by Sable Hunter
BREATH OF HEAVEN
El Camino Real
Book 1
SABLE HUNTER
Cade and Abby have a history. Years ago they were in love. Undeclared and unrequited, Cade waited until Abby was old enough for him to declare his love. Abby wanted nothing more than she wanted Cade. But something happened. Abby pushed Cade away and he never knew why. Since then, sparks fly when they’re together. Antagonizing one another has become their favorite sport. The only problem is… it’s all a front. They bicker because they both want the same thing – each other. A wedding brings them together and Cade is determined to learn Abby’s secret. He’ll do whatever it takes to win her love. Meet the King Family of El Camino Real – five brothers, one sister and a legacy as big as Texas.
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.
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2013 © Sable Hunter
Published by Beau Coup Publishing
http://beaucoupllcpublishing.com
Cover by JRA Stevens
For Beau Coup Publishing
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
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Prologue
Cade Tallbull
The stock manager stood at the door of the trailer, holding it open so that the bright Wyoming sun hit Cade right in the face. “Get outta here, boy. You can’t hang around here. You’re gonna have to find somewhere to go.” He rubbed his eyes which were swollen from sleep and unshed tears.
“Yea, sure. I’ll go.” He stood slowly, gathering his blue jean duffle which contained only a couple of changes of clothes and his Dad’s prize spurs. Throwing the bag over his shoulder, Cade stepped out of the rusty stock trailer and started walking toward the empty rodeo stands. He was always struck by how different an arena felt when it was vacant, when the energy of the crowd was only a memory. Maybe it was just the bad memories, but the whole place seemed dark and sad. Since his father had been killed the week before, Cade had nowhere to go. He didn’t really even know where to start. “Sorry about that, Mr. Page. I just needed time to get my head together.”
“Where are you headed, Tallbull? Do you know?”
Cade was big for thirteen, but he was still a boy. Guess he was going to have to grow up fast. “I have plans,” he smiled, tipping his hat back on his head. One thing was for sure, he would rather not end up in the system. Cade had heard horror stories about that. Being on his own would be hard, but hopefully he could find work. “Thanks for everything.” He said with a small, tight smile. Thanks for nothing, is what he really thought. Cade had asked several of the stockmen for a job, cleaning the trailers and seeing after the stock. But he had been turned down.
Living on the rodeo circuit was all he knew. Buck Turnbull hadn’t been the best dad but he’d kept Cade fed and had went through the motions of home-schooling him. If Cade hadn’t been somewhat disciplined, it wouldn’t have worked. But when the lights came up and the roar of the crowd announced the opening of the chute – his father had been a different man. A legend.
Unfortunately, Buck had drank most of his winnings. There hadn’t even been enough left to give him a decent burial. The county had to step in and donate a plot in the local cemetery. And if Sam King hadn’t felt sorry for him and bought his dad’s horse, Cade wouldn’t have had the money to pay the funeral home and buy a coffin.
With head down, Cade started down the dusty road leading out of the High Peaks Expo Center. He kept his eye on his scuffed up boots, putting one foot in ahead of another. Seeing pity in everyone’s eyes made him feel small and worthless. Maybe in Laramie he’d be able to find something to do and a shelter to hang out in until he could locate something more permanent.
Cade dreaded living on the streets. If only his mother was still around. His missed her more every day. That was one topic which had been a sore spot between him and his father. Cade still blamed Buck Tallbull for not going after his common-law wife. Tia had been gentle, giving. When she’d been caught up in an illegal alien sweep, Cade had begged to be allowed to go with her. Neither his father nor the authorities would allow it. Now she might be lost to him forever. Kicking a dirt clod a few feet ahead of him, he vowed to find her. As soon as he gathered enough money, he’d hire help.
An engine idling behind him caused Cade to step to one side. He guessed he shouldn’t be taking his part of the road out of the middle.
“Cade? Where you off to, son?” Sam King called to him out of the window of his big tan King Ranch pick-up.
Cade couldn’t think of a convincing lie fast enough, so he just played the vague card. “Away.”
“Hop in, take a load off.” Sam leaned over and opened the passenger door, invitingly. “I could use some company. I tend to get sleepy, you can help keep me awake.”
Cade hesitated, but he liked the man. Sam King was a championship bronc rider who was retiring. This had been his last rodeo. Everyone said Sam had a big ranch and a family waiting for him in Texas, or that was the talk Cade had heard. “All right, if you’re sure.” He tossed his bag in the truck bed and climbed in on the fancy leather seats. “Thanks.”
“Do you have any family we could contact?” Sam asked, casting him a side-long glance.
Cade shook his head, his face flushing with shame. “No, my mother’s alive but I don’t know where she is. There’s no one else.” His stomach growled and Sam opened the middle console and handed him a candy bar.
“Eat this, we’ll stop for something when we see a restaurant.”
Taking the Snickers, he peeled the paper off and took a bite. “Thanks, I appreciate it.” Cade was proud, but he was hungry. “I’ll pay you back.”
