Tina Leonard - Triplets' Rodeo Man (5 page)

“I don't know how to tell the father,” she said to the doctor, and her doctor smiled sympathetically.

“He'll be thrilled, Cricket, after the shock wears off.”

Cricket wasn't sure this kind of shock was something that would wear off. Jack had never wanted to be a father. “Can you tell if they're boys or girls?” Cricket asked. She didn't know which Jack would think was worse.

“He'll love babies of either sex,” Dr. Suzanne assured her. “We might be able to tell at a later sonogram, but it's still a little soon. For now, though, everything looks just right.”

Cricket dressed and left, not completely comforted. Jack Morgan lived for rodeo; he wouldn't be planning diapers into his cowboy lifestyle.

And then a big smile lit her face. “I'm having triplets,” she murmured. Never mind what everyone else might think about her condition. It was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her. “Thank you, Lord,” she murmured, trying to decide who to give the good news to first.

“This is not good news,” Jack said, staring at his father. “You haven't been doing anything the doctor asked of you.”

“I took a small sabbatical from good advice from doctors,” Josiah said. “It's good to see you, though.”

Josiah knew he was supposed to stop drinking whiskey. Sara had made him quit. But four days before the newly scheduled surgery, Josiah had started again. Jack suspected his father was nervous though he'd never admit it. “How the hell do you expect to get through this in the best possible shape while you're doing that?” Jack demanded.

Josiah raised a brow. “Since when did you become the parent, and I the child?”

“Since you started behaving irrationally. Let's have the bottle, Pop.”

Josiah handed it over. “It wasn't any good, anyway. I've lost my taste for it, which is aggravating. And I think it's all Sara's fault.”

Jack looked at his father. He half believed him. Josiah didn't exactly look like a shiny new penny, rather one that had seen its fair share of pockets and hard wear. “What's the matter, Pop?”

“Ah, hell if I know.” Josiah scratched his head. “Don't like feeling like a baby.”

“Babies have a good life.” Jack tossed the bottle in the trash. “Enjoy the attention for a while.”

“All right.” Josiah sighed. “I'll give up the bottle, and you give up the rodeo, and we'll both suffer loudly together.”

Jack considered his father's words as he stared out the hospital window. Life was tricky and weird. He really didn't feel like riding anymore, though he wasn't about to say so. Like Pop with his booze, rodeo just didn't have the same taste to him anymore. “We'll get through this, Pop,” he said.

“See, that's the thing,” Josiah said. “What if we don't? What if I let you do this, and something goes wrong?”

“Like what?” Jack glanced at his father.

“Like maybe the damn surgeon doesn't know what he's doing and he doesn't do you a good surgery. Maybe your body doesn't like having one functioning kidney and decides to go off. What if the one kidney you have left isn't a good one, and they gave me your best one?”

Jack shrugged. “Let's not borrow a lot of trouble, Pop.”

“We need that praying friend of yours,” Josiah said. “Deacon Cricket. She could sit at our bedside and bend the good Lord's ear on our behalf.”

Jack sighed. “We can take care of ourselves.”

“Speak for yourself. I like the way she coddles me. Give her a call.”

He'd like to, but he wouldn't. She'd call him if she wanted to talk to him. After all, she'd left without so much as a “thanks, muffin.” He'd replayed their time together over and over, and he couldn't think of a way he'd gone wrong. He'd finally consigned Cricket's silence to regret. She simply wished she hadn't made love with him, probably felt she'd done something wrong.

As many times as he'd replayed that night, all it got him was restlessness and cold showers. His skin was going to permanently prune if he didn't stop thinking about her. “I'm not calling her,” he said.

“I'll do it,” Josiah offered, “if you're too chicken.”

“Pop,” he said. “I'm so chicken I could be plucked of feathers. But don't call her.”

“I won't,” Josiah said, “but I will confess to making a different phone call that I think will surprise you.”

Jack looked at his father, waiting.

“I called your mother the other day,” Josiah told him.

