Texas Ranch Justice. Karen Whiddon

       Chapter 1

      The next time he heard the words oil well mentioned with the same sort of breathless tone used when speaking of “sweet tea” or Jesus, Travis Warren thought he might just lose what little shred of self-control he had left.

      It wasn’t bad enough that he did the work of three men along with a small, handpicked crew of ranch hands, trying to keep the HG Ranch afloat. Or that he’d given up his privacy and allowed his mother, sister and five-year-old nephew to move in with him in the small foreman’s house he previously occupied alone. In addition to that, he had the monumental worry about his stepfather, Hal Gardner, who appeared to be wasting away while not a single doctor could come to a consensus as to what might be wrong with him.

      Hal was just as opposed as Travis to allowing an oil company to take over even one-half acre of his land. In fact, as owner of the HG, he’d insisted he didn’t want to hear another word about allowing drilling.

      At least that decree shut everyone up. As long as Hal was around. But the rest of the family as well as most of the neighboring townsfolk felt no compulsion to be quiet around Travis. In fact, his own mother, Vivian, continued to act as if making a deal with Wave Oil Company would be their salvation. Quite frankly, the notion made Travis feel sick.

      For Travis, working hard and looking after his own was a matter of pride. For over fifty years, his seventy-eight-year-old stepfather, Hal, had managed to keep the HG Ranch going as a profitable cattle operation. Travis planned to do the same, without any help from any oil company or their money. Right now, a company called Wave Oil was pushing hard for the right to drill on Hal’s and several of the other ranchers’ land. Hal had already said no, privately confiding to Travis that he’d continue to do so until the day he died. Which unfortunately might be sooner than either of them would like.

      Wave Oil and their offers of easy money had managed to divide the town. The townsfolk, those without stakes to the land, were all for it. They liked the idea of more jobs and money being spent in downtown Anniversary. As for the ranchers and farmers, almost every single one of them had refused. They’d even banded together in order to present a solid front. Travis just kept hoping the commotion would die down, the oil people would move on to another town and life could return to normal. Or as normal as it could be with Hal so sick.

      Ideally Travis preferred to spend most of his time outside, whether working cattle or repairing fences, but these days he made sure to take breakfast, lunch and dinner a couple of times a week at the main house, so he could make sure Hal ate. They’d hired a day nursing-housekeeping aide named Delilah, who helped out between ten and five. She’d turned out to be irreplaceable.

      The rest of the time either Travis’s mother, Vivian, or his sister, Amber, poked their heads in to check on Hal and keep things running smoothly.

      Even though Vivian and Hal had been divorced for five years, they’d remained friendly. Which was helpful, especially since Vivian continued to live on the ranch, staying with Travis in the foreman’s house. Travis had just started to get used to having her there when his sister, Amber, had arrived back home a year ago. She’d been sad and angry and a little needy, smarting from her own failed relationship, and Travis couldn’t say no. Especially since she’d come with her young son, Will, in tow. Having a five-year-old boy around had been an unexpected bonus, and Travis treasured