Once a Rebel. Sheri WhiteFeather

      “Is Ryan asleep?” Susan asked.

      “He drifted off hours ago, but I can’t seem to settle in.”

      “Too much on your mind?”

      “Ryan keeps telling me that he won’t let Jason Jamison hurt anyone in our family, but I can’t help but worry. Ryan is ill, and there’s a madman threatening us. There’s only so much I can take.”

      “I know. I’m so sorry.” Susan moved to the edge of the bed, closer to Lily. “I think Ryan is just as worried as you are, but he’s trying to remain strong.”

      “To prove that he can protect us? Even though he’s dying?”

      Susan nodded. She’d seen the determination on Ryan’s face, and she knew how often he consulted his security team. “I wonder when the FBI agent will contact you. When he’ll uncover Jason’s whereabouts.”

      “Soon, I hope. That’s what’s so creepy. Just knowing Jason is out there.” She rubbed her arms, even though she was wrapped in a robe. “Maybe I would feel safer if Ryan wasn’t ill. Maybe that’s why I’m having such a hard time with this. I’m losing my rock, my stability.”

      “You haven’t lost him yet, Lily. He’s still here, asleep down the hall.”

      The older woman blinked away the tears that gathered in her eyes. “You’re right.” She let out a deep sigh. “I love him so much.”

      “And he loves you.”

      “Yes, he does. And that’s the most comforting feeling in the world.” She stood, smiled at Susan and Chocolate. “Thank you. It helps to talk.”

      “For me, too.” She came to her feet and gave Lily a hug. The dog climbed off the bed and tried to nuzzle his way between them, wanting to be part of the embrace.

      They stepped back and laughed, giving in to the moment, to the humor the Lab provided.

      “He doesn’t seem like a stray,” Lily said.

      “Ethan spoils him. He pretends not to, but he does.”

      Lily looked up at her. “I can hardly blame him. You better hang on to that one.”

      But after Lily said good-night and left the room, Susan wasn’t sure who “that one” was.

      Chocolate. Or the man who’d rescued him.

      Four

      In the morning Susan took Chocolate for a walk down by the barn. She told herself it wasn’t a ploy to see if Ethan was around. She had no idea if Ethan was even working on the Double Crown today. He had other clients, other ranches that paid for his services.

      But even so, she scanned the distance, wondering if he was working with the cattle, the animals that looked like irregular-shape dots grazing on the vast Texas land.

      Not that it mattered if he was out there somewhere, restraining cows in a chute. She wasn’t searching for Ethan, she reminded herself. She was simply taking his dog out to play.

      And play Chocolate did. He ran all over the place, disappearing from sight, then returning with sticks and rocks and other makeshift toys in his mouth.

      At her feet he dropped a soda can he’d found, then took off again. He hadn’t gotten the concept of fetch. He didn’t wait around for her to throw his prizes so he could retrieve them. Not that she would toss an aluminum can. She picked it up, intending to throw it away, wondering who’d littered the ranch. She couldn’t imagine any of Ryan’s employees being that disrespectful, but someone had discarded it.

      She heard Chocolate barking and hoped he wasn’t getting into any trouble. It appeared to be a playful sound, but he might be bugging one of the ranch hands.

      Susan followed the bark and found him behind an outbuilding, along with a teenage girl who sat on the ground, puffing on a cigarette. She looked at Susan without saying a word.

      Déjà vu hit her hard and quick.

      She saw a reflection of her former self. Not in the girl’s appearance, but in the unaffected stare. Susan never flinched when strangers used to catch her smoking, but she remembered how her heart would pound, how she would pray that her dad wouldn’t find out.

      “Do you know if there’s a trash can nearby?” she asked, keeping her tone easy. She wanted to get her point across without backing the child into a corner. She suspected the littered can had come from her.

      The teenager shrugged. She wore a nondescript T-shirt, tomboyish jeans and tennis shoes. Strands of wavy brown hair escaped from a simple ponytail. A sprinkling of freckles across her upturned nose gave her face a pixielike quality and so did her petite frame. She appeared to be about fourteen or fifteen. Beside her was a blue-and-yellow backpack.

      “Maybe in the barn?” Susan said, referring to the trash can again.

      The teen’s brown eyes barely blinked. “I suppose.”

      “I guess I’ll throw this away later.” For now she decided to introduce herself. “I’m Susan Fortune, Ryan and Lily’s cousin. And he’s Chocolate,” she added as the dog sniffed the girl’s jeans.

      “I know who he is. The vet’s pesky dog.”

      Susan couldn’t help but smile. “He means well. What’s your name?”

      “Cathy.”

      She sat down in the dirt, close enough to make direct eye contact, but not close enough to invade the girl’s space. “How well do you know Ethan?”

      “My mom used to babysit for his girlfriend’s kid when they went out.” Cathy squinted at her. “Are you his new girlfriend?”

      “No. We’re just friends. We knew each other when we were young.”

      “You kind of look like Amber.”

      “Really?” Susan recognized the name of Ethan’s ex. “How so?”

      “I don’t know. You just do.” A strong pull on the cigarette filled her lungs. “Except she’s prettier than you.”

      Ouch, Susan thought. This kid knew how to pack a punch. It made her wonder what or whom Cathy was lashing out at. “Do you go to school around here?”

      “Where else would I go? I live on the ranch.”

      “You’re a long way from the bus stop. Shouldn’t you get going?” Susan decided to up the ante, to use a little friendly force. “Or are you planning to ditch?”

      “I was just getting ready to leave.” Cathy stood, stamped out her cigarette and left it on the ground. Then she grabbed her backpack and took off, disappearing around the corner of the building.

      Chocolate barked, and Susan sighed and went after the cigarette butt, dropping it inside the empty can. She had enough problems to contend with; she didn’t need to worry about one more trying-to-be-tough teen. The world was filled with rebellious youths, and she couldn’t help them all.

      But Cathy lived on the Double Crown and that made Susan think that fate had intervened. That she should explore Cathy’s situation, at least ask Ethan about her.

      Susan waited until dusk to show up at Ethan’s door. He answered her knock with his hair damp and his chest bare. A pair of jeans rode haphazardly on his hips.

      He’d just taken a shower, she realized. And climbed into his pants. His fly wasn’t open, but several teeth on his zipper were exposed, drawing her gaze below his belly button.

      “Are you here to return my dog?”

      “What? No.” She looked up and felt her cheeks sting with bad-girl heat. She shouldn’t be examining him like a side of beef. “Chocolate is with Ryan and Lily.”

      He glanced over her shoulder. “Are