Linda Warren - Texas Rebels - Paxton

THE COWBOY’S REDEMPTION

After years of girls, beer and a wild life on the rodeo circuit, bull rider Paxton Rebel is done being “The Heartthrob.” His brothers have already settled down and are starting families. Paxton doesn’t really believe he’s meant for love...until he rescues the slight, lovely woman with sea-green eyes on a cold, windy beach.

Remi Roberts can’t trust a charming lady-killer cowboy like Paxton—especially since he’s a Rebel, a family she’s been taught to distrust. She needs to concentrate on recovering from her accident, which is the only thing standing in the way of her adopting the baby girl she adores. Besides, fairy tales don’t exist and bad boys definitely don’t change. Only, this cowboy is determined to prove her wrong...

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.

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

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

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. 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.

Abraham (Abe) Rebel: Paternal grandfather.

Jericho Johnson: Egan’s friend from prison.

Dear Reader,

Texas Rebels: Paxton is the sixth book in the Texas Rebels series. The series is about seven brothers who deal with their father’s death in different ways.

I apologize for the delay of Paxton’s story. Life got in the way of finishing this book. In the spring I had to have unexpected neck surgery and there were complications that required a long hospital stay. I am now back to writing and so happy to have finally finished this book. Thank you for your patience and support!

There are two Canada geese, Henry and Henny, in this story. My husband and I live on a lake in Central Texas and these geese live in our backyard. A bobcat stalks them at night, and he finally got Henny and broke her wing. I wondered when the geese flew away in the winter if Henry would leave his Henny behind. I wanted to see if it was true they mate for life. I watched and watched and was delighted when he stayed. He never leaves her except to fly around the lake in the early morning. A true love story, as is Paxton and Remi’s.

If you’ve read the other Rebels books, you know Paxton is accustomed to getting any beautiful woman he wants. Ironically, he falls for a woman who’s not ready to get involved with anyone. It took a few sleepless nights to pull these two characters together. But like the Canada geese, they’ll find a special love that will keep them together forever.

Until the next Rebel book, 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: Paxton

Linda Warren

www.millsandboon.co.uk

A two-time RITA® Award–nominated author, LINDA WARREN has written forty books for Harlequin and has received the Readers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, the Booksellers’ Best Award, the Book Buyers Best Award, the Golden Quill and the RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. A native Texan, she is a member of Romance Writers of America and the West Houston chapter. She lives in College Station with her husband and a menagerie of animals, including a Canada goose named Broken Wing. You can learn more about Linda and her books at lindawarren.net.

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Acknowledgments

A special thanks to the ladies who spoke with me about adoptions in Texas.

To Betty Moon for sharing her great-grandson’s heart surgery and adoption.

To Carrol Abendroth, barrel racer, for giving me a glimpse into the rodeo scene.

And to the PRCA and the WNFR for all their information.

All errors are strictly mine.

To my husband, my hero, my Sonny, for keeping me sane this past year.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Cast of Characters

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Acknowledgments

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

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

Paxton: the fifth son—the ladies’ man

The cowboy’s redemption.

Mother Nature spit out a nasty spray of morning mist along the beach in Port Aransas, Texas. The cool lick of water against Paxton Rebel’s cheeks felt like the touch of a Popsicle. He huddled deeper in his National Finals Rodeo jacket and kept walking.

His cowboy boots made imprints in the wet sand, but the incoming tide would soon wash them away. Nothing in life stayed the same. And today the winds of change blew through his mind with a warning: if you don’t change your ways, it will be the death of you. His head throbbed, his body ached and exhaustion pulled at him as if he was a man twice his age. He was too young to feel this old and worn-out.