Once a Rancher (26 page)

“Mornin', Mom,” he said, snatching a piece of bacon before pouring a cup of coffee.

She turned from the stove. “Mornin', son. Is Zane up?”

“Yes, and I didn't even have to wake him. He's so excited about this race that it's all he thinks about, even in his sleep.” He took a couple of sips of coffee and placed his cup on the counter. “I'm going to the mailbox to get the paper so he can have the form to fill out or he's going to drive us all crazy.”

Before he could get to the door, Falcon and Quincy, two of his brothers, came in. Quincy had the paper in his hand. He held it up. “I brought something for Zane. Is he up?”

Jude picked up his cup. “Yes, and he's ready for that form. He's saved up the entry fee and he's counting the days. Actually, he has a calendar in his room and he's marking them off.”

“Who wants breakfast?” his mom asked.

“I had breakfast with Leah,” Falcon replied. “Our children were asleep and it was nice.”

“How about you, Quincy?”

“Elias had a late night so I fixed breakfast for Grandpa.” Quincy filled a cup with coffee and sat at the table.

“Your grandpa can come over here and eat if he wants breakfast,” their mom snapped in a tone they knew well. “You have a wife and you need to be home with her and not pampering that old man.” His mom and grandfather had a strained relationship that was difficult for the whole family.

Quincy stretched his shoulders. “Mom, my wife was up at 5 a.m. to be at work at six. We had coffee and went our separate ways. But we took time for ourselves, if you know what I mean.”

“Quincy,” his mother scolded. But Quincy only smiled. It was good to see his brother happy.

Jude filled his plate with bacon, eggs and biscuits and sat at the table.

Falcon flipped through the hometown paper, which usually had nothing in it but tidbits of gossip. Nothing ever happened in Horseshoe, Texas. But Falcon slid the paper over to Jude, pointing to a page.

Jude took a swallow of coffee, pushed his plate away and picked up the paper. The headline hit him between the eyes like a two-by-four.

Hometown Girl Made Good Returns.

Jude quickly scanned the rest of the story. Paige's mother had died and she was coming home for the funeral. Oh, man. He never expected this. Darlene Wheeler had fallen and broken her hip not long after Paige had left for California. Her daughter Staci put her in a rehab center in Austin and from there she was moved to a nursing facility. That was the gossip Jude had heard.

A knot the size of a baseball formed in his stomach.

Never Never Land
pushed to the forefront of his mind. The Wheelers still owned a house in Horseshoe and Staci paid the taxes on it. Jude wasn't sure why they never sold it. Twelve years had come full circle and it was time to tell Paige what he'd done.

That was his first thought.

The second was there was no way in hell. Zane was his and he had to think about his son now. About what this would do to him. Jude had always told him the truth. Zane was about five when he'd first asked about his mother. He wanted to know why he didn't have one. He almost thought that was normal since his cousin Eden hadn't had one, either. But Zane was smart and he soon realized that most of his friends had mothers.

At that time Jude had glossed over most of the story and said Zane's mother had wanted to further her education so left town.

As he grew older, Zane asked more questions and Jude decided then not to lie to him because he knew his father would never have lied to him. Again, he told him how young they were and how they didn't know anything about babies and they had decided to give him up for adoption so he could have a good life. Jude tried to sound matter-of-fact about what had happened, but Zane knew his mother had given him away.

He glanced at the paper one more time.
Paige was returning to Horseshoe.
How did he tell her what he'd done?

Or did he need to?

She'd made her decision and he'd made his.

But... That
but
carried a whole lot of guilt that was gnawing away at his insides.

Paige Wheeler, Zane's mother, would be back in Horseshoe.

Soon.

The knot tightened.

Don't miss
TEXAS REBELS: JUDE
by Linda Warren, available wherever
Harlequin American Romance books
and ebooks are sold.

Copyright © 2016 by Linda Warren

ISBN-13: 9781459292529

Once a Rancher

Copyright © 2016 by Hometown Girl Makes Good, Inc.

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