Page 65 of Kayla's Cowboy

Jackson stared into the pool’s depths. “The only thing Marcy and I had in common was being teenage parents, and she was a lousy mother. She was furious that I’d made an agreement with my great-uncle not to touch my trust fund for several years. Instead, he gave us a small house on the ranch and I worked as a cowhand. He paid me the same as his other employees and expected the same effort from me as from them.”

“That’s reasonable—he loved his ranch and wanted to be sure you could handle it.”

“Marcy didn’t see it that way. I swear, I paid for that agreement every day of our marriage. She was bitter, claiming we were living in squalor, and complained to everyone that I was treating her badly. I thought it would get better when I was able to build this house, but her complaints didn’t stop. The last straw was when she started sleeping around.”

Kayla couldn’t help but feel bad for him. At least Curtis had been honest enough to end their marriage before cheating. It was the only semimature thing he’d ever done.

“Did Marcy’s parents believe her complaints?” Kayla asked.

“No. I think the Liptons were seeing her clearly for the first time. They wouldn’t give her money and told me to stick to my arrangement with Great-Uncle Mitch. They said it might save her. But I think they’d given up hope by the time my mother-in-law died. Then with Della gone, Edgar didn’t have much to live for. He went soon after.”

It was sad the Liptons had passed knowing their daughter hadn’t turned out to be a very nice person.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ALEX PATTED BETTY on the neck as they rode away from Halloran’s Meadow. Much as he hated to admit it, riding horses and spending time on a ranch was pretty cool.

“Let’s go faster, slowpokes,” DeeDee called, passing him.

He and Morgan made faces at each other. Oops, DeeDee had looked back and was sticking out her tongue.

Sometimes it was a pain to have a ten-year-old tagging along. Maybe when Keri got to Montana, the two of them could hang out together and let him and Morgan spend time with Sandy.

It was rad having a sister his own age, although once in a while he’d caught DeeDee looking at him funny, especially when he tried to talk to Morgan privately.

By the time they got back to the ranch, he was starving.

“Are we staying long?” he whispered to his mother. “I’m real hungry.”

“No, Grams is expecting us at six.”

They’d eaten at Jackson and Morgan’s house for a couple of nights, so she’d decided they should spend an evening with her grandparents.

Morgan winked as they left—a signal to remind him about messaging her later. In the car he checked his phone and saw a message from Sandy saying her parents had finally gotten it together, so she and Keri were flying to Montana in two days.

When they came into the house, Grandma handed him and DeeDee plates piled with minipizzas. “I knew you’d be hungry and dinner will be later than planned. Your grandfather got tied up helping an old client.”

“Yummalicious,” DeeDee said.

Elizabeth smiled. “Thank you. Why don’t you watch the baseball game?”

In the family room, DeeDee plopped down on the couch, grabbed the remote and put on the game.

Alex shoved a bite of cheese pizza into his mouth. It tasted great, but he missed pepperoni. When he got back to Seattle he might have to start eating meat, no matter what jokes Brant and Dad made.

After a while DeeDee got quiet, and Alex didn’t think it was because the Mariners were getting their butts kicked by the White Sox. It made him nervous.

“Okay, what gives?” he asked during the seventh-inning stretch. “You’re acting all wacky, looking at me sideways and stuff.”

“Nothing.”

“As if I buy that. Your face looks the way it did the time you took my bike without asking and mashed up the front wheel. So?”

“I just... Did you feel left out when...” She stopped and chewed her bottom lip. “Did you feel left out when you found out Dad had adopted you?”

Alex shrugged. “Not exactly. He already didn’t have any time for me and only cares about Brant.”

“Yeah. Same here. Maybe you’re lucky to have Jackson.”

He stared and wondered what bug she’d gotten in her brain this time.

The Mariners almost managed to pull the game out of the trash can but finally lost in the bottom of the ninth. DeeDee still had the remote and put on a cartoon Alex didn’t care about, so he went to find his mom.

“Something up?” she asked.

“Yeah...no. I mean...could we go for a walk?”

Her eyebrows rose. “Sure,” she agreed, exchanging a look with Grandma. “Not a long one, though. Dinner is almost ready.”

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