Off Season (The Blake Boys Book 15) (15 page)

The crowd applauded when the lead singer hit the last chord. Seth, J.J., and Tate stood and the standing ovation continued around the room. After the applause died down, Seth took his seat again and sighed. At least Tate had some luck mentoring someone tonight. Seth’s charge just bolted to hob knob at a party. It was getting frustrating. He was wasting time on someone who didn’t want to listen, meanwhile his wife was fighting some mystery ailment. Maybe it was time to throw in the towel again, but truth was nothing had really started yet.

“You remember that time when the whole team had that massive brawl over the cheerleaders? Coach took us to Sam Houston National Park and made us camp out all weekend.”

“I remember being miserable,” Seth drawled.

Tate raised an eyebrow. “But by the time we got home, we all had a better understanding of women and football.”

“Damn, coach was good.” Seth laughed.

“We’re going to have to boot camp that kid. If not for his own good, then for T.K. and the Tomcats. And throw in some log rolling for trying to flirt with Avery,” J.J. said.

Seth smirked. “Agreed.”

He looked forward to torturing Riley Sloane.

CHAPTER SIX

The second Dr. Fulton said the word
lupus
, Morgan checked out of the conversation. Seth remained engaged with the doctor, but she was too stunned to talk. The good news was that, although her numbers were slightly higher than normal, her kidney and liver functions were good. While Seth continued to fire off questions, Dr. Fulton had his nurse bring Morgan a drink of water. He suggested they meet again after the shock of the diagnosis wore off. A half hour later, they were standing near the truck. He opened the door for her, but she stood there frozen.

“Morgan.” Seth took her face in his hands.

“Yes?”

“Baby, I know that you’re probably in shock but you’re scaring me. Talk to me.”

“He said there’s no cure.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “At any moment things could take a turn for the worse. A small infection could balloon into something life-threatening. I could be—”

“He also said it was manageable. Please don’t forget that. The second you feel like something is off, we can have you checked out. He’s confident that we can stay ahead of the curve. We know so much more now than we did a few months ago. We now know why you’ve been so susceptible to respiratory infections this past year.”

“I’m living my mom’s life.” She tried to pull away, but Seth’s grip was too strong.

“No, you’re not. It was a different circumstance.”

“I was Jake’s age when she died.”

“No.” Seth shook his head. “It’s not the same.”

* * *

Seth fixed Morgan a cup of tea and marched her up to bed as soon as they returned home. She looked exhausted and complained of a bad headache from crying. It was heartbreaking to see her crawl into their bed. He felt like she was going into hibernation. So he tucked in behind her and wrapped his arms around her until he heard the soft sounds of slumber. When he was sure she was asleep, he eased out of bed and went downstairs and fixed himself a scotch.

The boys were still in school and Mackenzie was with Teri-Lyn, so there was time to fire up the computer and start data collecting on her diagnosis. He’d heard of lupus before, but he needed to know exactly what the disease was and what it meant for his wife. For two hours he drank and pored over the symptoms, risk factors, treatments, and quality of life of those with lupus. Like Dr. Fulton said, there was no cure, but there were several ways to manage it. And one of them would be careful scrutiny of Morgan’s health. She kept everything so compartmentalized, it would be quite a feat to get her to open up now. But she had no choice. They were both going to have to relearn behaviors if they were going to get through this together.

There weren’t blatant signs of lupus, like some other serious illnesses, so he was grateful for the battery of tests Dr. Fulton had run until he’d made his diagnosis. Lately she Morgan had complained when she was puttering around in the garden that the sun was irritating her skin. He’d thought maybe it was because she’d forgotten to apply sunblock, but now he knew it was the photosensitivity. Now the sun was her potential enemy. He minimized the window and pulled up the Web site of a nearby car dealer. Perhaps a new car with special tinted windows would help. She’d fight him on it, so he wouldn’t tell her about until the car arrived. He then did a search on dietary needs of lupus patients. There were foods with anti-inflammatory properties that could help her fight the disease naturally.

