The Rebel

Sam nodded. “J.J. is the sheriff of Naconiche County, and Frank is a judge there.”

“And isn’t there another brother?”

“Cole Younger Outlaw. He was a homicide cop in Houston, but he teaches criminal justice these days. My brothers are all married now and have families.”

“Didn’t I remember that Belle was married, too?”

“She was,” Sam said. “She’s getting a divorce. The SOB she married turned out to be a louse.”

Gabe shouldn’t have been pleased about that, but for some reason, he was. Even ill and without the usual female paint, Belle Outlaw was a stunning woman. She was gutsy for sure, and she had a great sense of humor. Plus, he’d seen a side of her that he doubted she showed very often. Her vulnerability. She’d drawn out his protective streak and made him want to bundle her up and cradle her like a baby. In short, she fascinated him.

“How are we going to work getting your sister back to Texas?” Gabe asked. “And exactly where are we going to take her? Is she planning to stay with you?”

“Beats me,” Sam said. “I’ve been thinking about that some myself. I know you have a business to run, and you can’t hang around here forever. I suppose you can take off anytime now, and I’ll drive her back to Austin.”

“I’m not in any hurry. Matter of fact, didn’t you tell me that you have to go to an important training session next week?”

Sam nodded. “In Virginia. Since I have to be gone, and I’m in the middle of moving, I’m going to try to talk Belle into going home to Naconiche.”

“She doesn’t want to go?”

“Nope. I suspect that partly she’s concerned about my mother’s tendency to hover, but mostly I think she doesn’t want to talk about the mess with Matt.”

“The husband?”

“The soon to be ex-husband.”

“Maybe she could fly home with me and stay in Wimberley to recuperate while you’re gone. My sister will be there, and her clinic is right next to the house.”

“Her clinic?” Sam asked. “What kind of clinic?”

“She a vet. And my mother is there, too. She’s a little flaky, but she makes good chicken soup.”

“Your mother or your sister?”

Gabe laughed. “My mother makes good chicken soup—when she remembers to put the chicken in the pot. She’s an artist of sorts and a little flighty. She’s not a hoverer for sure—more of a soarer, I’d say.”

“Sounds…interesting.”

Gabe grinned. “You don’t know the half of it.”

“I’m willing to park Belle with you if she’s willing. I have to warn you though. Belle’s as stubborn as a mule.”

“So am I. Flora says it’s my most endearing trait.”

“Who’s Flora?”

“My mother. I have a cook and a housekeeper if Flora forgets the chicken. Also, I think having someone her own age around will be good for my sister. Most of her friends are animals. We have a menagerie at our place. Belle’s not allergic to animals, is she?”

“Lord, no. That’s Cole, my oldest brother. And only to cats. We all grew up with lots of critters. Give Belle a horse or a dog, and she’s happy as a pig in slop.”

Gabe laughed. “Then she’ll fit right in. Shall we go back and tell her our plans?”

Looking pained, Sam hesitated for a moment. “Let’s wait and surprise her later.”

Chapter Two

Belle wasn’t exactly sure how it had happened. She blamed all the antibiotics for turning her brain to mush. But here she sat in a helicopter headed for Texas with a man she barely knew, albeit a very attractive man. And a kind one. She had to admit the flight in the chopper was less daunting than a road trip. Even so, she’d slept off and on for a good part of the time they’d spent in the air.

Rousing from her doze, she looked around, trying to get her bearings. “How much farther?” she asked Gabe. Because of the noise, they had to use headphones and mikes to talk.

“We’ll be setting down in a few minutes. Are you tired?”

“Not so much tired as stiff. Are you sure that your family won’t mind having a surprise houseguest?”

“They won’t mind, and you’re not a surprise. I called ahead so Suki could shoo the chickens and pigs out of the guest room.”

Belle wasn’t quite sure if he was teasing or not. She knew very little about Gabe except that he was Sam’s friend and insurance agent. “Who’s Suki?”

“The housekeeper.”

“Is she Asian?”

“Some on her mother’s side, I think. She’s mostly a mixture like the rest of us. Suki’s barely over five feet tall, but she’s been ruling over the wild mob in our household for several years.”

“You have a wild mob?”

“It seems that way sometimes. You’ll soon have everybody straightened out.”

Belle chewed on that for a while. Sounded like a zoo at his place, and what she needed was peace and quiet. Growing up with four brothers was like living with a wild mob, too, and she often retreated to her hidey-holes to escape the madness. While she adored her brothers and enjoyed people, she also enjoyed solitude. Since she’d left home for college, she’d lived alone, except for an occasional roommate, until she’d married Matt.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been to Wimberley. Exactly where is it in relation to Austin?”

“About forty or forty-five miles southwest. You were asleep when we buzzed the governor’s mansion a few minutes ago. Didn’t I hear Sam say that you’d gone to the University of Texas?”

“Only to law school. But except for occasional forays downtown to Sixth Street, I never ventured far from campus and my apartment. I pretty much kept my nose in my books.”

“A high achiever, huh?”

Belle chuckled. “You’ve got my number. I’ve always been competitive. But with four brothers, what can you expect? Hustling was how I kept up.”

Gabe smiled and turned his attention to piloting the chopper.

She saw a small town ahead, nestled among rolling hills and with a rocky river running through it. From her viewpoint, it looked like a picturesque village from a movie set.

“That’s home,” Gabe said, nodding toward a place at the edge of town.

She spotted their destination: a large stone house on a hill surrounded by a number of outbuildings. Horses grazed in a pasture, unfazed by the noise of the rotors, and she noticed several other animals as well, including what looked like a llama.