Free Rebel Soul: (Rebel Series Book 1) ((Rebel Series)) by J.C. Hannigan

Channing was a twenty-four year old local guy who’d blown up the country music industry after winning a televised talent show. Travis had gone to school with Gordon and Brock, for that matter. I could remember him hanging around on our wraparound porch with them when I was a kid.
    “With you?” I arched a brow pointedly. Elle bit her lip, looking very much like she had a secret that she was trying to keep from me. “Elle, don’t bullshit me. You know I can tell when you’re lying.”
    “Well…” Elle exhaled, her lips spreading into an excited smile. “It may be me and just a few other people, but it’s not like we’re going together or anything!” she hurried to explain.
    “Like who?” As soon as the question spilled from my lips, I knew the answer.
    “Oh you know, the gang. Braden…and Brock,” Elle answered, her response sounding more like a question.
    “First of all, no. My dad’s around here somewhere,” I hissed. “Second, I’m not even dressed to hang out.”
    “I brought some clothes; they are in my trunk. We’re practically the same size. They’ll fit,” Elle pleaded, her eyes wide. “Please, please, please, please, please!”
    “Please what?” My dad’s voice startled us both, and we glanced towards him as he approached as if we’d been caught with our hands in the cookie jar before dinner.
    “I was just begging Tess to come to the Travis Channing concert tonight,” Elle responded easily. “You remember Travis Channing, don’t you, Mr. Armstrong? I already have the tickets and my mom won’t let me go alone.”
    “I told you a thousand times, call me Bill,” my dad said, scratching at his beard as he considered the question. “Now, Tess…you’ve got some chores to do at home. You’re going to need to tend to Spirit and feed the rest of the horses…”
    I perked up, thankful that my father’s sense of stern responsibility was going to save me from seeing Brock Miller again. I didn’t exactly want to be around him right now, not after last night and certainly not when I didn’t know how to act or feel around him.
    “But that shouldn’t take you long, and you’re welcome to meet up with Elle again after supper,” Dad finished.
    “Maybe for supper? And I’ll help Tess with the horse stuff?” Elle bartered. My dad looked at her and laughed, shaking his head. She had him wrapped around her finger. My dad was her surrogate father in the same way that her mom was my surrogate mother.
    “You’re just like your mama, Elle,” he told her, putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing briefly. “You could talk a fish into buying water.”
    I swallowed my jealousy. Just once, I’d like to hear my dad say that to me with as much comfort and ease. I knew I looked like her; I had her honey blonde hair and her amber eyes. I knew we were similar in a lot of ways; Sue had made sure to tell me that, but my dad’s pain over losing her kept him from actually verbalizing the similarities. Today was the first time he’d ever mentioned she’d be proud of me. I understood it, but it still sucked.
    “Fine, I’ll go,” I relented, rolling my eyes.

 
    Brock
     
    When I was eighteen, my grandpa on my dad’s side died and he left each of my siblings and me a fair bit of land just on the outskirts of Parry Sound. He’d owned 180 acres near a small lake. The terms of Grandpa Miller’s will were that the land would be held in trust until we each turned twenty-one. Then, we would be free to do what we wished.
    I was still in jail when I turned twenty-one, and then I immediately left for Alberta to work. I was focused on helping my mom pay back the debt my legal fees had accumulated.
    A year ago, I started to think about the property again. The lake was probably where the majority of my good childhood memories took place. My dad had hated it – or maybe he hated my grandpa – and refused to go anywhere near it. It was a safe haven from him. We’d spend as much time as we could