Skye Blue (Hell Yeah!)

SKYE BLUE

Noah’s Redemption

Hell Yeah! Book Ten

SABLE HUNTER

Continuing the Hell Yeah! Series with Book 10, Skye Blue

Noah McCoy loves his family more than anything, but he has always had trouble seeing anything from anyone else’s point of view. Some might say that Noah is narrow-minded or judgmental, some might call Noah a pain in the......ha!

The truth is - Noah only sees black and white, he can’t see shades of grey until Skye makes a home for herself in his heart. Skye Blue colors Noah’s world with a rainbow of love, laughter and a sensuality which takes his breath away. Noah wants Skye in his life and his arms. But Skye has a secret. She doesn’t think Noah will ever understand the decisions she’d been
forced to make.

But no one should ever underestimate a McCoy.

When they fall in love, they fall in love forever.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © Pending Sable Hunter

All rights reserved.

www.sablehunter.com

ISBN-13: 978-1494262716

ISBN-10: 1494262711

Six brothers. One Dynasty—

TEBOW RANCH.

Meet the McCoy brothers and their friends— men who love as hard as they play.

Texas Cowboys – nothing hotter.

HELL YEAH!

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Cover and Technical Advising by Added Touches

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PROLOGUE

In the Sunshine – Skye as a child.

  “Push me higher, Lance. Higher!” Skye was flying. The momentum of the swing carried her up, up into the low hanging leaves of the huge oak tree.

  Her waist length black hair flowed in the breeze with a red ribbon holding it back. As she swung, she laughed—pure little girl joy. Lance smiled at her indulgently as she stuck her small feet straight out and kicked toward the sky. “I have something to tell you, little one.”

  “What is it? Are we going riding? Will you tell me more stories of Shenandoah?” Lance was her big brother and she loved him more than anything.

  “Someday we will do it all. I’ll teach you how to rope and ride. I’ll tell you how beautiful Shenandoah was and how the trout jump in Honey Creek. Every time I come home, I’ll spend time with you. Okay?”

  The pendulum motion of the swing slowed down. Skye put her scuffed white tennis shoes into the patchy grass to bring herself to a halt. She didn’t understand. Unease spiraled down into her stomach. Her world was not supposed to change. “Where are you going?” she asked solemnly.

  Lance took it all in, the panoramic scene of his home. Two white chickens scratched in the black dirt about ten yards away from where he stood with his baby sister. Their beautiful mother hung big white bed sheets on the clothes line behind the house. She was humming a Bon Jovi song about loving someone for ‘always’. Out front, Elijah Blue, tinkered with his truck’s engine. As his eyes moved over the small rural farm where he lived with his mother, his half-sister and his stepfather, he wondered what his life would be like if he hadn’t lost his dad—if he hadn’t lost Shenandoah.

Lance had no answers. All he knew was hurting this little girl was the last thing he wanted to do. He knelt down in front of her and held the ropes of her swing in his hands. “I’m seventeen, Skye Blue.”

  “I’m five.”

  “Yes, I know.” He kissed Skye on her forehead. The wispy dark bangs hanging over her midnight black eyes tickled his nose. She smelled like baby shampoo. She was a baby. “I’ve got a job at a ranch a few hours away. I’m leaving in the morning.”

  Skye’s lip trembled. “When will you be back?”

  “It’ll be a few weeks. I need to get settled.” Her baby face was divided by twin tracks of tears rolling down chubby cheeks. “Elijah and Mom will take care of you till I get back.”

  “Mom said you’re my protector. What if I get into trouble? What if I need you?”

  “If you need me, I’ll come. Just call me. I’ll give you my number.” Lance meant what he said, he really did.

But sometimes life gets in the way, and the promises we mean with all of our heart get lost in the upheaval of time and tragedy.

  “I love you.” Skye threw her arms around his neck. “I’ll miss you.”

  “I’ll miss you. And don’t forget. You’ll never be alone. I promise.”

In the Sunshine – Noah as a child.

  “Giddy-up.” Noah nudged his horse forward. He needed to keep up. Isaac and Joseph were just ahead of him. They were better riders than he was. Joseph would ride anything. Their dad had caught him on top of one of the Beefmaster bulls last Saturday and boy, had he got walloped. Dad told him those monster bulls would stomp his head into the dirt if he wasn’t careful.

Isaac had been begging for a motorbike. Noah liked that idea. He’d wished for one for Christmas, but all Santa had brought him was a bicycle and a new lariat.

  “Let’s camp up here, boys.” Sebastian McCoy dismounted from his big Appaloosa and pointed to the place where he wanted Aron and Jacob to pitch the tent. “Sleeping under the stars and eating fried fish we caught ourselves. Life don’t get any better than this.”

