Tina Leonard - Triplets' Rodeo Man by Tina Leonard Page B

“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.

Chapter Seven
    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. Theirfew 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.
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    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