Linda Warren - Texas Rebels - Paxton

“No, that’s not why I’m calling.” He took a deep breath. “I thought you would get the message if I didn’t answer your calls, but evidently the message has eluded you. When we broke up two years ago, it was final. It’s still final for me.”

“I know I was a bitch back then, but I’ve changed and I know what I want. I want you in my life.”

“I’m sorry, Lisa. That’s not going to happen.”

“Have you found someone else?”

He started to lie and put an end to this. But again, that would be the old Paxton and he was working very hard to change his bad habits. “No. It’s just the way I feel. Please don’t call me again.”

“Paxton, baby. You don’t mean that.”

“Goodbye, Lisa. I wish you the best.” He clicked off and blocked her number from his phone. It was over and it wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it would be. Maybe he should buy some SpongeBob SquarePants underwear, too.

* * *

THE NEXT MORNING in the office, Falcon was doling out orders.

“Mr. Busby wants ten heifers. He picked them out two days ago. Elias was with me so he’ll remember which heifers to load.”

“What?” Elias sat up straight in his chair.

“Those heifers we looked at the other day with Mr. Busby. Did you lose your memory?”

“Oh, yeah. Got it.” Paxton knew Elias and he knew every cow and calf on the ranch. He was just jacking with Falcon. Elias leaned over and whispered loudly to Paxton, “All heifers look alike, right?”

“You’re an idiot.”

Their mother’s cell rang before Falcon could figure out what Elias was saying. She clicked off and looked at Quincy. “That was Miss Bertie. She wants to know if you can help her with a cow whose udder is too big for the calf to suck. It was born last night and she’s wants to get it to the pen, but the cow keeps charging her.”

“I don’t mind helping Miss Bertie, Mom,” Quincy said. “But I don’t want to get too far away from Jenny. Her dad and sister are over there now and she made me leave the house for a while. I want to be nearby in case she goes into premature labor.”

Paxton stood. “I’ll go.”

Everyone, including Elias, who had his hat pulled over his face and was teetering on the two back legs of his chair, looked at him. Grandpa’s mouth fell open and everyone seemed to be speechless.

“What? I can’t be neighborly and helpful?”

“It’s just something we’ve never seen before,” Egan said.

“Kind of like Phoenix doing a full day’s work. It’s just something you don’t see too often.” Elias was always cruising for a fight, but today he wasn’t going to get one.

Phoenix threw his arm around Elias’s shoulders. “And like Elias being stone-cold sober all day.”

“Enough with the joking around.” Falcon frowned. “We have work to do. Paxton will help Miss Bertie and the rest of you will saddle up and bring those heifers to the corral to load. Elias and Jude will deliver them. After that, there’s feeding to do.”

His brothers filed out of the office. Falcon followed, still dishing out orders. As Rico passed Paxton, he slapped him on the back. “Didn’t see the sign, did you?”

No one heard Rico but Paxton. He knew he was acting out of character, but he was going to get her sea-green eyes out of his head. One more encounter should do it.

“Want me to go with you?” Grandpa asked. “I’ve known Bertie all my life and she’s a handful. Always was. In school she was tough as leather and still is. But boy, she could dance the soles right off her shoes.”

“I got it, Grandpa, but thanks.”

Grandpa slowly pushed to his feet, and Paxton noticed, maybe for the first time, that Grandpa was slowing down. It was hard to see someone you love getting older, but Grandpa had so much vinegar in him he was going to last a long time.

“Good. I’m going over to see Jenny.”

“Abe, don’t you think you bother them enough? Let Jenny rest.” It was well-known that their mother and grandfather didn’t get along and it was a strain on all of them, but somehow they managed to live on the same property and keep the anger from boiling over. It had to do with their father’s death. They blamed each other when the only person to blame was John Rebel himself. Paxton didn’t want to think about his father and quickly switched his thoughts to the conversation at hand.

“I can visit Jenny anytime I want.”

“Suit yourself.”

Grandpa stomped out.

His mother glanced at him. “Thank you, son, for helping. I appreciate it. You might take a horse. Bertie doesn’t have one anymore.”

“I will.”

“Son?”

He turned back.

“This isn’t about the granddaughter, is it?”

He looked into his mom’s worried eyes and something like fear uncurled in his stomach. “Why are you so worried about me and Remi?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re just so charming and girls fall for you.”

He didn’t know what to say to that, but he was old enough to make his own decisions, even though it might disappoint his mother.

Chapter Four

When Paxton crossed the cattle guard with the trailer clanging behind him, first thing he noticed was Remi standing at the edge of the corral. She seemed to be holding on to it, huddled in a blue coat with the hood over her head. Much as the first time he’d seen her. Her dog was at her feet.

In the distance near a pond he could see Miss Bertie with a stick in her hand trying to shoo a red-and-white-faced cow with a baby calf toward the pen, but she wasn’t having any luck.

He parked the truck and got out. Remi came toward him, holding on to the dog’s collar. It hit him for the first time that she used the dog for balance.

“Could you please help my grandmother? The cow is going to hurt her and she won’t listen to me. She’s so stubborn.”

He tipped his hat. “It must be genetic.”

“What do you mean by that?” Her eyes narrowed.

He unlatched the trailer gate with more force than necessary and then pulled the ramp down so he could unload Romeo. A few years ago Falcon had bought several young geldings and Egan and Jude had broken them. They both had a soft voice that animals reacted to. Paxton liked the chestnut-colored horse with a white blaze on his face and had asked to keep it. Phoenix had named it Romeo and it had stuck. He had turned out to be a great quarter horse.

Paxton placed his boot in the stirrup and swung into the saddle. Mostly, he was avoiding answering her question. “Whatever you want it to mean,” he replied, and rode toward Miss Bertie.

* * *

“HOW RUDE.” REMI watched him ride away and had the urge to throw something at his straight back. But her temper soon cooled as she continued to watch him. He had to be the most handsome cowboy she’d ever seen. The most handsome man, too. He was rugged, strong and charismatic in a way she couldn’t explain because most of the time she just wanted to smack him. Maybe because he reminded her of things she’d forgotten—the touch of a man, the feel of a man’s hands on her body and a masculine scent that took her away to a beautiful place. It had all been snatched from her and she would never...

She shook her head. What was she doing? She couldn’t go back so she had to go forward. But just looking at Mr. Paxton Rebel made her aware that she was still very much alive.

He rode up to her grandmother and they were talking, but it seemed more like they were arguing. Her grandmother waved the stick at him and then stomped to the corral with Memphis on her heels. Remi’s eyes were glued to the cowboy and she wondered what he’d do to get the cow in the pen.

He removed a rope from the saddle horn and made a large loop. Swinging it above his head, he rode toward the cow, yelling, “Hi ya! Hi ya!”