Texas Rebels: Elias. Linda Warren

you hired an attorney to fight to get him back. There was no question of DNA then either. Phoenix heard he was a father and you wanted to raise the boy. So what is it? Why is my son treated differently?”

      His mother carried her plate to the sink. “I’m tired of talking about this. We have work to do and it’s time we all got to it.”

      Elias picked up his phone from the table. “That’s it, huh? If my son is not welcome here then I’m not, either. I’m out of here.”

      “If you walk out that door, I will disinherit you.”

      A powerful silence filled the room.

      He turned back to look at the mother he’d loved all his life and he only saw an angry woman determined to stick to her principles of being right when she was wrong. She didn’t want to admit she’d made a mistake in turning away Elias’s child. He couldn’t change that, but he wasn’t going to stand for it, either.

      All his life he’d put his blood, sweat and tears into this ranch because one day he would own part of it. Could he walk away from everything he loved? It wasn’t much of a choice. He had a son and he had to stand up for him as well as for himself. As always, though, he had something to say.

      “Dad was alive back then. Don’t you think a Rebel/McCray child would have pulled him out of his malaise? It would have helped him to see that life goes on even after tragedy.”

      “That boy is not a Rebel.”

      His mother was taking a stance and he had to do the same.

      “I’m outta here.”

       Chapter Five

      “Elias!” Before Elias could get out the door, Grandpa grabbed his arm. “No. I won’t stand for this.” Grandpa glanced at their mother. “You will not disinherit one of John’s sons. I gave this land to my son just like my father gave it to me and his father gave it to him. Elias is a Rebel and this land is his heritage.”

      “Stay out of this, Abe,” his mother said.

      “I will not stay out of it. I’ll invoke the codicil in John’s will if I have to.”

      “What codicil?” Falcon asked. “I don’t remember a codicil to Dad’s will.”

      “Well, then you better read it again because there is one. It states that John Abraham Rebel shall retain ownership of his home and as many acres as he sees fit surrounding it until his death. Then it will become part of Rebel Ranch.”