Jack didn't want to go there. “That was a long time ago, Pop. No need to open that wound.”

“She's still your mother.”

Jack sighed.

Josiah didn't say anything else, which was a sign he wasn't pleased with Jack's reaction. “I guess the obvious question is, why did you feel the need to call her?”

“Sara suggested I should,” Josiah said.

Jack looked out the window again, wishing the
surgery was over already. He didn't want to be here. He wanted his father well because it was the right thing to think. And then he wanted to be gone again. Anywhere, nowhere, just not here.

“Sara said it was time to put the past to rest. Gisella probably misses you boys. And Sara and I talked about how bitterness breaks families in strange ways. Since we're having life-altering surgeries, it's best not to go into them with negative memories.” Josiah smiled when Jack turned back to study him. “Sara works for child welfare services, you know. She knows a lot about what makes families tick.”

“I'm glad you're happy, Pop.” As far as Jack was concerned, his mother had chosen to leave and never come back. Never sent gifts, never wrote. He wasn't going to worry about what made families tick when the maternal clock had been broken for years.

“There's such a thing as forgiveness being good for the soul,” Josiah said.

Jack frowned. “If I'm going to forgive someone, I'd start with you.”

Pop's eyes bugged. “You wouldn't give me a kidney and hold a grudge, would you?”

Jack shrugged. “Holding grudges is part of our family identity. I learned it from you.”

“I don't know if I want you giving me a kidney that's full of grudge,” Josiah said.

“Quit trying to weasel,” Jack told his father. “We're going to have the surgery this time, we're going to do it together, and we're both going to be happy about it.”

“Not so much,” Josiah said. “You boys ride me terribly, but I wasn't that lousy of a father.”

“Don't sell yourself short.” Jack sighed. “Hell, it doesn't matter anymore. Let's just live for the future.”

“Glad you suggest it. Your mother said she'll be here soon enough.”

“Why? There's nothing she can do.”

“She wants to see all the grandchildren. She wants to see her boys. Said she wanted to meet the wonderful woman who talked me into getting off my high horse and calling her.” Josiah's eyes grew misty. “Funny thing about your mother, she has a heart of gold. I wish I'd appreciated that when I was younger. It's something you miss out on about your wife when you're busy trying to make a living.”

Jack blinked. “Are you going to marry Sara?”

“Yep,” Josiah said, “just as soon as I'm well.”

“Our family tree is odd,” Jack said. “There's a lot of twists among the branches.”

Josiah shrugged. “Every family has its twists and unique branches, son. The fact that we keep fertilizing the roots is what makes our tree strong.”

“Oh, hell,” Jack said. “Next you're going to be after me to do some fertilizing. Pop, kids is one thing you're never going to get out of me, so don't even start the chorus.”

“Excuse me,” the doctor said as he came into the room, “I'm Dr. Goodlaw.”

Jack stood, shook the doctor's hand. “Jack Morgan.”

“Ah, Mr. Morgan's eldest son.”

Jack nodded.

“Well, I have an unusual bit of news,” Dr. Goodlaw
said. “We just had a kidney come up that is a match for you, Mr. Morgan.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” Josiah's brows furrowed.

“It means that this particular kidney is from a young accident victim whose parents want his organs donated. He was healthy and active, and his family would like to know that his organs are helping other people to live healthy, active lives. I know you have a family match who has offered, but I recall you didn't elect for surgery under those conditions.”

“No, I did not,” Josiah said with a stern glance at Jack. “I don't elect, not one bit.”

“It's up to you, Mr. Morgan, although a decision will need to be reached fairly quickly. There are other recipients in the registry, of course.”

Jack and his father looked at each other. Then Josiah shrugged. “I don't need any time to think it over. I'll take the kidney.”

Dr. Goodlaw nodded. “I'll go make the arrangements.” He shook Jack's hand, then Josiah's. “This will move fairly quickly.”

“Good,” Josiah shot back. “I'm tired of feeling like I'm at everyone's mercy.”

