Page 80 of Kayla's Cowboy
“It’s part of the house where my folks live. That’s where I grew up. I can show you the old part, and where they added on later.”
Alex bobbed his head, wishing his stomach wasn’t so tight.
“By the way, there’s something I wanted to talk about,” Jackson said as they turned back toward the house.
Alex scowled; he’d known there had to be more to the ride than just a family history lesson.
“It’s about why you ran away and came to Montana,” Jackson continued. “Your mom is worried. Is there something about it that you can’t discuss with her?”
Alex shrugged and kept his mouth shut.
“I’m not asking you to tell me, but I wish you’d consider trusting her with it,” Jackson urged.
“Why do you care what she thinks?” Alex asked, suspicious.
“Because she’s your mother. She’s trying to take care of you, and it’s extrahard since she’s mostly doing it alone.”
“Yeah, my dad’s kind of a loser,” Alex muttered. Sometimes he didn’t care if the whole world knew his father was a jackass.
Jackson didn’t say anything right away, as if he was thinking something over. “Maybe, but he must have something good about him, or your mother wouldn’t have married him in the first place.”
Alex let go of a tight breath, glad Jackson had said that. Sometimes it got awfully hard to love his dad. His eyes stung and he looked away. There weren’t any buildings, just cows and hills and a few trees.
All of a sudden a rabbit shot out of the grass in front of them, making Jackson’s horse sidestep and toss its head with a high whinny. “Whoa there, Rico,” Jackson said, bringing the stallion under control as if it was no big deal.
Alex patted Betty’s neck, glad she wasn’t jumpy. Morgan said her dad liked to help horses that had been broken badly or mistreated. She called Thunder a nervous Nellie because he’d been treated rotten by some guy down in Wyoming before being rescued, though he was much better now that he was starting to trust her dad.
“Do you think Thunder remembers how bad it was before you got him?” Alex asked curiously.
“It’s hard to say. Horses are much more sensitive and intelligent than lots of people think.”
“Yeah.” Alex rubbed his nose. It was strange to go from being a computer nerd with a bratty stepbrother to riding a horse he’d saddled himself. And not at a riding stable, either, on a real cattle ranch that belonged to his birth dad’s family.
“So will you talk to your mother?” Jackson pushed after they’d ridden a little farther.
Alex fiddled with Betty’s reins. “I don’t know. She might get upset.”
“I bet she’d rather have you talk to her, no matter what. Besides, I doubt you upset your mom as much as I used to upset your grandparents.”
Alex wanted to ask Jackson what sort of things he’d done as a kid, but figured he probably wouldn’t want to tell. Then he decided to ask anyhow.
“What’s the wildest thing you ever did?” he asked, expecting to hear it was drag racing or playing chicken, or something stupid and daring like jumping off a mountain with a parachute.
“I don’t know if it was the wildest, but I drove all night to Seattle on a dare. My folks thought I was camping with a friend.”
Alex laughed. “Come on, that’s the worst thing you ever did?”
Jackson looked surprised, then sad.
“Actually, no,” he said slowly. “The worst thing was not believing your mother when she told me she was pregnant with our baby. It was harder for her, but I still paid a big price. You see, I would have gotten to know you a long time ago instead of waiting until you were fifteen. It may sound sappy, but if I could fix only one thing I’ve done wrong, that’s the one I’d choose.”
Alex looked down. He’d been so bent out of shape about everything he hadn’t wanted to think about how Jackson felt. But maybe he should, because even if he didn’t want another dad, Jackson might be a good guy to have as a friend.
* * *
MORGAN SAT ON the edge of her grandparents’ pool, swinging her legs in the water and wondering when Alex and her dad were getting back. At least she had Sandy to talk to; DeeDee and Keri were too busy playing in the waterfall to notice anyone else. Her grandparents’ pool was smaller than at home, but it had a hot tub on one side that sort of spilled over into the rest of the water, and a waterfall on the other. It wasn’t like the waterfall at Halloran’s Meadow, but it was pretty nifty.
“You know what?” Sandy said. “Our school back home has decided to offer Japanese. Alex and I are taking it together.”