Page 95 of Kayla's Cowboy
Thunder snorted and Jackson urged him forward again.
Kayla had barely looked at him when she’d gotten into the Volvo. Her lack of response had stung, but was hardly surprising. And maybe it was too much to expect since she’d also been saying goodbye to her grandparents.
As he reached the top of a rise, his smartphone alerted him to an incoming text; it was from Alex.
How is the new foal doing?
Grateful Alex had taken the time to type out the words, since he wasn’t adept at deciphering texting language, Jackson carefully answered.
Great. Ruby is taking good care of him now.
A couple of hours later, another text arrived, this one from DeeDee.
Thx 4 Y 4 hrs 4 gr8 bbQs DD
The barbecue part of the message wasn’t too difficult, but it took a while to figure out that the rest was probably a thank-you for the camping trip and teaching her to ride.
U R welcome. Glad U were here, he typed back.
The contact with the kids heartened him. But otherwise, the long hours in the saddle provided little of their usual solace.
He ached for Kayla.
It wasn’t the sex, good as that had been. It was the longing for everything that made up a couple’s life together. He kept imagining little moments, such as sitting on the porch as he held her hand. Riding together. Nights when they sent the kids to the Garrisons or his parents so they could be alone.
They’d eat dinner as a family, with DeeDee devising a ridiculous word to describe her day, Morgan blooming with both a father and mother to support her and Alex outlining a project he was doing at school. Knowing Kayla had wanted more children enlivened Jackson’s imagination further. They could marvel together at a kicking foot and at the first cry of a new son or daughter. There would be all sorts of things to share—settling sibling squabbles, waking the kids up to see a foal being born, dealing with college applications, worrying over their decisions...countless moments.
Together.
He finally got it. When you truly loved someone, you loved each other through the good times and bad. And even when you argued, you knew at the end you’d make up and learn from it and love even more. Of course, Kayla hadn’t said she loved him, but he doubted she would have been that upset by his proposal if she didn’t have strong feelings for him.
After the long day, Jackson returned to the house and checked for voice mail on the landline phone, then checked his emails and double-checked his texts to be sure he hadn’t missed any possible word from Kayla. Not surprisingly, there was nothing from her aside from the one email saying they’d arrived safely.
“Do you want me to take you shopping for school clothes?” he asked Morgan as they ate dinner, trying to inject a note of normality. They’d shared so many meals with a group it seemed unusually quiet, especially since Flora had gone into town to see the latest Bruce Willis flick.
Morgan shrugged. “Whatever.”
A couple of months earlier, that “whatever” would have frustrated the hell out of him. Now he simply nodded.
“We can do it however way you like. If you’d prefer, we could even drive to Billings or Helena and see what they’ve got there.”
She seemed to brighten. “Um...that might be nice.”
“I’m sure we’ll have a good time as long as you don’t expect me to understand anything about women’s fashion.”
A tiny smile curved her mouth. “Okay.”
“How about watching a movie?” he suggested.
They went into the family room and wrangled good-naturedly over what film to watch, finally settling on the stylish Agatha Christie classic Death on the Nile. They popped a bowl of popcorn and sat sipping sodas, trading comments on the scenery.
“Some of the costumes are pretty, but I wouldn’t like wearing them,” Morgan said at one point. “And most of the wife’s evening dresses look stupid, even though they’re supposed to be sexy.”
Sexy?
Jackson tried not to get uncomfortable. “The character is too obnoxious to be sexy.”
“Yeah. It’s like, who cares if she’s toast?”
He grinned, thinking it was a good thing he knew the movie since his mind really wasn’t on the plot. Instead, images of Kayla kept flitting through his head, and he hoped that she was thinking about him, as well. There was nothing else he could do.
Except...it wasn’t the only thing he could do. He could go to Seattle and show Kayla that he was completely committed to a life together.
* * *
AT TEN O’CLOCK that night Kayla almost wished she hadn’t suggested going to Safeco Field. The teams were tied and the game was going into extra innings. Everyone around them was excited, but she wanted to go home and crawl into bed. Or maybe it was just the depression talking.