by Anna Sugden
“So?” Kayla prompted in a challenging tone.
“I agree,” he said. “But I want to do more than send money. I also want to...uh...” He stopped, knowing he’d almost said something that would get him into hot water. Again. Before Kayla’s return, he hadn’t realized how many of his ideas might be chauvinistic. Of course, his sisters joked about it, but he was sure there hadn’t been any serious heat to the accusations...fairly sure.
“Let me guess, you want to teach him how to drive a truck and get girls. Right?” she asked with sugary sweetness.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Good, because even though I could teach Alex to drive myself, he’s registered for driving school this fall. And while you undoubtedly know how to ‘get girls,’ it isn’t a skill I’m anxious for him to learn.”
“Yes, but a boy needs a father, and it doesn’t sound as if your ex-husband is doing much on that end,” Jackson said, only to wish he’d kept his mouth shut when Kayla flinched. She turned to the window again, her lips turned down unhappily.
The time passed slowly after that, the silence broken occasionally by innocuous conversations or more tense debates. In some ways, it didn’t seem as if things had gotten any better with Kayla than with Morgan or Alex.
Curiously, of the three youngsters, it was DeeDee who’d been the friendliest to him, but her attitude hadn’t seemed to influence her brother or Morgan in the slightest.
* * *
THAT EVENING, KAYLA called Sandy’s and Keri’s parents and discussed the possibility of the kids visiting Schuyler. The Kellers and the Garzas loved the idea as long as the girls could fly together.
“I’m awfully glad you’re staying longer,” Elizabeth said as they sat on the patio. DeeDee and Alex had fallen asleep watching baseball in the family room.
Kayla smiled. She wasn’t sure that staying was the best idea, but her vaguely uneasy feelings weren’t reason enough to leave.
As a child she’d longed for a life that wasn’t constantly changing, with new places to live and new people to figure out. But she couldn’t deny that getting away from Seattle was proving beneficial. Both DeeDee and Alex seemed to have benefited—particularly since it was buffering them from their father’s preoccupation with his new family.
Her cell phone rang fifteen minutes later. It was Jackson.
“Hello.”
“I talked to my parents and they’d love to see Alex tomorrow,” he told her.
On the drive back from Yellowstone they’d discussed having a get-together with Jackson’s mother and father.
“Alex is asleep in front of the TV at the moment, but I’ll talk to him when I get a chance.”
There was a long pause. “Mom and Dad will go along with any plan that seems best, so whatever he wants is fine with us.”
“All right, I’ll call in the morning.” After pressing the off button, Kayla glanced at her grandmother. “The McGregors want to meet Alex, tomorrow if possible.”
“I’d feel the same in their place. What if we all go to Riverside Park for a picnic?” Elizabeth sighed. “Oh, well, not that we have to be there.”
“Alex will want you,” Kayla assured her.
Later in bed, Kayla considered what the next day might be like. Back in high school she’d been certain the McGregors didn’t approve of her, and a small part of her hadn’t blamed them for thinking she wasn’t respectable enough for Jackson. After all, how could she fit in with people who’d never lived in apartments with cardboard plugging broken windows and Social Services knocking on the door?
It was different now.
She was proud of the life she’d made, and of the children she was raising. She wouldn’t even undo her marriage, because her bright, funny, word-inventing daughter had come from it. As for her ex-husband? Kayla just wished she could have been enough for him. She no longer loved Curtis, but she still cared enough to be sorry he wasn’t truly happy. Worse, he was a poor role model for the children.
Thoughts of Jackson intruded. He’d grown up with loving, long-married parents and grandparents, yet he still distrusted women and marriage.
Terrific.
Alex’s fatherly role models didn’t seem to be improving.
* * *
AT NOON, JACKSON pulled into the lot at Riverside Park. It was a beautiful summer day, but he was already out of sorts because Morgan had gone out riding and he hadn’t been able to reach her all morning.
“Looks as if everyone is here,” he said.
