Tina Leonard - Triplets' Rodeo Man (6 page)

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live in Union Junction for a year. “Where do I sign with my blood?”

Josiah rubbed his hands. “It's a gentleman's verbal agreement. Now get out so I can call my lawyer. I have to hurry because Dr. Moneybags may be here soon to take his pound of flesh from me.”

“I guess I'll go check out the cafeteria.”

“Good,” Josiah said, reaching for the phone. “Find a cute nurse while you're in there. There's lots of them around here.”

Jack headed to the cafeteria with no intention of taking that advice. He had one woman on his mind—and that was plenty.

He dialed up his brothers and let them know Pop's news. Then he drummed his fingers on the table, watching people move around with trays. He couldn't say he wasn't relieved not to be tied by an organ to his father. It felt as if they were coming to some kind of agreement between them, something almost resembling respect.

Since he was going to be a resident of Union Junction for a while, maybe it wouldn't hurt to call a certain deacon and let her know that he'd be living close by, just in case she was interested.

But what would he say?
I heard you bought Priscilla's house and tea shop in Fort Wylie, but I wish you lived in Union Junction so I could see you occasionally.

There was no point.

There were many details Josiah needed to wrap up before he went under the knife. Nothing was going smoothly with Jack, as it had with his other sons. They'd fallen in with his plans after a hiccup or two, but Jack was no closer to finding his way home to family than before. He was really worried about how Jack would accept Gisella. Josiah understood that his eldest son had always been a sincere loner, and if anything, anything at all got ticklish between he and his mother, Jack would disappear. No million dollars would bring him back. Jack lived in a world of his own creation.

Josiah knew why this was. As soon as Josiah got out of the military, he'd begun his lifelong goal of acquiring business and property. He was determined to deserve Gisella, give her everything she didn't have.

But Josiah was moody, struggling with start-up businesses. He and his wife fought a lot. Gisella hated being left alone on the ranch; she was afraid of the dark. Their
few cattle started disappearing and Gisella was always edgy, afraid the boys would have a run-in with some dangerous rustlers. Gisella was from France, and English was not her first language. She had no female friends where they lived out in the country to make her feel less isolated.

He was gone on a business trip to Dallas when he got the worried call from Jack. All of eight years old, Jack tried manfully to tell him his mother was gone—in the end, he dissolved into tears that Josiah would never forget hearing him cry.

His eldest son would never forgive his mother for deserting him. Jack had barely forgiven Josiah for the rough treatment Josiah had felt Jack needed to handle the hard knocks life was sure to mete out. Josiah wasn't sure he'd made the right decision with Jack. His eldest was almost too tough now, emotionally locked up. Nothing really penetrated his stoic approach to life.

Jack was likely to find a reason to skip Gisella's visit altogether. Josiah had pondered this, giving it great thought, and hatched a plan. There weren't many second chances in life, but he really wanted mother and son to have one with each other. He suspected that if this bond wasn't recreated, Jack would never be able to maintain a loving, giving relationship with a woman. Josiah hated that he cost Jack something in life that gave a man great pleasure.

Josiah hoped Gisella and Jack would both forgive him for what he was about to do—but it had to be done, for the sake of the family.

 

T
WO HOURS LATER
, Gisella walked into the room unannounced. Grouped around Josiah's bedside were Gabe, Dane, Pete, their wives and Jack. Sara Corkindale was there as well, giving Josiah the comfort he had learned to expect from her calm presence. No one recognized Gisella except Josiah, and he felt the familiar flash of joy at her beauty and bearing. Time had not changed her cruelly by etching wrinkles on her face. He saw that she was smiling at him as one did at a long-lost friend. He hoped they could be friends after she learned what he had done.

He was about to be prepped for surgery and there was little time for fretting about the past. “My sons,” he said, “this is your mother.”

It was as if a stone dropped from the ceiling and landed in the room. No one went to hug her. The brothers stared at her so finally Gisella moved forward, giving Josiah a gentle kiss on the forehead. “You look well, Josiah, for what you have been through.”

“I hope I look as well tomorrow,” Josiah said.

Gisella looked at Sara. “You must be the wonderful woman who convinced Josiah to call me.”

Sara smiled, and the women shook hands. “I'm sure you know that no one can convince Josiah of anything unless he is already convinced of it himself.”

Gisella laughed, a full-throated sound Jack remembered from his childhood. It came upon him with a wild, stinging sensation that he'd never gotten over missing that laugh. He had never gotten over missing
her. As a boy, he couldn't understand why she'd left him, what he'd done wrong.

