Page 33 of Kayla's Cowboy

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Earlier that morning Kayla had reluctantly shared her electronic family albums on the portable hard drive he’d given her.

When he returned to the house, Flora called him into the kitchen. “Any chance you could hang out at the pool for a while?” she asked. “Morgan wants to swim, but I’m going into town and can’t sit with her. Now she’s sulking.”

One of the rules Jackson had made was that Morgan couldn’t be in the swimming pool without an adult present. He had threatened, entirely seriously, that he’d bulldoze it full of dirt and plant petunias if she ever swam unattended.

Though he was impatient to look at the photos Kayla had given him, Jackson went upstairs to Morgan’s room. The door was ajar and she looked up as he knocked.

“How about a swim, kiddo?” he asked. “I’d like some time in the pool.”

Her face brightened. “Okay.”

“Let’s put on our suits and meet out there.”

She was waiting when he reached poolside and jumped in, turning on her back and floating happily. Morgan had always been an excellent swimmer.

Diving into the cool, clear water, Jackson gave himself up to enjoying it, as well. Some folks in Schuyler regarded the large pool as an extravagance, but his trust fund kept him comfortable, and he saw no reason not to enjoy the benefits from it—especially since he’d encountered his share of drawbacks to having money. And in the water, Morgan lost her angry resentment, even shooting a beach ball back and forth with him. In his book, the pool was worth the cost, if only for a single untroubled afternoon with his daughter.

Two hours later they dried off and went in to eat the supper Flora had left baking in the oven.

After their dishes had been rinsed and stacked in the sink, Jackson thought about asking if Morgan wanted to look at the Andersons’ photos with him, but he didn’t want to change the comfortable atmosphere that lingered.

“I know we’ve seen them, but would you like to watch the last two Star Trek movies with me again?” he suggested instead.

“Really? I didn’t think you were interested.”

“I should give them another shot. It’s early. We can make popcorn and have a movie night.”

Morgan bit her lip. “I just have to, uh, go message somebody to say I won’t be online for a while.”

“Go ahead. I’ll get the popcorn and sodas.”

This time through, Jackson realized the films were quite good, though he didn’t enjoy watching the sexier scenes with his teenage daughter. Still, they were mild compared to lots of movies and TV, so he tried to ignore his discomfort.

“I like the sequel even better than the first,” Morgan said as the credits rolled on the second film.

“It’s pretty good, all right.”

“We should bring all the Star Trek movies to Yellowstone. I bet the Garrisons have a TV and Blu-ray player in their RV.”

“Sure,” he said, wincing internally. So much for a back-to-basics camping trip. “Alex likes science fiction, so he’d probably enjoy it, too.”

Morgan’s eyes suddenly flicked back to the resentment he’d seen so often. “Oh. That’s why you want to watch Star Trek. Because Alex likes sci-fi.”

Jackson wanted to kick himself. “If that was all, I could have watched them alone. I wanted to share the movies with you.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Without another word she marched up to her room and he shook his head in discouragement. How could she go from one mood to another so quickly? Had he been that way at the same age, or was it an aspect of female adolescence?

Obviously Morgan wouldn’t want to look through the Anderson family albums with him now, so he went into his office and plugged the portable hard drive into his computer.

Everything was neatly organized, the albums being represented by folders. Each file name included the date taken, and he started with the earliest. It was a teenage Kayla in the picture, and an odd sensation went through him as he looked at the nervous girl sitting in a hospital bed, holding a baby wrapped in a blue blanket.

Curious, he looked at several more photos in the folder and didn’t see any of Kayla’s mother. He’d never met Carolyn Garrison and only recalled bits of gossip that had circulated when they lived in Schuyler, mostly about her being seen drunk. Not long afterward, Kayla and her mom had left town. Jackson had been relieved since it meant Kayla wouldn’t be around to keep making false accusations. He was already headed to the altar with Marcy, feeling as if he was being dragged into a sinkhole. Ironically, of the two girls, he would have preferred marrying Kayla, except when she’d told him about the baby, he’d decided the rumors about her reputation must be true.

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