“It’s not my fault we’re the last ones,” Morgan muttered. “I didn’t know about your big plan until I got back.”
“Because you forgot to bring the satellite phone,” he reminded her.
“So sorry,” she muttered.
Morgan slid from the truck and joined the group in the covered picnic area. Jackson sat watching to see how Alex was responding to his McGregor grandparents. From a distance he seemed to be relaxed and comfortable. With one outburst of laughter, Jackson’s father even playfully arm wrestled with him, and Alex laughed some more.
Jackson was glad Alex was getting along with his parents, but being a pariah to his own children was a bitter pill.
Kayla glanced toward the truck and walked in his direction. Today she was wearing black cargo pants and a loose, flowered blouse that should have hidden her figure but somehow made him more aware of the enticements underneath.
Leaning her arm on the open window on the passenger side, she raised an eyebrow. “Are you just dropping Morgan off, or are you planning on joining us?”
“Joining you. It’s going well, from what I can see.”
“Yeah.” Her face turned pensive. “The absence of extended family for the kids has always been one of my concerns. Now suddenly there’s plenty of it, especially for Alex. Maybe it’ll balance other things out.”
“There’s still more family for him to meet,” Jackson reminded, deciding not to question her cryptic remark—it likely had something to do with her ex-husband. “Aunts and uncles, cousins... The McGregors are quite a clan. And there’s also the Nelson side. They’re anxious to get in on the act, as well.”
“It’s nice you’ve learned to appreciate them.”
Her comment was a reminder that he’d once bemoaned having too many relatives to witness his rebellious behavior and report it to his folks.
“I’ve grown up since then,” he said mildly. “But that’s an odd thing to recall about me.”
“Not really. I grew up without family—I was barely even aware I had grandparents until I was fifteen. To me, you were complaining about something I would have given anything to have. How could I forget?”
Regret went through Jackson. The things he remembered about Kayla were mostly trivial—the rumors concerning her mother, her streetwise talk, her clothing that seemed racier than the other girls’. As a teenager Kayla had projected a wayward audacity that had appealed to him, but he hadn’t bothered looking much under the surface.
“You never scolded me for saying those things,” he finally said.
A rueful expression crossed her face. “I was a girl with her first crush. I wasn’t going to risk turning you off.”
“I was a teenage boy. You couldn’t have turned me off with a two-by-four.”
She chuckled the way he’d intended. Setting the emergency brake, he got out of the truck, trying to ignore the way his body had responded to the allure of her face, alive with humor. Maybe he should make a date with one of his occasional feminine companions to take his mind off Kayla.
“How is everything at the ranch after your absence?” she asked as they walked toward the picnic tables.
“My foreman managed everything. He could operate without me being around most of the time, but I’m a hands-on rancher. Probably drives him crazy.”
Kayla wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I almost miss the days when I was needed more intensively at Smooth Billings. But it leaves me freer to do things such as...uh...take unexpected vacations.”
<
br /> He stopped a short distance from the others and looked at her. “How much longer are you staying?”
“At least another two weeks.”
“Then, the kids’ friends from Seattle are coming?”
“Yes, I’ve talked to their parents and they’re making travel arrangements.”
Originally Jackson had been dismayed that Alex wanted his best friend to come for a visit—after all, it would be one more person to grab the boy’s attention. Then he’d realized it could result in a longer stay in Montana, so he’d subtly promoted the idea.
Laughter erupted from the picnic area, and Jackson tried to discern the cause. Morgan was sitting with DeeDee while they studied an iPad. Hank Garrison was talking with Jackson’s father; the two had always gotten along well. Elizabeth was doing something with food, and his mother was standing with Alex.
“Now that we’re all here, it’s time to start cooking burgers,” Parker McGregor called. “Son, do you want to jump in here?”
Jackson accepted the long-handled utensils and took over at the barbecue grill, where Elizabeth handed him a container.