Gabe went and hugged Gisella. Dane followed and then Pete. Jack scowled, wanting to hang back, but after the wives had been introduced, Jack realized the time had come. “Mother,” he said, barely kissing her cheek.

She smelled fresh, like spring roses, and it occurred to him he'd missed that smell. Painful memories rushed over him.

“I can see my little man has grown into a big man,” Gisella said. “I've thought about you often, Jack.”

“Yes, yes,” Josiah said, interrupting the homecoming, to Jack's infinite relief. “And now that your mother's here, there's some tidying up to do. Best to get these things done in case I croak under Dr. Moneybag's good care.”

“Pop, there's no point in getting worked up about things that can wait. We're all shell-shocked to see Mom. Let us enjoy her for a moment,” Pete pointed out, but Josiah waved an impatient hand at him.

“A man doesn't go to his grave with a messy conscience,” he said, “not unless he's an idiot or run out of time, neither of which applies to me. Sara, may I have the box, please.”

Sara produced a shoe box from her handbag and handed it to Josiah.

Josiah sniffed, then looked at Gisella. “Gisella, on many counts I was not a good husband.”

“On many counts, you were,” Gisella returned. “I
was not the perfect wife. There is no such thing as perfection in a marriage.”

“I like her,” Sara said. “She understands family.”

“I pick good women,” Josiah said gruffly. “Sara, you might as well know this about me along with everybody else. Boys, in this box are all the letters your mother sent you over the years.” Josiah pulled the top off the box. “You can see that none of them have been opened. I could have read them to you since I speak and read French, but I chose not to out of a stubborn sense of pride and misplaced pain. For this egregious misdeed, I apologize to you all and humbly ask for forgiveness.”

Gisella's eyes sparkled with tears. For the first time, a little forgiveness toward his mother seeped into Jack's heart. “Pop,” he said, “that's kind of brutal, don't you think?”

Dr. Moneybags came into the room to make certain his patient was being prepped and to give his soothing pre-surgery talk. “Doc,” Josiah said, “I need ten more minutes before you roll me to the gallows.”

“Mr. Morgan,” Dr. Goodlaw replied, not sure whether to be offended or not, “I assure you we have an excellent team to perform this surgery. It is not a gallows situation.”

“Ten minutes is all I need, please, Doctor. And I meant no offence to your skills.”

The doctor nodded. “The next time I see you, you'll be asleep. Do you have any questions?”

Josiah looked around the room at his sons, their wives and the two women in his life. “Do I need much
more reason to wake up after surgery with a grin on my face?”

The doctor smiled and left. Josiah let out a sigh. “Gisella, I owe you an apology. Many actually. I was mad when you left. It doesn't excuse what I did. It doesn't save me from the damage I inflicted upon our children. I hope you can forgive me.”

Gisella started to say something, but Josiah waved her quiet. “Hang on a minute, there's more,” he said. “The Christmas and birthday presents she sent you for many years were given to charity. I'm sorry. It was a selfish thing to do, more than selfish.”

Jack stared at his father, looked at his mother, who seemed fairly upset but not necessarily destroyed by his father's confession. Then Gisella went over and kissed him again on the forehead.

“You are too hard on yourself, Josiah,” she said. “You are a good man. Let's not think about the past anymore.”

“Well.” Josiah sniffed. “I was still an ass.”

“I knew that about you when I married you. I didn't want a man who wasn't strong.” Gisella smiled. “It takes a very strong man to ask forgiveness.”

“Yeah. I guess. I have a lot to ask.” Josiah looked around the room. “So, I have one more thing to tell the assembled family. By the way, I would like to see everybody together again and not necessarily on my deathbed next time—”

A general groan broke out in the room.

Josiah nodded. “Jack's going to reside at the ranch for a year.”

“I'll
try
to,” Jack interrupted.

“In order to earn his million dollars, he'll do it,” Josiah said, ignoring his son's words. “However, I have begun the paperwork to cede the ranch to Gisella. It is now hers to do with as she sees fit, although it cannot be sold until after Jack completes his quest. Gisella, one year from today, you may sell it if you wish. I'm sorry I didn't give you the home and the love you needed when we were married, but now I hope to make up for that.” Josiah looked at all his children, his gaze stern. “And I expect everyone to remember that my driving force is family. Visit your mother often.”

He sat up and looked at Sara. “Get the nurses. I'm ready to be split open like a turkey at Thanksgiving.”

She smiled at him. “Your family members may do it for you,” she said sweetly.

