25. Tripp
Chapter 25
Tripp
Taking the ER doctor’s advice, we stopped frequently along the drive, which meant two days of travel turned into three. Penny slept for a good portion of it, and when we got home, her eyes were closed again before I managed to turn out the bedside light.
My eyes were heavy as I lay beside my wife in the darkness, but I couldn’t turn off my brain. Not until I handled the most pressing issue weighing on my mind these past few days.
Rolling out of bed, I stuffed my feet into my boots and slipped out the door. A full moon illuminated my surroundings, and instead of taking the truck across the ranch, I elected to walk. The heat of the day had gone, but the humidity remained on this August night. It wouldn’t be long before autumn breezes rolled over these plains, and soon after, the snow would fall, a crisp white blanketing this beautiful property as far as the eye could see.
Reaching the big house, I entered through the back, my leaden feet carrying me to the kitchen table before my tired body dropped onto one of the chairs surrounding it .
I rested my elbows on the scratched wood surface, my eyes growing heavier the longer I waited, and eventually, I lost the battle, succumbing to the darkness.
“Tripp?”
There was a nudge on my shoulder, and I groaned.
“Tripp!”
My name was called sharper the second time, and I cracked one eyelid open.
Dawn had barely broken, its soft glow filtering into the kitchen through the windows.
“What in the world are you doing here?”
Groggy from sleep, it took a minute for my brain to remember why I’d walked into my parents’ home in the middle of the night.
Sitting up, I dug the heels of my palms into my eye sockets. When I removed them, I found my father standing opposite me, arms crossed over his thick chest.
Jett Sullivan took one look at the weary expression on my face, and the hard lines on his softened. Concern filled his blue eyes, and it leaked into his voice when he asked, “What happened, son?”
Swallowing against the sandpaper that coated my throat, I rasped, “The hard days found us. Just like you said they would.”
His gaze searched mine. “Did you let them win?”
With my windpipe closing up fast, I managed to croak out, “No, sir. ”
Dad blew out a heavy breath before offering me a sharp nod of approval. “Good. Coffee?”
“Please.” I scrubbed a hand over my jaw.
Turning, he moved to the counter, grumbling under his breath about the single-cup coffee maker my mom bought him the Christmas before.
The man was a creature of habit. He hated change.
Which was why I was nervous as hell this morning. I needed a favor. One only he could grant.
Returning to the table, my father set a steaming mug before me and took a seat.
I curled my hands around the heated porcelain but didn’t lift it to my mouth. Instead, I simply stared at it, as I tried to find the right words.
My eyes flicked to the man sitting across the table, where he peered back at me as he sipped his coffee. After all he’d had to say the last time I was home, of course he was silent now when I was struggling to work up the courage to ask for what I needed for my family—a family that was an extension of his own.
Filling my lungs with a steadying breath, I began to speak. “You were on the road with the team when Aspen and I were growing up out of necessity.”
My father’s eyebrows rose. Clearly, my topic of conversation had caught him off guard.
“You worked hard to make this ranch what it is today, built its reputation alongside the business from the ground up.”
He hummed at the praise.
“I need you to know that I’ve never been more appreciative of you making those sacrifices. Makes it possible for me to ask for what I need now.”
Dad’s head tilted to the side. “And what’s that? ”
“Bring me home. For good.” My father remained silent, so I pressed on. “You were right. The past few months have been a whirlwind, and letting my wife’s impulsivity overrule my good sense has caught up with us. What she needs from me now is stability—security—and there’s no better place for her than right here.”
Looking the man who’d given me life right in the eye, I explained, “We’re gonna need family around us for this next part.”
Eyes questioning, he asked, “And what part’s that?”
Mentally bracing because I had no clue how he was going to react, I dropped the bomb.
“The part where we become parents.”
Coffee sloshed over the side of his mug when it hit the wood table with a thud. “Parents.” The word was said in a daze, almost as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
I reached into my back pocket to retrieve my wallet. Flipping it open, I pulled out one of the ultrasound pictures and slid it across to my dad.
There was a beat of hesitation before he grasped the edge of the photo paper, tracing one fingertip over the image set right in the middle.
