Tina Leonard - Triplets' Rodeo Man
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†Cowboys by the Dozen
†Cowboys by the Dozen
†Cowboys by the Dozen
*The Tulips Saloon
*The Tulips Saloon
*The Tulips Saloon
**The Morgan Men
**The Morgan Men
**The Morgan Men
†Cowboys by the Dozen
†Cowboys by the Dozen
†Cowboys by the Dozen
†Cowboys by the Dozen
†Cowboys by the Dozen
†Cowboys by the Dozen
†Cowboys by the Dozen
†Cowboys by the Dozen
“I'm going to be a father?”
“Yes,” Cricket said softly. “To triplets, actually.”
Jack Morgan couldn't move, couldn't speak. Never had his life rushed by so fast, not even the eight seconds he rode to the buzzer.
This was different.
His brothers congratulated him, pounded him on the back, shook his hand.
He tried to say 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.
He 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 spent all his time on the rodeo circuit—be a father?
Dear Reader,
March is a month for new beginnings—a time when everything feels fresh and new as winter begins to ebb away. Though it’s still cold in many places, we can begin making our summer reading lists, as it won’t be too much longer before the kids are out of school!
It’s time for some healing and new beginnings in the Morgan family. In The Triplets’ Rodeo Man, Jack Morgan, the eldest son, must find his way back home. But can a wild man like Jack fall for a good girl—the town deacon, no less!—like Cricket Jasper? This is one relationship maybe even stalwart matchmaker/patriarch Josiah Morgan couldn’t have bet on—and yet Cricket’s long had her eyes on Jack. Used to rodeo life and being the outcast of his family, Jack will have many new challenges if he wants to win Cricket. Is it possible that the ladylike deacon has an even wilder side than his own?
Jack knows his brothers were lured into ready-made family life, in Texas Lullaby (June ‘08), The Texas Ranger’s Twins (January ‘09), and The Secret Agent’s Surprises (February ‘09), so he’s well aware that he’s the last bachelor Morgan brother—and the man who has the most to lose. Or gain. Can this black sheep turn into a family man?
I hope you’ve enjoyed THE MORGAN MEN miniseries. As March brings us hope of reborn wonder in the world around us, I hope you’ll let the Morgans and their triumphs over their personal trials warm your corner of the world.
Best wishes and much love,
Tina Leonard
Tina Leonard
THE TRIPLETS’ RODEO MAN
TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON
AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG
STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID
PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tina Leonard is a bestselling author of more than forty projects, including a popular thirteen-book miniseries for Harlequin American Romance. Her books have made the Waldenbooks, Ingram’s and Nielsen Book-Scan bestseller lists. Tina feels she has been blessed with a fertile imagination and quick typing skills, excellent editors and a family who loves her career. Born on a military base, she lived in many states before eventually marrying the boy who did her crayon printing for her in the first grade. Tina believes happy endings are a wonderful part of a good life. You can visit her at www.tinaleonard.com.
Books by Tina Leonard
HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE
981—LAREDO’S SASSY SWEETHEART†
986—RANGER’S WILD WOMAN†
989—TEX TIMES TEN†
1018—FANNIN’S FLAME†
1037—NAVARRO OR NOT†
1045—CATCHING CALHOUN†
1053—ARCHER’S ANGELS†
1069—BELONGING TO BANDERA†
1083—CROCKETT’S SEDUCTION†
1107—LAST’S TEMPTATION†
1113—MASON’S MARRIAGE†
1129—MY BABY, MY BRIDE*
1137—THE CHRISTMAS TWINS*
1153—HER SECRET SONS*
1213—TEXAS LULLABY**
1241—THE TEXAS RANGER'S TWINS**
1246—THE SECRET AGENT’S SURPRISES**
Many thanks to my editor, Kathleen Scheibling,
for believing in this series, and to
Lisa, Dean and Tim, who understand that
time with family is my personal dream.
A word of gratitude to Pat Wood for assisting me
with this book during a time of her own difficulty—
Pat, you are a true friend.
Any factual errors are mine.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Epilogue
Chapter One
“You reap what you sow.”
—Josiah Morgan to his four sons, a general reminder.
Late March, Union Junction, Texas
Jack Morgan stood at his father’s bedside in the Union Junction hospital, staring down at the large sleeping man. Josiah Morgan had the power to impress even in his peaceful state. Jack couldn’t believe the old lion was ill. He didn’t think Pop had ever had so much as a cold in his life.
But if his brother Pete said Pop was weak and in need of a kidney transplant, then those were the facts. Jack took no joy in his father’s situation, even though the two of them had never been close. He hadn’t seen Pop in more than ten years, not since the night of his rodeo accident, his brothers’ car accident and the all out battle he and Pop had waged against each other.
