Page 76 of Kayla's Cowboy

“It’s harder to see shooting stars in Seattle, too,” Sandy murmured. “Except when you go away from the city.”

“Yeah. After his last divorce, Dad took DeeDee and me out near Black Diamond to watch the meteor shower. Instead, we saw the northern lights.”

“Yeah, I remember you calling about that. It was so late my mother nearly had a cow.”

Alex laughed. “Sorry.”

“Doesn’t matter. Mom gets in a twist about all kinds of junk.” Sandy turned on her side to look at him. “You know, I like your birth dad.”

“I guess he isn’t that bad.” Yet Alex squirmed. In the beginning he’d thought the guy was a jerk, but now he liked Jackson and it made him feel strange. It would be okay if they could just be friends, except it was more mixed-up than that.

“Do you think your mom and him are getting together?” Sandy asked.

Alex bolted upright. “What?”

She shrugged. “You know what I mean—they used to date, so they must have liked each other once. Maybe they’ve started liking each other again.”

This wasn’t what Alex had imagined at all when he’d come to Montana. To meet Mom’s family, yeah. And since Grandma and Grandpa were terrific, that part of running away had worked out fine.

“I don’t think Mom likes Jackson,” he said. “A lot of the time she’s really uptight around him.”

“Maybe, but there’s something about how they look at each other, or the way they look away from each other, if you get what I mean. It sure makes me wonder.”

Alex hunched his shoulders and stared miserably at the house. His mom couldn’t fall for Jackson, could she? That would screw up everything.

“I’m going in for a minute,” he told Sandy.

He found his mother at her laptop computer in the family room, typing an email. “Hey.”

She clicked Send and smiled at him. “I was just letting Roger know when to expect me back.”

“He must need you real bad,” Alex said.

His mom frowned. “What’s up, kiddo? You wanted to stay longer, and now it sounds as if you’re anxious to head home.”

“No, but we’re still leaving in a few days, aren’t we?”

“That’s the plan. Sandy’s and Keri’s folks are expecting us and we’ve got to start your back-to-school shopping. I know you aren’t crazy about trying on clothes, but it has to be done.”

Alex relaxed. “That’s okay. So you and Jackson aren’t, like, hooking up?”

It had to be his imagination, but even though his mom laughed, her face seemed sort of sad.

“No, we have different lives, in different states.” Her eyes narrowed. “What brought all this up?”

“Sandy wondered. I thought she was full of hot air, but decided to ask anyhow.”

“I see. Does the idea of me being interested in someone bother you? Someday, I mean.”

He made a face. “I don’t know.”

“You know you can talk to me, about anything, right?”

“Sure.”

Alex trudged outside and dropped down next to Sandy. “You’re wrong,” he announced, “Mom and Jackson aren’t hooking up because they live in different states and we’re going home soon.”

“That doesn’t mean she isn’t interested.”

“You’re nuts.”

“Okay,” Sandy told him. “You know her best.”

The problem was, Alex wasn’t sure he did know his mom that well.

* * *

KAYLA SIGNED OUT of her email and sat thinking. She had to be more careful. She and Jackson might be sending subconscious signals if Sandy was already wondering if something was going on between them.

What if Morgan started wondering the same thing? It was hard to guess how she would react, but she’d already had her world kicked upside down by getting an unknown brother, and that was on top of her other problems.

Restless, Kayla went to the window and looked out, a curious melancholy gripping her.

There was no denying that Jackson had shaken her up. She hadn’t realized how insular she’d become, falling into the habit of getting through the days, running when the pain got bad and trying to do the right things to protect her family. She’d convinced herself that they were doing all right, but obviously they hadn’t been.

Now, though some things were better, others were more jumbled than ever. She wasn’t proud of having gone to bed with Jackson, but at the same time, it had been an affirmation that she was alive.

Kayla sighed.

It might be good for Alex and DeeDee to see her happy with someone, but Jackson wasn’t the right man. He no longer believed in love; in fact, she had no idea if he’d ever believed in it, while she had a healthy respect for its awesome power. Her problem was being unsure about taking the risk again.