“And that reminds me, no lawsuits over the land or ranch,” he said, wagging a finger at all of them. “Or you forfeit your portion of my will, little as it may be after Dr. Moneybags takes his chunk. Is that understood?”

Everyone murmured a shocked assent except Jack, because he didn't need anything, money or land, from his father. Thankfully, he was tied to no one.

“Jack?” his father said. “This means more to me than a kidney.”

Jack looked at his father a long time. Then he glanced at his mother, whose gentle smile beamed on him so warmly that it was difficult to continue being a hard case. “Sure, Pop, whatever.”

Laura, Suzy and Priscilla went to hug Gisella and
welcome her to the family. After a moment, the brothers did, too. Except Jack, who decided not to get caught up in the sentimental moment. It wasn't the time for him to live in the Hallmark-card family moment, no matter how much Pop wanted it.

Nurses entered the room to wheel Pop out. Jack's throat closed up. The feel of family, of being hemmed in, of life being out of his control, threatened to overwhelm him. He needed some separation.

He needed to ride. It was the only thing that would make him sane right now, feel in control. “Be well, Pop,” he said, gritting his teeth as his father was wheeled down the hall to presurgery. They all watched as a suddenly silent Josiah was taken away. Gisella and Sara wiped away surreptitious tears, sitting down together side by side. Jack cleared his throat, realizing he, too, was tearing up with nervous emotion. This was awkward. He looked at the box of old, unopened letters on the table, a silent testament to Josiah's stubbornness. A ranch had been given to his mother with the proviso that Jack could live there with her for a year. What the hell was that if it wasn't a trap laid by Pop? But Pop didn't understand that the past couldn't be laid to rest with a quick apology and a confession.

“I'll be back,” Jack stated, and left the room.

Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't.

Jack didn't get far. He bumped into Cricket, who was hurrying into Josiah's hospital room.

“Oh, my,” Cricket said, glancing around. “I missed him, didn't I?”

Laura, Suzy and Priscilla came over to hug her.

“Josiah just left,” Priscilla said. “But you'll be here when he wakes up, and that will make him happy.”

Jack stared at Cricket. She looked different. For one thing, she was wearing a dress that brushed her calves, and boots. Since it was chilly today, he understood the need for warmth. But she also looked different somehow, in a way he couldn't explain. Glowing. Was she glowing? Perhaps it was the nippy air that had put the sparkle in her eyes.

“This is Gisella, mother of the Morgan brothers,” Priscilla said, and Jack realized he'd forgotten his manners. He just couldn't seem to catch up to the speed of events in the room.

He joined the group. “Gisella, this is Cricket Jasper from Fort Wylie.”

“Hello,” Cricket said. “It's so nice to meet you. I've heard a lot of wonderful things about you.”

Gisella smiled at her. “Thank you.”

Cricket glanced around, her gaze settling on Jack. “I'm sorry I wasn't here in time to pray for Josiah.”

Jack shrugged. “No problem.”

“Your father called me yesterday,” Cricket said, “but I'm a slow starter these days. I meant to be here earlier.”

Suzy smiled at her, then patted Cricket's stomach. “You look beautiful.”

Jack hesitated. No woman patted another woman's stomach, then told her she was beautiful unless she wanted her hand chewed off. Women and weight was a personal thing…unless…Jack stared at Cricket, shock spreading over him. Belatedly, he realized Laura, Suzy and Priscilla were smiling at him, watching his reaction. Cricket simply looked worried.

She
couldn't
be pregnant. Jack shook his head to clear his brain. His brothers shifted uncomfortably and Jack felt faint, as if he'd been thrown off a bull and hadn't landed quite right. “Cricket, you're not…is there something I should know?”

Cricket hesitated. “I was going to tell you, but—”

“Oh, jeez.” Now that he looked at Cricket's waist and stomach more closely, he could see the obvious.

“We're having a baby,” Cricket said, her face red. “I meant to tell you sooner, but—”

“Pete, scoot that chair behind Jack before he falls,” Gabe said. “I remember when I found out I was having
a baby. I felt like my boots weren't attached to the floor for a minute.”

“I hope that meant you were happy,” Laura said.

Gabe eyed Laura's enormous pregnant stomach. “Every day,” he said. “It feels like I'm waiting for Christmas.”

Jack sat in the chair Pete moved behind him. Then he jumped out of it, too stunned to sit. He couldn't take his eyes off Cricket. Was she really having a baby?
His
baby?