It had been a terrible night, and the details of it were still etched in his mind. And then there was the letter he’d received through Pete from his father just last month.
Jack, I tried to be a good father. I tried to save you from yourself. In the end, I realized you are too different from me. But I’ve always been proud of my firstborn son.
Pop
As patriarchal letters went, it stank. Jack figured Pop wouldn’t have sent a letter at all if he wasn’t sick, so he’d decided to come see for himself. He hadn’t expected to care what happened to the miserly old man; Josiah was miserly with his affection, miserly with his money, time, everything. At least that was the father Jack remembered. Still, Jack preferred his father fighting.
“All right, Pop, you old jackass,” Jack said, “you can lie in that bed or you can fight.”
One eye in the craggy, lined face opened to stare at him as he spoke, then the other opened in disbelief. “Jack,” Josiah murmured.
A thousand emotions tore through Jack. “Get up out of that bed, old man.”
“I can’t. Not today. Maybe tomorrow,” Josiah said gamely.
“Damn right,” Jack said. “Because
if I’m giving you one of my kidneys, I expect you to be jumping around like a lively young pup.”
Josiah squinted at him. “Kidney?”
“Hell, yeah,” Jack said. “You and I might as well be tied together for a few more years of agony—don’t you think? It could be the one thing we have in common. We’re apparently the perfect match for a kidney swap, which I find amusing in a strange sort of way. Not any of my brothers—me, the perfect donor match for you. It’s almost Shakespearean.”
His father shook his head and closed his eyes. “I don’t want any favors, thanks.”
Jack pulled a chair close to the bed and sat. “No one’s trying to do you a favor, you old jackass, least of all me. Quit feeling sorry for yourself, because I sure as hell don’t.”
Josiah’s eyes snapped open, sparks of fire shooting at his son. “No one has ever felt sorry for Josiah Morgan.”
Jack nodded. “Glad we got that settled. You’ll need to be in the right frame of mind to get healthy for all those brats you thought you needed.”
“Brats?”
“You’ve been bringing children into the family faster than popcorn popping. Pretty selfish of you to drag all those kids in here and then send up the white flag of surrender, don’t you think, Pop?”
“I didn’t ask to have rank kidneys!” Josiah barked.
Jack stretched his legs out in front of him, legs that had seen a few sprains and breaks from bulls that had taken their own rage out on him. “We all make our choices.”
“I did not choose this.”
“You’ve been ‘self-medicating’ for years. It’s one of the reasons I don’t touch a drop of liquor. I decided long ago not to live by your example.”
“Alcohol didn’t give me kidney disease.” Josiah pulled a whiskey bottle from under the sheet and took a swallow he would have deemed “just a drop.”
“Sure didn’t help it, either.” Jack stared at his father. “Pitiful, if you ask me.”
“Well, I didn’t ask,” Josiah snapped, secreting the bottle again.
“It’s nice to be able to tell you exactly what I think while you lie there captive. I’ve waited years for this moment.”
Josiah looked at his son. “I guess you think paybacks are hell.”
“I guess so, Pop.” Jack wasn’t about to give his father an inch of sympathy. The old man was mean as a snake. All the charity and benevolence he’d been throwing around in the past few years didn’t fool Jack. Josiah Morgan didn’t do anything without a motive.
Josiah shook his head. “So many years passed, and you didn’t even let me know you were all right. You chased the one thing you cared about all your life—rodeo—and at thirty-two, you decide you’re going to give up the one thing that matters to you? You can’t ride with one kidney. It’d be foolish.”
“I’ll take the risks I want, Pop.” Jack stood, staring down at his father. He didn’t like the old man, would never forgive him for the harsh words over the years. Wouldn’t forgive him for never being proud of him. Wouldn’t forgive him for blaming him for the car accident his brothers had been in the night Jack had been carted off to the hospital. “It’s just a kidney, Pop, and I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for my brothers, who are bringing up the families you’ve saddled them with. You ought to live to reap what you’ve sown.”
“I’m proud of what I’ve sown!” Josiah shouted after him as he departed. Jack kept walking. It was a kidney he was giving up, not rodeo. Pop had that all wrong.
CRICKET JASPER SPOTTED the lean cowboy loping through the hospital exit and knew immediately who it was. There was no one like Jack Morgan, not in looks nor in sheer magnetism as far as Cricket was concerned. Why he was at the Union Junction Hospital she couldn’t guess—he’d had very little contact with his family for years. She’d only met him a time or two in the past couple of months, and that had been purely by chance.
The brief meetings were enough to make her pray to see him again. Oh, yes, as a deacon, Cricket was fond of prayer, and she also knew that the Lord didn’t always grant a person what they wanted, particularly if it wasn’t in the mortal’s best interests. However, she was drawn to Jack from some deep, emotional part of her soul, and she knew this could be her only opportunity for months—if ever again—to catch him. “Jack!” she called, waving.