  “Can we tell ghost stories?” Isaac asked as he led his mare to the place Jacob chose to tether their mounts. He’d picked a grassy area close enough to the stream so the horses could pull their lead ropes down to the water to drink.

  “Ghost stories will scare Noah!” Isaac made a face at him.

Noah stuck his tongue out in retaliation. “Will not!”

  “You’re the baby!” With a sing-song tone, Isaac continued his own form of torment.

  “Not for long.” Sebastian removed his saddle. “Your mother is in the family way.”

  “Really?” Jacob stopped in his tracks. “I hope it’s a girl this time!”

  “Ewwww.” Joseph spat on the ground. “We don’t want no girl babies!”

  “I’m glad.” Noah was solemn. “I don’t like being the baby.”

  “Where do you want the campfire, Dad?” Aron finished with the tent. He was ready to start piling the wood.

  “Good boy. I can always depend on you, Aron.” Sebastian pointed to a place uphill from the tent. “Put the fire up there...that way if a panther decides to check us out, the glow from the coals will scare him off.”

  “A wild cat?” Noah’s eyes got big.

  “You’re the only cat around here, a fraidy-cat.” Joseph came over to help Noah take the saddle off his horse. He also showed him how to hitch the horse so he could move around and not get hung up.

  “Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Boys! Quit your squabbling and come on up here and sit down. I want to talk to you about something important.” Sebastian settled down on a fallen log and passed out some marshmallows. “We might as well appease our sweet tooth while we’re at it.”

  “Thanks.” Aron smiled big. He loved all kinds of desserts. “What do you want to tell us, Dad?”

  “I want to talk to you all about what it means to be a McCoy.”

  There were no comments or questions. The five boys just waited to see what their father had to say.

  “Being a McCoy is a privilege. Our family isn’t bound by just a name, we’re tied together by a legacy of hope. All of your lives, I want you to remember who we are. I want you to remember who you are. Our love for the land and each other is a big part of it, the biggest. But we’ve also got a responsibility to our neighbors and friends. We always need to commit ourselves to helping those who haven’t been as blessed as we have.” He looked from face to face. He was satisfied. They were listening. “Your mother has her heart set on starting a foundation to help victims of cancer. And there are other ways we need to reach out to others.”

  “What can we do?” Jacob was listening so intently to his father, he almost burned his marshmallow.

  “What you can do is always live your lives with these things in mind. Remember, we must take care of one another, watch out for one another. Put family first, protect our name, and preserve our legacy.”

As Sebastian laid the foundation for their code of honor, Noah listened raptly. This was his family. They were his responsibility. “I’ll do it, Dad.” Noah understood.

The Clouds Gather – Skye as a Teenager

  The sun was setting faster than she thought it would. Walking home from the ball game might not have been such a good idea. Skye kept to the side of the road, near the tree line. She’d heard the stories around town. Sometimes girls got hurt, especially her kind of girl. Skye was half Choctaw and her darker skin seemed to be an open invitation for men to hit on her, a license for them to treat her anyway they saw fit—whether she liked it or not. Several times she’d had to run away from the oil workers who frequented the bars on Sooner Street.

  Her father was never home anymore. Home wasn’t home anymore. After her mother had died, everything had changed. Elijah blamed himself for her death and now if he wasn’t at work, he was drunk. Lance blamed her father also. He didn’t come around anymore. She hadn’t seen her brother in three years, not since the funeral. Skye didn’t even know his number anymore. She didn’t think he even knew how to find her. Her father had moved them too often from job to job, oil field to oil field.

  From behind her, a horn blew and Skye jumped. Realizing she was walking too near the traffic, she moved more toward the fence line. Coming to Broken Bow had been a mistake. They had no friends here. People looked at her differently here. She wasn’t accepted.

  Beside her, a car slowed down. Her heart sped up. “Hey, Pocahontas! Wanna smoke my peace pipe?”

The stranger’s deep voice made her skin crawl. Glancing at him, she saw he was getting out of the car. He was big, unshaven and his clothes were dirty and greasy. Another voice spoke from the backseat. Dear Lord, there were two of them. “Leave me alone.” She looked around for help. There was nowhere to go but down the road. Skye started to run.

  “Come back here!” One of them slammed the car door. To her horror, she heard footfalls following close behind.

Skye ran faster. Her breath was coming in scared pants.

Cruel, gripping fingers grabbed her arm and jerked backward. “Not so fast. We can have a little fun.”

“Let me go!” she screamed. Frantically she looked around, but there was no one to help her. “Help! Daddy! Lance!” Skye knew her cries were in vain, but she had to fight.

