shot one of our prize 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 Jude and Phoenix, two of our youngest, were out riding together. When John heard shots, he immediately went 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 gun and fired, killing Ezra instantly. Both boys survived with only minor wounds. Since my husband was protecting his children, he didn’t spend even 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 in different ways with the pain of losing their father. 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

Elias: the fourth son—the fighter.

The cowboy’s last fight.

If hell froze over, Elias Rebel would be standing right there enjoying the cool breeze. Just about every woman in Horseshoe, Texas, over the age of eighteen and under the age of forty, had said those words to him at one time or another.

Work. Beer. Women. That defined Elias. A lot of people said he was different than his brothers. But he didn’t care what people thought. He was who he was, doing things his way and on his terms.

After a full day of work, Elias was dog tired and headed for Rowdy’s beer joint, his favorite place to unwind. He sat at a table with his booted feet propped on a chair, a cold Bud Light in his hand. With anticipation, he contemplated the bleached blonde in a corner booth. Tight skinny jeans clung to her rounded hips and long legs. A low-cut knit top hugged her breasts and he could see cleavage all the way to Dallas. Yep. Just his type.

There was just one small problem: the Dwayne Johnson–type guy sitting across from her. In jeans, boots, a leather vest and a T-shirt with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in a sleeve, the biker dude had tattoos running up his arms that made his bulging muscles more pronounced. With one blow the guy could probably kill him.