He hesitated, glanced her way, considered, she knew, retreating in a different direction. She didn’t take this personally—Cricket knew retreat was the cowboy’s standard reaction when confronted with anyone connected to his family. She caught up to him. “Jack Morgan, it’s good to see you.”
He looked at her, his gaze skimming over her white dress. “You, too.”
She smiled. “You weren’t visiting Josiah, were you?” She wanted so badly to allow her eyes to do their own one-stop shopping up and down Jack’s loose-hipped body, but she resisted the urge, telling herself to be patient. The hunted never wanted to feel caught, after all, and she was determined to catch Jack Morgan, even if all she got from him was a kiss.
Jack shrugged. “I wouldn’t call it a visit.”
“Oh, I’m sure that meant the world to him.” Cricket gave him her most friendly, innocent smile. “Now all you need to truly make his day is to find a wife and kids.”
He shook his head, not appreciating the joke. Josiah had managed to wrangle three of his four sons to the altar with the promise of a million dollars each, delivering Josiah the grandchildren he wanted in his golden years.
“It won’t happen to me,” Jack stated. “I’m giving him a kidney, not another branch for the family tree.”
Cricket gasped. “A kidney!”
He shrugged. “I keep thinking I’ll come to my senses and talk myself out of it, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
She couldn’t catch her breath. It was a stunning revelation for the man who’d vowed to never even visit his father or speak to him again. “Jack, that’s…wonderful.”
His face was impassive. “Glad you think so.”
It was clear he wanted to move on, but Cricket wanted to keep him right where he was. “When’s the surgery?”
“Don’t know. I need to talk to the doctor about the details. Pop says he doesn’t want my kidney, but Pop doesn’t always get what he wants. I can wait him out on this one.”
Her eyes went wide. “No one told me.”
“Maybe we don’t need prayer, Deacon,” Jack said.
“I’ll be praying anyway, cowboy,” she shot back.
They stared at one another silently, each making their own private assessment. A hundred thoughts ran through Cricket’s mind. Why was he doing this? Forgiveness. Redemption. What Jack would never admit about himself—he loved his father, and his family mattered to him.
“You’re a good man, Jack,” she murmured.
“Don’t kid yourself, Deacon.” And with that, he walked away.
She watched him go. If he was aware that she had a crush on him, he ignored it steadfastly. She doubted he thought much about her at all. What did he know about her, other than that she was friends with Suzy, Priscilla and Laura, women who had married his brothers. There would never be anything between them. Like roping wind, she didn’t have a chance of capturing Jack Morgan.
But she still felt an undeniable pull toward him, feelings that defied her normally practical heart.
This would take some thought. Josiah hadn’t bothered to match make for this son because he was unmatchable. Gabe had been fixed up with Laura Adams, who had a young son and daughter. Gabe had fallen like a tree. Dane had been determined not to repeat Gabe’s surrender to his father’s wishes, but Suzy Winterstone had been moved into the Morgan ranch as a housekeeper, bringing with her little twin girls. Spellbound, Dane had followed his brother to the altar. Pete had wanted to give up the military for a life closer to home but never planned to marry, and certainly not the woman he called Miss Manners, Priscilla Perkins. His father had found quadruplet orphans who needed parents and persuaded Priscilla and Pete to
marry. Josiah had nearly completed his family tree, and now Jack was willing to extend the old man’s life, giving him the time he needed.
Jack had better watch out. Josiah lived to build his family, and while Jack might give up a kidney, he also might find himself giving up his freedom. Cricket frowned. She knew Josiah too well. As soon as he could draw a healthy breath—and maybe even before—the man would start hunting a bride for Jack. Oh, Josiah would be very sneaky, very underhanded, but before he knew it, Jack would be roped and tied to the Morgan ranch, no matter how much he thought it couldn’t happen to him.
The problem as Cricket saw it was that Josiah had always chosen women with children for his sons, and Cricket had none. Nor could she simply seduce Jack into her bed and catch him that way. Not that she would, though the seduction part was worth investigating because she had a feeling it would be a heavenly experience. As a deacon, she’d look mighty fallen to her congregation if she came up pregnant and unmarried.
Cricket mulled over her other options. There were none, as far as she could see. Walking into Josiah’s hospital room, she found him surrounded by cute, young nurses. Josiah appeared pleased to have this beautiful companionship. It was public knowledge that the wealthy man had one son who was still single, and there were certainly plenty of willing bridal candidates making themselves known to Josiah. She had to make certain he didn’t get that baby-making glow in his eyes for Jack. “Hello, Josiah,” she said, bending down to give him a kiss on the forehead.