Voice gruff, he mused, “They didn’t have anything quite this clear thirty years ago.” Then he chuckled. “You two don’t do anything by half measures, do you?”
I bit back a smile. “It wasn’t planned.” Shaking my head, I corrected, “Well, in a way, I suppose it was, but not sure you really want the specifics on that.”
“No, son. You can keep that part to yourself.”
Good, because I wasn’t too inclined to share my wife’s kinks with my father. That crossed more lines than I could count.
With his eyes fixed on the ultrasound photo, Dad’s lips turned down in a frown. “Why’s it say Topeka General? ”
The memories of that curtained cubicle rushed over me, and my fists clenched, my nails biting into the palm of my hand.
Clearing my throat, I laid all my cards on the table.
“We, um . . .” I swallowed roughly. “We thought we were losing it.”
All the air in my father’s lungs rushed out, and at the end of his exhale came a muttered, “Jesus.”
I tugged at the back of my neck. “Scariest damn day of my life.”
“Penny. She okay?”
My lips folded inward as I nodded. “She’s rattled, as you would expect, and so exhausted she’s been asleep more than awake these past few days.”
“When your mama catches wind of this, she’s gonna take up permanent residence at the cabin to smother that girl. Caroline, too.”
“Kinda counting on it.” I ducked my head. “The road’s no place for her, Dad. And I can’t—I won’t—go back out there without her. Ricky can handle the team. He’s hardworking and loyal. He deserves the promotion.”
Without another word, my father stood. Walking to the fridge, he lifted the magnet holding a picture of Reagan in place before repositioning it so that it could pin both images of his grandchildren to the stainless-steel surface.
Guess I was letting him keep that one.
Turning around, he leaned against the counter and shoved both hands in his pockets. “I’ve already got a foreman, Tripp. A good one who’s been doin’ the job a long time.”
He’d misunderstood me. “I would never ask you to push Wade out for me. I’ll do whatever needs doing around here. Ranch hand work is just fine so long as I can stay with Penny and the baby.”
Dad let out a pleased hum. “I was thinking more along the lines of an apprenticeship.”
Intrigued, I arched an eyebrow. “What kind of apprenticeship? ”
“One where I teach you the ropes. Show you what it takes to run a ranch of this size—how to keep it thriving, and better yet, how to keep it growing.”
Certain my jaw was on the floor, I stared at my father wide-eyed. “You want to train me to take over?”
He shrugged. “Know someone else better suited?”
“It’s not that.” How did I say this without offending him? “I just didn’t think—”
“I’m not foolish enough to believe I’ll live forever, son. I’ve already gotten fifteen more years than my own father did, so I don’t take a single one God decides to give me for granted. It’s long past time I prepared you to take over your birthright in hopes that someday—when I’m long gone from this earth—you’ll be able to pass it on to the next generation, and they can hand the reins to the next, and so on.”
Stunned, I didn’t know what to say. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined my father offering to teach me how to run the ranch I’d grown up on—the only place I ever wanted to call home.
“Am I to take your silence for a yes?” Dad prompted.
“Uh, yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Good.” He stepped forward, lifted his coffee mug, and drained the contents. “Take a few days off to look after your wife. Once she’s feeling up to it, I’d like to pop down and apologize for my behavior the last time you were here. But in the meantime, make sure she knows that however much time she needs off—a week, a year, ’til that kid turns eighteen—she has it. She’s not an employee; she’s family.” Then he went and knocked me on my ass when he smiled and added, “She always has been.”
Tears burned behind my eyes, and I swallowed, my voice thick with emotion. “Thank you, Dad. You have no idea how much this means to me. ”
“I understand more than you could ever know, son. Welcome home.”
Fuck. That threw me over the top, and before I knew it, I was across the kitchen, pulling my old man in for a hug.
He wasn’t one to show physical affection, but he clapped me on the back a few times, offering a few gruff words of comfort before pulling back from our embrace.
A calm settled over my soul, and I just knew everything was going to be okay.
With the support of our family, Penny and I could make it through anything.