“I found soy patties at the market this morning,” she explained. “Don’t know what they’ll be like, but at least Alex will have something on his bun. Kayla suggested portobello mushrooms, but the grocer doesn’t carry them.”
“I knew that someday one or more of my kids or grandkids would travel the vegetarian route,” Parker said with a wink at Alex. “I’ll even give you a fair chance to win over this old cattleman.”
Alex grinned. Jackson knew if he’d said the same thing, the teen would have just stared, or rolled his eyes and walked away. Discouraged, he grilled the burgers and heaped them on a platter. The soy patties went on another plate, which Alex examined silently.
“You’re welcome to cheat,” Sarah McGregor told him. “You know what they say—what happens in Schuyler stays in Schuyler.”
Sarah’s comment didn’t seem to affect Alex. He looked briefly at Jackson before taking the vegetarian option. “No, thanks, these are fine.”
He sat next to Morgan at the end of the table. Jackson stepped forward, intent on sitting opposite, when he saw a warning shake of Kayla’s head. Silently he got his food and sat at an adjacent table. A moment later, she slid onto the bench across from him. Elizabeth and Hank joined them and Jackson appreciated the support.
“Everything is delicious, as usual, Elizabeth,” he said. “You’re a wonderful cook. I’ve never eaten so well on a camping trip.”
“The RV kitchen helped.”
“I’ve always been a fan of roughing it, but you may have changed my mind about that.”
“I need pickles,” Kayla interjected. “Anyone want anything while I’m up?”
She slid gracefully from the bench and Jackson determinedly concentrated on his plate, glad the lower half of his anatomy was hidden by the table. His attraction to Kayla was becoming a real distraction to focusing on Alex. He had to get it under control, whether it took a date with another woman or an ice-cold shower.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MORGAN COULDN’T BELIEVE she was still getting up early to run, even though Kayla wasn’t at the ranch to go with her. Not that she was getting up that early. By seven thirty Kayla had probably already finished and was back at the house. She was bringing Alex and DeeDee to the Crazy Horse later, though.
Alex hadn’t wanted to come, but at the picnic yesterday he’d finally agreed, as long as DeeDee and his mom were there, too. That was fine with Morgan; she liked the Andersons.
With Cory at her side Morgan set off, trying to run slow at first, the way Kayla said worked best for her, before building up to a faster speed.
Her brain kept buzzing.
Alex resented doing anything with his birth dad, and she sort of got why he felt that way. After all, it was lousy to discover a huge thing about yourself wasn’t actually true. And the way his creepsville stepbrother had jeered must have made finding out even worse.
At the same time, Alex thought it was odd she didn’t get along so great with her dad. Well, she hadn’t told him everything. Maybe she should, but the whole thing was stinky.
After she sped up, thoughts clouding her brain seemed to go away for a while, so she made herself go an extra mile before slowing to cool down.
“Didn’t know you were a runner,” Greg Taggett said as she walked past the horse barn.
“I just started,” Morgan told the foreman.
“You’re doing great. I go to all my son’s track meets, and you set a good pace.”
Morgan stopped. “Your son runs?” Owen Taggett was a senior at the high school, but she didn’t pay attention to the small track-and-field team—they were usually too serious to be much fun.
“Sure does. He just got an athletic scholarship.”
“Owen doesn’t want to be a rancher?”
“Hasn’t made up his mind yet. This way he’ll have choices.”
The same old sick feeling hit her stomach, so Morgan nodded and started walking again. Her dad had never gotten a choice. He was supposed to have gone to college, but he hadn’t been able to because of her.
“Have a pleasant run?” Dad asked as she came into the kitchen. He was drinking a cup of coffee and eating a bowl of oatmeal.
She shrugged. “Cory liked it.”
“Always take him when you go, okay?”
Morgan stared into the cereal bowl she was filling. Hot, chewy oatmeal, that was what she liked, none of that overcooked junk. Flora must have made it.
“Yeah,” she said. “Cory always wants to go.”
“True, but make sure of it anyway, and take the satellite phone. If you fell or anything, you’d be able to get help faster.”
