Page 91 of One Lucky Cowboy

“Yes, sir.”

Renato simply nodded, not offering his commentary on just how Jax grew up. The doctor told the men where to go when they were ready and headed back up to check on her patients.

Both men stared at each other, and Jax’s memories surfaced. The last time they’d spoken in person, the last time he rode a bronco before he left the rodeo to help his brother build a multimillion-dollar business, meeting his son for the first time.

Then there was the feeling that connected them—never being good enough for Nora.

After a beat of some of the longest silence Jax had endured—or at least the most awkward—Renato spoke up.

“How’s my grandson?”

“Injured, but okay.” Jax filled him in on the details, his confidence blooming. He was Ren’s dad and he’d been good at it, even if he was new to the job. Renato might’ve hated him back in the day, but aside from that morning, he didn’t have any reason to say Jax didn’t deserve time with his son. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to catch him this morning.”

Renato bit his lip and shook his head. “Boys will be boys, or so my father used to say. Don’t know I believe that anymore, or at least not in the way he said it. But as a man who raised a daughter and two sons, I’ll say I spent more time in places like this with them than I ever did with her. And hell, she rode bulls.”

Jax laughed at the unexpected humor from the man. “Do you want to go see him first?”

Renato’s lips flattened. The hiss of doors opening and clacking keyboards punctuated the moment, adding austerity.

“No. You should go. You’re his father.”

Jax couldn’t hide the surprise that lifted his brow. “Thanks. I’ll head up and then we can switch out.”

“Wait,” Renato said. His deep voice always made Jax feel like his words were gospel, not left open to interpretation. “I’d like to talk.”

“Right now?” He looked at the ER doors, his feet itching to run to his son’s side.

“Please. I’ll be quick.”

They found two seats in the waiting room away from the bustle of the entrance. The couple who’d walked in earlier sat in an opposite corner, curled into each other and talking. Jax rubbed his chest above his heart while he waited for Renato to take the lead. At one point, he’d thought the man next to him was keeping him from the thing he wanted most, but Jax and Nora never really had enough in common except for the thrill of being atop an animal that could kill them in an instant. She wanted finer things in life, the glamor and notoriety of being a rodeo queen. Jax had just wanted to travel and see the world. Maybe Renato had seen that, or maybe he was an overprotective dad who didn’t want his daughter with anyone who had a lower pedigree than they were born into. Either way, he’d saved Jax from taking the wrong dirt road back then.

Jax’s whole world was now upstairs in a hospital bed.

“I wanna know your plans, son.”

Jax shook off the stroll down memory lane. “For what, sir?”

“Call me Renato. I wanna know what you’re planning to do to take care of the boy long term. You mentioned something about a job in Austin?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I got an offer for a contracting job there so I can get an apartment and take care of Ren. With your permission, I’d like to have him at least part-time. I don’t want to take Ren completely—you’ve done a good thing just making sure he found me even though I know you hate me.”

Renato sighed and leaned his six-foot-plus frame forward, cupping his cheeks in his palms. If Jax didn’t know any better, he’d say the man looked sad. Which made sense after he’d lost his only daughter.

“I’m sorry for your loss, by the way. I cared about Nora deeply, and I know you were close.”

“Thanks. It’s been hard, but no harder than the past few years. We weren’t as close as we used to be.”

“How so?” Jax resisted the urge to glance at his watch. He wanted to get to Ren, but this seemed important, too.

“She was sick and wasn’t really there.”

“I thought she died in a car wreck.”

The man’s chest heaved and he trembled. “She was high when she crashed, too. Too many rodeo injuries led to a pain pill addiction she couldn’t quit. I had the boy the past three years so he wouldn’t see what his mother became.”

“I didn’t know,” Jax whispered. “I should’ve known.”

Not that he could’ve helped her, but he could’ve been there for his son. A fresh wave of anger rolled through him.

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