Sam waved his hand. “If you don’t have any pressing plans, why don’t you come home with me for a while? I could always use an extra hand around the ranch.”
Cade’s heart started beating faster. “You’re offering me a job, Mr. King?”
Sam smiled at the boy. Honestly, he just couldn’t stand to see a neglected child. “Maybe. Why don’t we see how it goes? Mostly I just want to give you a place to be. A safe place. I’ve been watching you over the years, you’re a good kid. I think you’ll get along with my boys just fine.”
Cade studied Sam King’s weathered face. “You have sons?”
“Five of them.” He smiled, pushing his hat back on his head. “And a girl.”
“Do they have a mother?” Cade didn’t want to let himself hope. But he’d always wanted a home. A real home.
“They sure do. Her name is Amelia and she loves kids. El Camino is our home. We have plenty of horses to ride and the school has a good football team. You’ll like it there.”
The man was talking like Cade would be staying with them for a time. Maybe he didn’t understand. “I’m a half-breed,
you know.”
Sam slowed down and made deliberate eye contact with the boy. At one time or another, he had known the unfairness of prejudice – well, not on his watch. “Me too. Half Scottish, half French.”
Cade snorted, amused. “That’s not exactly the same thing. I’m Native American and Mexican.”
“Why isn’t it the same?” Sam gave him a crooked smile. “People are harsh sometimes. Usually you’ll find it’s because they’re ignorant.”
With that simple exchange, Cade Tallbull went home to live with Sam King. Driving from Wyoming to Texas took a couple of days. They stopped every few hours to let Whiskey, his Dad’s horse walk around and stretch his legs. “When we get home, I’ll need you to see after this animal.”
“I will.” Cade promised, touching the black stallion’s neck. It wasn’t lost on Cade that this was one of the last links he had with his family. The trip was awkward at times, he and Mr. King seemed to search for things to talk about. One thing they found they had in common was a love for hamburgers. Sam couldn’t seem to get enough. They would buy two or three a piece and wash them down with chocolate malts. When they reached Texas, Sam seemed to open up more and Cade felt more comfortable. They cut down through the panhandle and headed to Dallas.
The Lone Star state was no strange place to Cade, he’d been there before, Buck had won one of his bigger purses at the Houston Livestock show. Still, Texas was a damn big place. “Where is your ranch?” He asked Sam while he stared out the window, watching the flat prairie land pass by.
“On the King’s Highway,” Sam answered with a mysterious smile.
“What?” Cade couldn’t imagine having a road named after your family.
“Just wait, I’ll explain when we get there.” They talked about other things like horses and music, ate a couple of chiliburgers before turning off I45 in Madisonville and heading east on Highway 21. “This is it, the King’s Highway, El Camino Real.”
“El Camino is the name of your ranch,” Cade interjected, not fully understanding.
“Yes, it is. This stretch of road is ancient, forged by the soldiers of the King of Spain himself. Imagine walking, riding a horse or traveling in a wagon from Mexico City to what is now Natchitoches, Louisiana. Now imagine you are living in a time that predates the founding of our country, a time when conquistadors explored, missions were founded to bring religion to the new world and pioneers were forging across wilderness to make homes for themselves in untamed territory. Even those who defended the Alamo traveled this same path.”
The old west and cowboys were Cade’s favorite thing. So it was easy to get caught up in the idea of traveling the same trail as Jim Bowie or Davy Crocket. “Do you ever find any arrowheads?”
Sam leaned close. “I have a collection, I’ll show you.”
By the time they reached El Camino, Cade was anxious to see the place he’d call home, at least for the next little while. When they drove through the gates of the ranch, he was shocked. El Camino was much bigger than he expected. “How many acres do you have here?”
“Oh, a couple hundred thousand,” Sam said casually, like it was no big deal.
Cade blanched, unsure of his place. “I didn’t know you were rich.” All of a sudden, he didn’t feel so good. He’d considered Sam King just a cowboy who had done well – not a millionaire.
“I am rich” Sam didn’t deny it. “I have a wonderful family and my health. That’s a helluva lot more important than money.”
Those words Sam said that day stuck with Cade. When they drove up to the big stucco house, he hung back when a herd of kids ran out to meet the truck, yelling at the top of their lungs. “Daddy! Daddy!” The boys looked like they might range in age from six to sixteen and they all resembled their daddy. But the one who caught his eye wasn’t a boy. Holding her own in the midst of the chaos was a girl with long dark pigtails and the brightest smile Cade had ever seen. He couldn’t help but smile back.
“Cade, come here, son.” Sam called him over and put an arm around his shoulder. To have all of their stares on him at one time was intimidating. “This is Cade Tallbull. He’s going to be staying with us.” Cade waited for sneers or frowns, but he didn’t get them.
“Hey,” the oldest boy moved forward, hand stuck out. “My name’s Justice and this is Jase, Shiloh and the bookends are Trace and Trevor.” Cade shook his hand.