It sounded as if he was really worried about her. Okay, so maybe he was. He tried to make sure everyone on the ranch stayed safe and healthy; that was one of his big things, and her dad always took care of his responsibilities.
Dropping into a chair at the kitchen table, she stirred her cereal and ate a mouthful. “When is everyone coming?” she asked.
“In an hour.”
“Are...um, Elizabeth and Hank coming, too?” She’d almost called them Grandma and Grandpa, same as Alex and DeeDee.
“Not today.”
It was too bad. The Garrisons were pretty awesome for people that old. On the trip to Yellowstone they’d started treating her like one of their great-grandkids, too, along with DeeDee and Alex. It had been nice, even if they were just being polite.
* * *
KAYLA PULLED UP in front of Jackson’s large house at nine o’clock.
“Whoa.” DeeDee stared at the house. “That’s not the kind of ranch you see in the movies.”
“It must suit Morgan and Jackson,” Kayla said.
There was no point in explaining that the McGregors came from old money and Jackson had been able to build whatever he wanted. The McGregors were true ranchers, but they didn’t need to raise cattle to make a living. They had oil or something from Texas and Oklahoma.
DeeDee opened the door and jumped out.
“Come on, kiddo,” Kayla urged her son. “You aren’t facing a firing squad.”
“I know,” he muttered.
“Try treating Jackson the way you would a friend,” Kayla suggested. “He’s not a terrible person.”
“I guess.”
His continued reticence bothered Kayla, though Alex had always been hard to read.
“I know this isn’t what you expected when you came to Schuyler,” she said, hoping he’d open up with the right encouragement.
“Yeah.”
“What did you expect?” she probed once more.
Alex made a face. “I don’t know. It was probably stupid anyway.” He unbuckled his belt and dragged himself from the car.
Kayla wasn’t reassured as she followed him. If they couldn’t deal with the problem, Alex might pull another stunt even more serious than running away to meet his great-grandparents.
<
br /> Jackson met them on the porch, the quintessential rancher in his worn Levi’s and long-sleeved work shirt—strong, muscular, virile. Damn. She hated the way her body was betraying her.
“Jackson, do you have time to teach me to ride while Morgan teaches Alex?” DeeDee asked.
“I’ll teach you both.”
“Naw, I’m going to show Alex,” Morgan declared.
Kayla’s attention was instantly hijacked from sex to the immediate situation. She didn’t know whether to chortle or be sympathetic.
To his credit, Jackson gave DeeDee a warm smile. “Sure, but maybe Morgan wants to give you both a tour of the place first.” Yet as the three kids went off together, Kayla watched disappointment cross his face.
“Not what you planned?” she asked.
“You urged me to relax and let things happen naturally, but what’s happening is that my son gets along great with his sister and avoids me at every turn.” He sighed. “Sorry. I know I shouldn’t keep blasting off about it.”
“You can’t force a relationship,” Kayla reminded him. “And if you have the idea that Alex should automatically love you, or you him, then you’re wrong.” She held up a hand to stop Jackson’s denial. “Be honest, did you meet Alex and immediately think, ‘Wow, I love this kid’?”
“I... No.”
“Of course not. Look, when we got here this morning, I told Alex to treat you like one of his friends. You could give it a shot, too. Let things happen when they happen.”
A long minute passed before Jackson nodded. “All right, I’ll try.”
Idly Kayla noted that his eyes had changed over the years. As a teenager they’d sparked with energy and daring; now they were filled with grim determination. And they were so guarded. How could Alex get to know someone who never let anyone past the surface?
“Let’s go find them,” Jackson said, leading her toward the outbuildings.
They found the kids in the ranch’s large, airy horse barn. Alex was observing warily as Morgan saddled a powerful black stallion, while DeeDee kept dashing in to pat the animal on its neck, only to jump backward with an alarmed squeak whenever the horse moved.
“Looks as if the first lesson is already starting,” Jackson murmured.