“This is so exciting,” Gisella said, clapping her hands. “I'm going to be a grandmother again, and this time, I'll be here for the big event. Two,” she said, with a proud smile at Laura, who looked as though she might give birth any day.

This could not be happening. Jack inhaled deep breaths to brace himself. “I'm going to be a father?”

Everyone laughed. Cricket smiled at him for the first time since she'd entered the room.

“Yes,” she said softly, “to triplets, actually.”

Jack couldn't move, he couldn't speak. Never had his life rushed so fast, not even the eight seconds he rode to the buzzer. This was different.

This was a crazy ride.

His brothers congratulated him, pounded him on the back, shook his hand. One of his brothers mentioned something about “nice shooting, bro,” and general guffaws broke out. Gisella kissed Cricket on the cheek, and Sara smiled.

“Josiah's going to have such a gift when he comes
out of surgery,” Sara said. “He'll be so excited he'll probably recover twice as fast.”

Jack tried to say that he was excited, too, but all that came out of his mouth was a rusty croak no one heard over all the sudden hugging and kissing of Cricket. Jack knew he needed to say something to her, act pleased, brag like an expectant father—but all he could do was try to keep his knees from knocking together and suck air into his lungs.

He'd never been so scared.

How could he—a man who spends all his time on the rodeo circuit—be a father? To triplets?

He had no home. He basically lived out of his truck. The rodeo circuit was his family. He had no steady employment, no way of caring for a wife and three children.

The obvious smote him—he was going to have to live on the damn ranch, prey to his father's manipulations, in order to earn the million dollars Josiah had set out as bribe money. It was fast dough, and he'd need it pronto if he meant to be something other than a loser father and shiftless husband. He stared at Cricket, realizing his whole life was changing, and he'd have to change with it.

“I'm thrilled,” he said. “This is great.”

 

C
RICKET KNEW
J
ACK
was anything but “thrilled.” He looked pale, maybe even sick. It was a lot for him to take in on the day his father was having surgery. She wondered if he'd known Gisella was coming home and
decided he had enough to bear without finding out he was a father. She forgave him for his lack of real enthusiasm, remembering that she'd had a few moments of shocked doubt before genuine happiness washed over her.

Still, she wished she and Jack knew each other well enough to be truly excited about being parents together. She wouldn't have come today had Josiah not called her, asking her to be there before he was taken into surgery. As it was, she'd missed him leaving and felt bad about that.

She'd known her secret might be out when Jack saw her, and tried to camouflage her pregnancy with a dress. He might not have figured it out had her good friends Laura, Suzy and Priscilla not given him a broad hint even Jack couldn't miss. She would have preferred to tell him herself, when they weren't surrounded by people, and when Jack wasn't worried about his father.

But now he knew.

“A wedding,” Gisella said with delight. “Josiah didn't tell me the good news. When's the date?”

Cricket glanced at Jack, stricken. She didn't know what to say. She understood why Gisella might have misunderstood that there was to be a wedding, but—

“As soon as Pop's well,” Jack said, shocking Cricket. “I imagine he'll be on his feet fairly quickly, don't you? He's a fighter.”

“Indeed,” Cricket said as Jack walked over and planted a kiss on her lips. “Can I talk to you a moment—outside?” she asked as everyone in the room was celebrating the idea of another Morgan wedding.

“Sure,” Jack said, putting his arm around her. “Keep playing along with me. You're doing great.”

She didn't like the sound of that. She'd heard that sneaky tone used before, but always from Josiah. “What are you up to?” she demanded when they were safely in the hospital hallway.

“You've got to save me,” Jack said. “Pop's trying to trap me.”

“Look here,” Cricket said, already feeling heat run under her good sense. “I refuse to be regarded as a trap, Jack Morgan. You are not a rabbit that I set out to snare, for your information.”

“Oh, hell, no, I didn't mean that.” He held her against him, kissing her as Pete glanced out in the hall.

“Just checking to make certain you lovebirds hadn't flown the coop,” Pete teased. “Mom's planning a huge wedding, just so you know. At the Château Morgan, which is to say the ranch. She has visions of you in a formal suit,” he whispered to Jack so their mother wouldn't hear. “All the weddings she missed is making her want a doozy.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Jack said, waving his brother away. “Look, you can see what's happening here, can't you?”

“Not exactly,” Cricket said. “I have a lot on my mind these days and haven't been focusing on the Morgan family, at least not the ones in Union Junction.”

“Precisely my point,” Jack said. “Pop's moved Mom onto the ranch. He's turning over ownership to her. I'm supposed to live there for a year with her to get my million dollars.”

