Chapter One

       Falcon: the oldest son—the strong one.

      A time to forget...

      Eighteen years was long enough to wait for his wife to come home. Today Falcon Rebel would stop waiting.

      Every time the phone rang he tensed. Every time the news came on and someone’s body had been found he could barely breathe until he heard the person’s identity. Every time his daughter mentioned her name he searched his mind for reasons why Leah would leave him and their three-month-old baby.

      What could possibly justify her actions? It had been a long labor and a difficult birth, and Leah was different afterward. He’d tried talking to her, but nothing worked. She had wanted to be left alone, and then one day he came home to find a note on the bed. It was simple: “I need time. Leah.” No love. Nothing. Just like that, she was gone from their lives.

      Standing on his balcony looking out over Rebel Ranch, his eyes strayed to the tall oaks in the distance shading Yaupon Creek. They’d made love there for the first time. She was a virgin and scared, and he had wanted to make it special for her. It had been, but they were just teenagers playing adults. Getting pregnant in high school wasn’t in their plans. They’d gotten married, though, because it was the right thing to do. Leah moved into his room on the ranch and he was sure they could make it. They loved each other.

      He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Love didn’t last long when the responsibilities of life took over, and living with family didn’t help. They had no time alone except in his room. The harsh realities of life had hit them hard, but still he was sure they could make their marriage work until he saw the note. Everything ended that day and he grew up faster than he had ever imagined he would.

      Raising their daughter without a mother had been the biggest challenge of his life, and then his dad had died and his world had come crashing down around him. By then he wasn’t sure of anything. All he knew was he had to survive for his daughter. And he had to be strong for his mother and his brothers. The responsibility of the ranch weighed heavily upon his shoulders. He’d donned the mantle of head of the family and had never looked back.

      With his eyes fixed on the tall oaks, he had to admit forgetting Leah wasn’t ever going to happen. Not until he knew if she was dead or alive.

      “Dad!” his daughter, Eden, shouted.

      “I’m here.” He stepped back into his room and closed the French doors. His beautiful seventeen-year-old, dark-haired, green-eyed daughter stood in his room with her hand over her eyes.

      “Are you decent?”

      “Yeah.”

      Eden had a habit of running in and out of his room whenever she wanted. About two months ago she caught him shaving in his underwear and it had embarrassed her. He was happy to know she had some boundaries. Leah had been a shy, timid girl, but their daughter was just the opposite.

      Feisty and outgoing, Eden never met a stranger. And she had a temper that could peel the paint off the walls. Her teenage years had given him more gray hair than he had really wanted, but she was the light of his life and he couldn’t imagine a day without her. Soon she would go off to college and he would have to let go. He was still grappling with that.

      “Grandma wants to know why you’re not down for breakfast. You’re always the first one to get a cup of coffee. Are you feeling okay?” She laughed that funny little laugh of hers. “What am I asking? You’re healthy as a horse.” Then her eyes narrowed as if something could be wrong and she had missed it. “Aren’t you?”

      He put an arm around her waist. “You bet, baby girl. Let’s go.”

      They walked down the stairs arm in arm. At the bottom Eden said, “Dad.”

      “No.”

      She stomped her foot and they came to a stop. “Why do you always do that? You don’t give me a chance to say what I want to say.”

      He kissed the tip of her nose. “I know that tone. You want something that I’m not going to like and you make your voice all sweet and sugary.”

      “Can you read my mind, too?”

      “Yes,” he replied and walked into the kitchen. “Morning, Mom.”

      “Morning.” Kate Rebel handed him a cup of coffee. Dressed in old jeans, boots and a long-sleeved Western shirt, she was ready for a day on the ranch.

      “Mom, I can get my own coffee.”

      “Who said you couldn’t? There’s scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits on the stove. We have a full day ahead of us.”

      His mom worked as hard as anyone on the ranch. Just once he would like for her to take it easy, but he knew that was out of the question. The ranch and her sons were her life.

      He filled his plate and sat at the table. Eden sat across from him, munching on a biscuit.

      “Dad, I want to talk to you.”

      He took a sip of coffee. “Okay, what is it?”

      Eden scooted forward in her chair, her eyes eager. At times when he looked at her, he saw Leah. His daughter definitely favored her mother, but her personality was more like his and that’s what worried him.

      “I’ve been thinking. And don’t get all frowny face until I finish.”

      “I don’t get frowny face.”

      Eden rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I know you want me to go to Baylor. We visited the university and all, but I’d rather help Uncle Quincy with the paint horses. I love working with them, and why can’t I work on the ranch like everyone else? Why do I have to leave?”

       Because I want you to have the best of everything.

      Instead of saying that, he took a moment and tried to see this from her point of view. But he hit a brick wall.

      “You keep telling me how you’ll be eighteen soon and an adult, free to do what you want, go out with your friends and basically have the freedom that you keep saying I deny you. Well, if you stay here on the ranch, guess who’s going to be watching over you and dictating what you do and where you go?”

      “Ah, Dad.”

      “You’re going to college, Eden. That’s my bottom line.”

      She scooted even closer, her green eyes gleaming. “But listen to what I want to do. Uncle Quincy has this amazing paint. Her name is Dancing Cloud but we call her Dancer. She’s fast, Dad. Really fast. Uncle Quincy put some barrels up and I’ve been barrel racing her. Uncle Quincy says I’m good and that’s what I want to do. I want to stay on the ranch and rodeo like Uncle Paxton and Uncle Phoenix.”

      Falcon took a deep breath to keep words from spewing out. He counted to ten before he spoke. “You want to rodeo?”

      “Yeah, Dad. I can do it. I’m really good.”

      He shook his head, wondering if all parents had this much difficulty understanding their children. Why wasn’t she jumping at the chance to go to college? Wasn’t that every girl’s dream? He had to be careful or he’d lose her in a way he hadn’t even thought about.

      “Why aren’t you saying anything?” His daughter was impatient.

      He could put his foot down and say no, but he had to listen to her ideas. She was older now and he had to learn to be lenient. Or at least try.

      “School has just started, so why don’t you get your rodeo card and attend some