Texas Rebels: Jude. Linda Warren

      

Cast of Characters

      Kate Rebel: Matriarch of the Rebel family.

      Falcon: The oldest 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 archenemy of the family’s daughter.

      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. Raising his small son alone.

      Phoenix: The wild one and the youngest. He’s wild and free until Child Protective Services says he’s the father of a small boy.

      Abraham (Abe) Rebel: Paternal grandfather.

      Jericho Johnson: Egan’s friend from prison.

      Texas Rebels: Jude

      Linda Warren

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      A two-time RITA^® Award–nominated author, LINDA WARREN has written thirty-eight books for Mills & Boon and has received the Readers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, the Booksellers’ Best Award, the Book Buyers Best Award, the Golden Quill and 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 www.lindawarren.net.

      MILLS & BOON

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      To my brother, Paul William, who generated laughter in all of us.

      Contents

       Cover

Cast of Characters

       Title Page

       About the Author

       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

       Chapter Seventeen

       Epilogue

       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

      Jude: the sixth son—the quiet one

      A cowboy’s broken heart.

      They could say a lot of things about Jude Rebel, but they couldn’t say he wasn’t a good father.

      He’d devoted his life to Zane.

      But tonight for the first time in twelve years he was going out on a date. He swiped