He slammed back his scotch and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t felt this kind of gut punch since Mackenzie was born prematurely in the stables. He’d coached and comforted Morgan during that storm, but he’d been scared witless that his daughter might not make it. He’d learned that stormy night that life was fragile and beyond his control. Now his little girl bustled around the house in all her adorable glory because she was a fighter like her mama. He just had to remind Morgan that she was a fighter too.

Seth looked at his watch. It was almost time for the boys to come home from school. The notification alert on his cell phone sounded. It was a text from Tate asking about the doctor’s visit. He sent a text back telling him the news. The successive pings meant word was going around about Morgan’s diagnosis. He loved them and knew they meant well, but right now he wanted to sit and think of how to take care of his wife. There was that familiar knock on the door and then it opened. It was John Jacob.

“Hey, Daddy.”

“Where’s Morgan? Your mama says you didn’t answer the phone when she called.”

“I’m sorry about that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s upstairs asleep. It’s been a very stressful day.”

“What did the doctor say?”

Seth took a deep breath. “She has lupus. It’s an—”

“I’ve heard of it.”

Seth’s eyes widened. “You have?”

“It was one of the diseases discussed at a symposium that I attended recently. Cassie’s cancer got me to thinking about how we could best help her as a family, so I’ve been attending health industry events. There are a number of broad-spectrum drugs that treat diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and sarcoidosis. Is Morgan at the point where she needs to take immunosuppressant meds?”

Seth shook his head. “Right now she’ll have to take something over-the-counter like ibuprofen for the aching and stiffness. The blood tests revealed her liver and kidneys are in good shape.”

“Sounds like she was diagnosed in the early stages. That’s good. Following doctor’s orders and a few lifestyle changes should do the trick. But she will still have to be monitored closely.”

“I wish it was that easy.”

“It is, son.” John Jacob put his hand on Seth’s shoulder. “Morgan is an active woman with four kids. To suddenly learn that you have to modify how you interact with your kids can be devastating to someone like her. Having the right information and excellent doctors is the best way to keep her healthy. Sometimes no matter how hard we plan, we have to deal with life as it happens. Things come out of nowhere and knock us on our butts. I know you’ll do all you can to make sure she stays healthy. And the family will help in any way we can.”

Seth sighed. “I don’t know what I’d do without her. She is my everything.”

“She won’t let this lick her and neither should you. Your mama and I are going to have dinner with the kids. Why don’t you have a quiet dinner with your wife? You could use that time to talk health strategies or just take her in your arms and tell her you love her. That’s all that matters, the love.”

“Thanks, Daddy.”

* * *

Morgan woke from her nap expecting Seth to be beside her. But when he wasn’t, she figured he was probably downstairs pacing the floor. She pulled her hair into a messy top knot and changed into a T-shirt. She opened the bedroom door and noticed how unusually quiet it was. The kids should have been bouncing off the walls while they waited for dinner. Instead, she descended the steps and found an empty first floor. She understood how Seth must have felt that day he’d been looking for her. She passed through the dining room and saw printouts strewn about the table. She collected them and put them into a neat pile. The last thing she needed was for the kids to find out what was going on from literature on the table. The picture of the car caught her attention. She glanced at it and sighed. They had to talk about this special order contraption. She found Seth out on the veranda sitting alone on their chair swing.

“Hey.” She kissed him. “Sorry I slept so long. I should get dinner started. Where are kids?”

“They’re having dinner at Mama and Daddy’s.” He pulled her onto his lap. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. The nap helped.”

“I’ve been thinking.”

“That can be dangerous.” She smiled, but Seth didn’t.

“I think we should get a second opinion on your diagnosis.”

“Why? Dr. Fulton has a really good reputation.”

“I know. He has some impressive credentials hanging up on his office wall, but I think we should have someone else take a look at you.”

“Yay. That sounds great because I love seeing doctors
and
getting more tests done.”

“I want to be sure.”

“I saw the printouts on the dining room table. Don’t tell me you’ve been chained to the computer the entire afternoon?”