The doctor smiled and left the room. Josiah refused to meet Jack's gaze. Jack knew exactly what his father was thinking:
I owe nobody nothing.
Jack couldn't say whether he felt any particular relief that he wouldn't be giving up a part of his body. “Are you all right, Pop?”

“I'm fine,” Josiah said. “As fine as anyone can be who just had a miracle thrust upon them.”

“What do you mean?” Jack went and sat by his father.

“I prayed I wouldn't have to take your kidney. I couldn't stand the thought of you rodeoing with one kidney. I just don't want to outlive my kids,” Josiah said. “Now that I've got my boys all around, I'd like to get to know you.”

Jack felt honest emotion jump inside him. He looked away, cleared his throat. “I almost like you better when you're being a jackass.”

“That's because I'm an enemy you can keep fighting against. You like holding grudges. But you won't get any fight out of me, son. I'm getting a young person's kidney, and I'm going to take full advantage of the spark it gives me. You're off the hook.”

Jack shook his head. “You just didn't want anything from me.”

“True.” Josiah closed his eyes. “I don't want you doing anything for me that you don't really want to do.”

“I didn't mind, Pop.”

“I know you didn't mind the surgery, and I thank you for being willing to make the sacrifice. But I think it's better this way.”

“Okay, Pop.”

Josiah took a deep breath. “And since I'm wiping slates clean here, I guess you'll be wanting your million dollars.”

“Not if it comes with a wife.”

“It doesn't. But you do have to reside at the ranch, same as the other boys did.”

“They didn't stay a year!”

“No, but they did get married, have families. They fulfilled what I wanted, which was to get along with each other, bring some harmony into our family.”

“Pop, I was going to give you my kidney. I've visited you often in the hospital. That's pretty harmonious for us.”

“Yes,” Josiah said, “but it's your brothers I want you visiting.”

“I will, Pop, I will.”

“It won't hurt you to hold some babies, get to know your nieces and nephews,” Pop nagged.

Jack held up his hands. “Pop, you're about to have surgery. We can talk about this later.”

“We can talk about it now. Is it a deal or not?” Pop demanded, and Jack looked at his father.

“Why are you so hopped up about this all of a sudden?”

“Because I'm about to have complicated surgery! It's not like getting a hangnail removed. I need to make a phone call to my lawyer. I have to make sure all the family matters are tended to just in case my old body doesn't like young, healthy kidneys!”

Jack held up his hands. “Hang on, Pop, relax. Don't give yourself high blood pressure or they won't operate. What exactly is it that you want from me? Where do I sign on the dotted line so that you can cool down?”

“You have to stay at the ranch for a year, get to know your brothers, be a family. Same deal they got.”

“And if, just if, a wife and family comes into the picture? Does that abbreviate the deal?”

Josiah sniffed. “I make those decisions when they occur. Depends on many factors. Do I like your choice of bride? Am I really getting grandkids? Are you improving your life? Being a good uncle? I don't want you loafing around the ranch for a year, biding your time just to get my million bucks. I don't want you forwarding your mail to the ranch and saying you live there. In other words, I wait and see what I'm buying before I pay.”

“I don't really need a million dollars, Pop,” Jack said. “I'm pretty happy being free.”

“Yeah,” Josiah said, “you're my hardheaded son.”

Jack grinned. “I'll do this on one condition.”

“I'm living with Sara,” Josiah said. “I'm not insisting upon this because I need you to be my nursemaid.”

Jack shook his head. Pop was the most stubborn human he'd ever met. “You don't start sending a bunch of women to the ranch to try to settle me, thinking I'll give up rodeo just because you find me a wife.”

Josiah shook his head. “I would never do such a thing.”

“You're fairly relentless in your pursuit of the perfect family tree.”

“Not me,” Josiah said. “I don't believe there are perfect family trees. But I do think wives are a durn good thing. Bring a man a lot of good stuff he never knew he was missing.”

Jack shook his head. He tried to decide if he could
stomach a year of family, and then he thought about Cricket.