“What million dollars?” Cricket asked.

“All my brothers got a million for coming home to Pop. It was bribe money,” Jack explained. “Now he's brought Mom into the picture because of his guilty conscience. None of my brothers had to live with her, though, and put up with Pop, and learn how to be a father all at once. The deck is stacked against me. I'm going to need your help, Deacon.”

“I'm not a deacon anymore,” Cricket said, detaching herself from Jack's arms. She was reluctant to part from him but she didn't want to be part of a cover-up. “I wasn't really deacon material considering my unwed, pregnant state.”

“Oh,” Jack said, “a little too rebellious for the church, huh?”

“I consider myself to be, at the moment, and turned in my resignation to spare them having to ask me to leave.” Cricket was terribly embarrassed by this. “Anyway, I'm not the person you need to talk to about any type of help. My days are spent warding off morning sickness.”

“Marry me,” Jack said. “We'll ward off a lot of things together.”

She looked at him, wishing the proposal was offered seriously. He was so big and tall, handsome in a devil-may-care way. She knew this man was too much of a rogue to ever be tamed by a deacon and three babies—she wouldn't dream of getting involved in his scheme. “I can't, Jack. Don't ask it of me.”

“Sure you can,” he said. “Save me, I'll save you.”

“But I don't want to live at the ranch. I mean, I like Gisella, she seems like a woman who's eager for a second chance. You need to spend some time developing that relationship,” Cricket said, sort of realizing the wonderful madness behind Josiah's scheme. “You should obey your father, you know.”

“You mean for the money.”

“No,” Cricket said. “Although that's definitely a plus. But your father knows what he's doing, he almost always has.”

“Oh, you weren't here for the fireworks,” Jack told her. “There's a box sitting in there full of letters Mom sent us over the years that Pop never opened. He's a stubborn old fart, and he let her suffer, and us. The only reason he's springing all this now is he's genuinely afraid of pushing up daisies after this surgery. I don't think I ever saw Pop take anything stronger than an aspirin.”

“He had his own medicine,” Cricket reminded him, and Jack nodded.

“True, but you get my point. Pop was scared silly of giving over the control of his body and his life to a surgeon. He felt like he had a lot of cleansing of his conscience to do. I'm okay with that,” Jack said, “but I don't want him running my life so that his conscience is clear.”

“What exactly are you proposing?” She looked up at him, wondering if Jack realized just how much like his father he was turning out to be.

“I don't exactly know,” Jack said. “I'm working the details out on the fly, but it goes something like this. I
have no prospects—some money put away, no job. No debt. No house. Am not especially close to my family. Not quite sure what I'm doing in life other than pleasing myself.”

“So, as potential marriage material, you're not exactly a shiny catch.”

He grinned. “That's a fair statement.”

“Okay,” Cricket said. “Again, you have to live at the ranch to earn your keep. I don't want to live there.”

“We can live in the guesthouse,” Jack offered. “It's big enough to raise a family in, and be private, while sticking to Pop's rules.”

“This is going to sound crazy,” Cricket said, “but I'm not marrying you for money.”

“I wasn't exactly suggesting you should,” Jack said, but Cricket shook her head.

“That's what it comes down to. You need money, so you want to marry me. The only reason you're proposing to me, Jack Morgan, is that I've got the three magic tokens that will push you into doing what your father wants. Otherwise, you'd just as soon walk away from any amount of money.”

“This is true,” Jack said. “Being a father does change my perspective. I don't want them growing up without a parent like I did.”

“Oh, gosh,” Cricket said, “you are a tangled web of insecurities and emotional angst.”

“Yep,” Jack said with a grin. “Part of my appeal.”

“I wouldn't exactly agree, but I shouldn't have let you sweet-talk me into bed,” Cricket said, knowing she
was fibbing like mad. She didn't regret a moment of their time together.

“Ahem,” Jack said, politely catching her in her retelling of who had instigated their lovemaking.

“Here's the deal—I just bought Priscilla's house and tea shop. I was always enchanted by her house and the business. I admired her ability to make a business out of almost nothing. So when she wanted to sell it to come live in Union Junction with Pete, I jumped at the chance to buy it from her. I suppose maybe I knew somewhere in my heart that I wouldn't be a deacon forever.” She looked up at him, hoping he'd understand. “My life's changing pretty fast, Jack. A tea shop is something I can do as a single mom and still be at home with my children. Do you see why I don't want to leave Fort Wylie?”