“Yes. I found some great articles for you to read and—”

Morgan silenced him with a kiss. He had such a serious look on his face. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Since the kids are eating with the grandparents, how about we fix a nice grown-up dinner before you go to the poker game?”

“I’m not going tonight.” He caressed her cheek.

“Yes, you are.”

“No. I’m not.”

“I think you could use a night of fun with the boys. It will help you decompress after this stress-riddled day we’ve had.”

“I thought we’d read the articles together after we put the kids to bed. We also need to decide on what we’re going to tell them.”

“Things to be done tomorrow.” She squeezed his hands. “I have my Thursday night phone call to Nina. I’m sure Izzy and everyone else on the ranch knows by now. I’d like to have a normal night. Please.”

“Are you sure? I don’t feel right leaving you.”

“I won’t accept you treating me like some delicate flower. People get diagnosed with illnesses all the time. I’m no different. You deserve a night out after the day we’ve had.” Morgan pulled him by the hand and guided him into the kitchen.

“But—”

“I’ll leaf through the printouts while I’m talking to Nina.”

She couldn’t remember the last time the house had been so quiet during dinnertime. She chatted about things coming up for the kids and made small talk. Everything sounded so normal except for the look of panic in Seth’s eyes.

* * *

Seth was happy that Morgan’s mood had improved after her nap, but now he was worried that she was sweeping things under the rug. She said she’d look at the research, but he wasn’t sure she’d do that either. He knew it was too much in one day, but damn it, printing those articles had made him feel like he was in control of his life again.

At the poker game, the guys greeted him with hugs and consoling words when he entered J.J.’s house. Tyler, not to be left out, was video-conferenced in by Channing. They kept it light and entertaining, but they were also understanding as he muddled through the game. When Seth folded his hand for the fifth time in a row, J.J. put him out of his misery and ended the game. It was clear his head wasn’t in it and he’d become more of distraction than anything else. He got up to say goodnight, but his big brother had other plans. They piled into J.J.’s truck and drove over to the batting cages on the ranch property.

Channing hopped out and turned on the electricity to the facility while Bo retrieved the balls from the equipment room and loaded them into the pitching machines. Tate opened the snack bar and turned on the popcorn machine.

“Maybe you can work off some of that pent-up stress.” J.J. slapped a helmet on Seth’s head and put him in the first cage.

“I’m taking cage two,” Bo replied as he put on the gear and hit the button to cue the balls.

“You, Bubba?” Tate asked.

“I like baseball. It’s a civilized game.” Bo hit the ball so hard the bat crackled.

Everyone looked at him.

“He’s been testing out Summer and Autumn’s new baseball game,” Channing said as he propped his phone on a high table so Tyler could see everything.

“Ah.”

J.J. stood on the other side of the fence and locked eyes with Seth. “What’s the next step for Morgan’s health regimen?”

“I want her to get a second opinion. There’s going to be a lot of changes, and I expect we’ll argue about me hovering over her. She’s not thrilled about it.” Seth could see the ball positioning in the machine to catapult. He wound up, and as soon as the bat connected with the first ball, the knot in his stomach loosened a bit.

“Cassie and I went through the same thing. She complained about me being too attentive. I say hover to your heart’s content. Do whatever you need to do to make sure she stays healthy,” Channing quipped.

“That’s exactly what she
doesn’t
want him to do.” Tate gave Channing a look to pipe down.

“Let’s change the subject,” J.J. murmured.

“Guess who’s moving into my building?” Bo swung at another ball.

“Who?” Tyler said.

“Riley Sloane. I think he’s taking a unit on the tenth floor,” Bo replied, then looked at the screen. “Tyler, what are you eating?”

“Grilled cheese and tomato soup of course.” Tyler grinned.

“Are you serious about Riley moving in?” Seth asked.

“Deadly. I saw him talking to the realtor that handles the sales.”

“That kid’s spending money left and right.” Tate whistled. “Bubba, why hasn’t anyone bought the two remaining units on your floor?”