Falcon dismounted before Titan came to a complete stop. “What’s going on?”
Elias swung toward him. “They’ve been standing there gawking at us all morning and I’m getting tired of it.” Elias held up his fists at Gunnar. “You want a piece of me, just come across that fence.”
“Stop it,” Falcon said to Elias and moved closer to Gunnar. “Is there a problem?”
“Just want to make sure you don’t cross the line, Rebel.”
Elias pointed a finger at him. “It’s you who’s always crossing our fence lines and cutting them and killing our calves. You’re not brave enough to cross it now, are you?”
“Neither are you,” Gunnar shot back.
It was all the incentive Elias needed as he made to jump over the fence, but Quincy and Egan caught him and pulled him back.
“Let me go. Let me go! I’ll kick his ass.”
“Stop it,” Falcon said once again and Elias quit fighting his brothers.
Grandpa kneed his horse a little closer to the fence. “You know, boy, if brains were dynamite, you wouldn’t have enough to blow your ears off.”
“Grandpa.” Falcon didn’t need his grandfather getting in on the fight, but then his grandpa always loved one.
“Just look around you,” Grandpa said. “We’ve got you outnumbered. What kind of fool would take on this many Rebels?”
Falcon focused his attention on Gunnar. “We spend more time on this fence than any other on our property because the McCrays are breaking it on purpose. If it’s cut one more time, I’m stringing a hot wire through here. Try cutting that.”
“Hot damn, now we’re talking.” Elias threw back his head and laughed.
Their mother rode up with a picnic basket strapped onto her horse. Evidently, she’d brought lunch. She took the situation in at a glance and asked, “Is there a problem?”
“Yes, Miz Rebel,” Gunnar replied. “You need to teach your boys some manners.”
“My boys have good manners, but I’m not sure about the McCrays, who cause mischief for no reason.”
“Oh, we got reason.”
The situation was getting out of control and Falcon wouldn’t have his mother caught in the middle. She’d been through too much.
“Get on your horses and leave,” he said, pointing at the McCrays. “That’s the last warning.”
“This isn’t the end of it, Rebel!” Gunnar shouted as he mounted his horse. Malachi followed suit.
“It never is.”
The McCrays rode away and Falcon spoke to his brothers. “Let’s get back to work.”
“What caused this?” His mother wanted to know.
They all looked at Elias.
“They’ve been staring at us all morning and I got tired of it.”
“Son, it takes a strong man to walk away from a fight.”
“Well, I’m not one of them.”
“Sadly, that’s true.”
“Ah, Mom.”
“Try to use a little discretion, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Elias hung his head.
“Now, let’s have lunch,” his mother said, and they all gathered under a big oak. For September, the heat of summer still lingered and they were glad for the breeze that cooled their sweaty skin.
Grandpa leaned against the oak, his hat on the grass. “Did I ever tell you boys about the time I took on six men and lived to tell about it?”
“Abe, please, let the boys rest before they go back to work.”
“You’re one bossy—”
Falcon cleared his throat and Grandpa’s attention was diverted. His mother and grandfather had never gotten along and after his father’s death their relationship had taken a turn for the worse. He spent half his time trying to cool their tempers. Grandpa was long-winded and loved to talk and his mother hated it. He wondered what it was like to be part of a normal family. His thoughts swayed to Leah and he immediately pushed them away. He couldn’t think about her now.
With lunch over, his mother packed up and headed back to the ranch with Grandpa. Of course, they wouldn’t speak. Once they reached the ranch, Grandpa would go to his house and his mother would go to hers. Yep, that was the Rebel family.
“I’m working with Quincy,” Elias said. “Egan hums now and it annoys the crap out of me. Happyitis has gotten to him.”
Egan caught Elias around the neck. “I’ll sing to you, then.”
“Falcon!” Elias called as Egan dragged him toward the Polaris Ranger loaded with supplies.
It was good to see Egan happy. He’d found happiness with Rachel and they had gotten married in July. After he had been wrongly sent to prison they’d worried he would never find his way back to any type of life. All it took was a woman who loved him to bring him out of the darkness.
Quincy picked up his hat from the ground. “A couple more hours and this fence should be fixed for good.”
Falcon stared at his brother. They were fourteen months apart and similar in size and looks, except Quincy had his mother’s softer personality. Falcon had inherited the roughness of his father.
“Stop putting ideas into my daughter’s head.”
Quincy frowned. “What?”
“You know I want her to go to college. What’s all this about her barrel racing?”
“Do you ever listen to Eden? She loves this ranch and she doesn’t want to leave. Any idea of rodeoing was strictly hers.”
Falcon glanced off to the hot noon sun. “I know. I just want her to be a normal teenager instead of always hanging around this ranch with her uncles. I want her to be a girl.”
“Well, then, you shouldn’t have raised her as a boy.” Quincy slapped him on the back. “But don’t worry, those girl genes are there. Give her time.”
“I want her to experience life away from here, but it scares me to death that I’m going to lose her. I know that sounds crazy.”
“You sound like a father. Just listen to your daughter. That’s all you have to do.” Quincy walked off to join Egan and Elias.
Everyone always called him strong, but Falcon didn’t know if he was strong enough to deal with the Leah situation. The underlying fear he was going to lose his daughter to her mother was something he couldn’t shake.
A time for little girls...
Falcon tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Leah’s face and he knew she wasn’t going to give up on seeing their daughter. She could easily go to the school and meet her afterward. All his threats didn’t mean a thing. He stood to lose everything he loved.
His thoughts tortured him and he got up. Slipping on his robe, a melancholy smile touched his lips. No one, except his mother, wore a robe before Eden was born. With a little girl in the house, they couldn’t walk around in their underwear. A lot of things had changed with the birth of Eden. She’d been the light in