Page 68 of Kayla's Cowboy
* * *
JACKSON WATCHED HIS daughter’s fast disappearing figure in shock. She wanted someone to be glad she was there?
Hell.
Kayla might be right that Morgan felt unwanted.
In quiet moments he had replayed their discussion over and over in his head, regretting his reaction. He’d asked for Kayla’s opinion only to snap like a bad-tempered sidewinder when she’d given it to him. After all, Morgan had to question whether her mom really wanted her.
But Kayla had thought Marcy wasn’t the problem.
Moodily he stared out the window. Perhaps he should discuss it with Kayla again. After yesterday she might not be very friendly, but he’d have to take his chances.
Her Volvo arrived midmorning. Alex and DeeDee tumbled from the car and dashed into the house.
“Alex, DeeDee,” Kayla called. “You knock and wait.”
Jackson looked into the foyer and saw her hovering at the open door.
“Why don’t we say that from now on, Alex and DeeDee have open-door privileges,” he suggested, not wanting to point out that his own son shouldn’t have to knock. “I think Morgan is in the barn, guys.”
“Is it okay if we go for a ride?” DeeDee asked equally of Jackson and her mother.
“Kayla?” Jackson asked. He wanted a chance to talk but didn’t want to sound eager for the kids to be gone.
“Sure.”
“Check with Flora, DeeDee,” he suggested. “She should have trail mix and other snacks. Water, too.”
DeeDee ran into the kitchen, Alex following more slowly. A few minutes later they came out with a sack.
“Have a good time,” Jackson told them. “Oh, wait, I’ll get a satellite phone for you.” He got it from the office and handed it Alex, who smiled more naturally than usual.
“Thanks, Jackson.”
Once they were gone, Jackson looked at Kayla. “How about a drive? There’s something I’d like to discuss.”
Her lips tightened, then she shrugged. “Okay.”
He drove his pickup to a favorite viewpoint and sat staring at the landscape.
“I don’t want to talk about yesterday, if that’s what you have in mind,” Kayla said, breaking the silence.
He shook his head. “Let’s just treat what happened as an anomaly.”
“Anomaly? Thanks for the compliment.”
“I can’t seem to stop putting my foot in my mouth, can I?”
Kayla shrugged. “Maybe it was an anomaly. Coming to Montana has been a huge shake-up and I’m still sorting myself out. And you obviously haven’t had one of your casual dates for a while.”
“What do you know about my dating habits, casual or not?”
“Are you kidding?” she asked with a laugh. “Between my grandmother, who hears gossip at the local beauty parlor, and what I’ve heard in town myself, you’ve made quite a name for yourself.”
Perplexed, Jackson stared at her. “I didn’t know I had a reputation any longer.”
“Everyone has a reputation—good, bad or indifferent. But is this really what you came out here to discuss?”
“No. Something happened and I wanted to see what you thought about it.” He hesitated. “The thing is, you may be right about Morgan feeling that she’s not wanted.”
He expected Kayla to crow and tell him she’d told him so, but Morgan mattered more than his pride.
Kayla just shook her head. “That poor kid.”
“This morning Morgan actually said she wanted someone to be glad she’s around. I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on it sooner.”
“We all miss things. Last night I discovered DeeDee is worried Alex’s new relationships might leave her out. She doesn’t know how she fits in here. I should have guessed she’d have mixed feelings about what’s happened, but I was too focused on Alex to see it.”
Jackson smiled grimly. “It may not be possible for parents to think of everything, but that isn’t much comfort when your child is ready to self-destruct.”
* * *
KAYLA FELT BAD for Jackson. He was so proud, it would have taken a lot to make him confide in her.
“What did Morgan say when you talked at Yellowstone?” he asked. “Any specifics would help.”
“It was mostly an impression—little bits of things that reminded me of how I felt knowing my mom didn’t want me around a lot of the time, except when she needed to show me to the welfare people.”
“Marcy hasn’t been much of a mother, but I couldn’t imagine my life without Morgan.”
Kayla shifted in the seat. “Have you ever talked about her mom already being pregnant when you got married?”
“She knows, but it hardly seems necessary to discuss it further.”