“And me! What am I, chopped liver?” The small girl folded her arms and stomped her foot, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Yes, chopped smelly liver,” one of the twins retorted and she narrowed her eyes and stuck her tongue out. Not ever having had brothers, much less a sister, Cade waited with interest to see what would transpire.
But nothing happened, Justice just pulled his little sister forward. “This here is Abby Grace, she’s a handful.”
Cade figured the boy was quoting his parents, he bit his lip to keep from laughing. “Hello, Abby Grace.” She offered her hand and he took it, very much liking the twinkle in the little girl’s eye.
“Sam? Who do we have here?”
Cade whirled around at the soft voice. Sam’s wife was an older version of Abby Grace, same smile, same kind eyes.
“Amelia, this fine young man is Cade Tallbull.” He put a hand on Cade’s back and edged him forward, as if to say – ‘don’t be shy’. “I told you about him.”
“Yes, yes you did.” Amelia came to Cade. She didn’t have to bend over, they were almost the same height. “I’m so glad to meet you. Are you hungry?”
“Yes ma’am,” he answered truthfully. He always seemed to be hungry.
“We’re all starving!” Jase yelled.
“Well, let’s go eat. I have fried chicken.” Amelia led them all down the path toward the front porch.
There was a chorus of ‘yay’s.” As they made their way into the spacious home, Cade was met with a bevy of questions. “Do you like to play football? Do you want to go riding? Do you like to camp? Do you believe in Bigfoot?” His head was spinning as he tried to answer each one.
Then Abby pulled on his shirt. “Wanna play house with me?”
“Aw shucks!” Shiloh gagged. “He wants to do boy stuff not mess with you, little girl.”
Cade didn’t want to say yes, nor did he want to say no. He wasn’t sure what playing house meant, but he figured it was playing with dolls and making mud pies. Neither of which he found very appealing. But Abby was looking up at him with big eyes and a hopeful expression. “Sure, we’ll do that sometimes. Sounds like fun.”
Ten years later…Cade was family. He loved the Kings and considered Sam and Amelia to be his folks and the boys were his brothers.
But there came a day when he was grateful he didn’t think of Abby as a sister. She grew up to be the most beautiful, sweetest, kindest girl in the world and Cade knew wanted a completely different relationship with her.
Now, he was ready to play house.
Abilene Grace King
Abby looked up as she heard the sound of horse hooves beating the ground. As her brothers and Cade appeared over the crest of the hill, she received a thrill at the sight. Her heart swelled with pride. If there had been a sound track playing some rousing guitar and brass number, it would appear she was watching the scene on the big screen. In her childish imaginings, Abby had always pretended her brothers were the Cartwrights of the Ponderosa or the Barclays of The Big Valley, western television shows that she’d seen in reruns. Handsome and rugged, they were her heroes. Especially Cade.
“Hey, Squirt.” Jase rode up first and slid off his horse, letting the paint drink at the spring where Abby had staked her mare.
“Watch it, Dork. I’m sixteen years old,” Abby grumbled. She didn’t really appreciate being called childish names, especially when Cade was around. “Who won?” She asked Jase, second to the oldest, but her eyes were only for the man who dismounted gracefully and let his reins drop. Cade Tallbull’s horse was trained to ground-tie, the stallion would stand and wait for his
rider to return if a stampede was headed toward him.
“Justice won, of course. Who else? His horse runs like the wind.” Jase knelt by the water and dipped some in his hand to cool his face.
Her blood pressure rose as Cade sauntered by. “Abilene King, will you wear my ring? Is that what the boys all say?” He kidded with her, a smile on his kissable face.
She was saved from responding by one of the twins, Trace, who thought he possessed superb comedic timing. He jumped off his horse, grabbed a handful of mud and chased her with it. “Abby Grace has mud on her face!”
Well, she didn’t. Only because she outran him. “If you want to live to see tomorrow Trace King, you’ll smear that mud on your own ugly mug.” Actually, Trace wasn’t ugly and she was sorta grateful for his interruption because she didn’t know how she would’ve responded to Cade’s teasing. The answer she wanted to give to his questions was – ‘yes, Yes, YES! I’ll wear your ring!’
As she laughed and dodged her favorite brother, Abby stole glances at Cade. After going to the movies over the weekend, she’d decided he looked just like Jason Mamoa of Conan fame – except much better looking, of course.
Cade Tallbull would belong to her one day. It was written in the stars.
“Everything ready?” Justice whispered to Abby as he walked up beside her.
“Yea, Mom sent me to get all of you.” Abby responded softly to Justice, trying to turn so Cade couldn’t see her talking. He was standing with Shiloh and Trevor, letting their horses rest. “Does he suspect we’re giving him a surprise birthday party?”
“Probably, we do this every year.” Justice smirked at his little sister. “What is going to come as a surprise is that little colt in the barn.”
“Oh, he’s going to love Little Bit. And when he finds out Whiskey is his sire, he’ll be thrilled.” Abby hugged herself at the thought. Having a stallion by the horse his father rode would mean the world to Cade.