“Open the passenger side door, Leonard.” Her captor dragged her across the ditch toward the dark sedan. “I’m about to get me some Injun pussy.”

With horror, she realized she was about to be raped. There was no one to hear her, no one to help her. Not willing to give in, she struggled, clawing, fighting and pushing. But her strength was no match for the two burly men. One took her by the shoulders and pulled her backward, forcing her to lie down. “Please. Please. Don’t do this,” she begged.

“Shut-up, redskin.” The younger one jerked her shirt out of her jeans and ripped it open. “You want some of this Leonard?”

“I want her to suck my cock.” The older one with the beard unzipped his pants.

With a laugh, the big man at her feet unzipped his own jeans. “You better watch it. She’ll bite it off.”

Skye realized she had no way out of this. It was happening. She was being raped. Taking a deep breath, she tried to scream, but the jerk at her head grasped her chin and put a knife to her throat. “I’ll take seconds.”

“That’s it. Suck him. Now, open your legs for me. You can take us both.”

Skye fought. She cried. She prayed.

In vain.

In the end, Skye was raped. She was bruised. She was violated.

And left in a ditch on the side of the road.

The Clouds Gather – Noah as a teenager.

“We’ll make it.” Aron promised.

The boys sat around the dining table eating cold-cut sandwiches.

“We’re gonna starve to death.” Isaac looked at their pitiful fare.

“No, we’re not. I’m gonna find us a housekeeper and maybe I’ll start looking for me a wife.” Aron looked from brother to brother.

Nathan began to cry. “I want my Mama.”

Noah placed his arm around his little brother. “Don’t you worry, Nate. I’ll take care of you. We’ll make it.” He echoed Aron.

“Yes, we will.” Jacob poured everybody a glass of milk. “We’re McCoys. We’ll stick together and take care of each other.

“We’re going to have to divide up the responsibilities.” Aron folded his hands and looked at each one of them. “Dad and Mom would want us to keep everything going.”

“So, we’re not gonna sell Tebow?” Isaac asked.

“Hell, no.” Jacob put a package of chocolate cookies on the table. “Aron will supervise the hands and I’ll supervise you guys.”

“What will I do?” Joseph asked with his mouth full.

“Stay out of trouble, dweeb.” Isaac elbowed his brother.

“Cut it out!” Aron hollered. “We’ve got to make this work. We don’t want child protective services snooping around.”

“What does that mean?” Noah was worried.

“It means three of us are underage. I don’t want someone coming here and taking you and Nathan and Isaac away from us.”

The rest of them sobered, thinking hard. They had just buried their mother and father. Now they couldn’t take time to grieve. The business of life and family had to be job one.

“What can I do?” Noah locked his gaze with Aron’s. He wanted to help.

“You can keep us straight, Noah. You’re smart. We need you to help with the books, help pay the bills and keep us out of trouble. Do you think you can do that?”

“I can.”

Now, Noah had a purpose.

The Storm Rises – Skye all grown.

  “Blue, have you lost your mind? Why do you do this to yourself?” Rexine Lofton, one of the prison guards led Skye to solitary.

“I couldn’t handle seeing her suffer. She was having a baby and they tied her to the bed.” Skye didn’t fight Rexine. There was no use and she was her only friend.

  Rexine sighed. She knew bad stuff went on. Some of it was the guards’ fault. Hell, a lot of it was the guards’ fault. But many of the prisoners caused their own trouble, like this one. Skye Blue could never stand by and let injustice happen right in front of her eyes. She fought back and usually paid the price when the warden stepped in to sort things out. “You can’t fight everyone’s battles for them. You need to take care of yourself.”

In the past three years since this young woman had been in Eddie Warrior Correctional Facility, she’d been in solitary at least twelve times. And each of those times was because she’d intervened when someone else was being abused. Blue’s nickname was ‘Little Warrior’.

“I’ll be okay.”

Opening the door to the six by nine room, Rexine waited as Skye filed in. Everything in the cell was grey. There was no window, no television, no radio. The only furniture was a fold down bed on the back wall, a sink and a commode. For the month she was sentenced to solitary, Skye would have no contact with anyone other than the guard who would push her meals through a slot in the door.

“I’m going to try and get you some help,” Rexine whispered. “I’ve heard about a lawyer. I’m going to see if she’ll check into some stuff for you.”

“Thanks.” Skye smiled. She didn’t harbor much hope. In the stolen moments they had together, she had confided to Rexine about how she came to be in prison. Railroaded was a mild term for what she’d endured. Self-defense should’ve been the verdict, but money and power dictated that her sentence would be thirty years for first-degree murder. While she had little hope Rexine could help, Skye still prayed for a miracle. Surely this would not be her life.