Page 90 of Kayla's Cowboy

* * *

KAYLA WAS RESTLESS. As usual, Flora had turned down her help in the kitchen, and there was little else to do. Jackson’s parents had left temporarily, going into town for some shopping, and her grandparents weren’t coming over until later.

“How about the two of us take a ride?” Jackson asked. “No one will be getting here for an hour or so. And if they’re early, they can just hang out at the pool.”

“Okay.”

She was glad he hadn’t suggested a swim, since twice it had led to intimacies she should have resisted. Not that she could have succumbed this time; Flora was there and too much family was expected.

“Will you miss Montana?” Jackson asked as they rode away from the ranch center.

“Yes,” she admitted. “Even as a kid I liked it here—everything was so clean and open and beautiful. Seattle is great and I love it, but it will be nice to visit my grandparents and see Big Sky Country once in a while.”

“I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

“They say some people’s names are written on the land, and I always knew yours was carved on Montana.”

Kayla wanted to relax and enjoy her last ride before leaving, but it was hard. She couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation she’d had with Alex.

“A penny for your thoughts.” Jackson’s voice broke into her reverie.

She glanced at him. “Sorry. My mind was a million miles away. Well, a few hundred miles, at least. In Seattle.”

“Because you’re anxious to get home.” His voice was tense, no doubt because she’d be taking Alex away from Schuyler.

“Not exactly,” she answered. “I was thinking how life gets messed up, despite our best intentions.”

* * *

JACKSON STOPPED AT one of his favorite views of the ranch, the sadness in Kayla’s face weighing on him.

“What prompted all this introspection?” he asked.

“Alex talked to me last night. I understand I have you to thank for that, by the way.”

“My pleasure. What did he say?”

“It turns out he’s a lot angrier with Curtis than I thought. Maybe even more than I am.”

“You mentioned your divorce was amicable.”

“It was. I felt it would be better for Alex and DeeDee if we were friendly, so while I was desperately disappointed in my husband, I kept it hidden. Now I wonder if that made it harder for them to express their anger and disappointment. I want them to love their father, but he has real problems. Ultimately they have to learn that they can love him, despite his imperfections.”

A question pressed inside Jackson—could she love someone else, despite their imperfections?

Someone like him?

“Maybe it would help Alex and DeeDee if you created boundaries for your ex,” Jackson suggested carefully. “He should be responsible for his decisions, but he seems to rely on you for emotional support. Would it be better for everyone if you shut the door?”

A thoughtful expression crossed Kayla’s face. “You may be right. Boundaries might create a safe zone for the kids. I don’t want them to hate Curtis, in spite of his faults. I just don’t want them to be hurt constantly because he can’t give them the steady affection a kid needs.”

Jackson wanted to say that he could do that. He could love both Alex and DeeDee each day of their lives and do everything in his power to protect them and make them happy. And he wanted to do that for Kayla, too. He just couldn’t make that kind of declaration in the middle of a discussion about her ex-husband.

Kayla’s potential reaction was hard to guess. She’d been hurt over and over, let down by the people she should have been able to trust.

The big question was whether she’d ever be willing to make another leap of faith, especially with a man who’d once let her down himself. True, he’d been a teenager when it had happened, and she knew he’d changed since then, but he’d hardly become a poster child for healthy relationships.

* * *

KAYLA WAS GLAD to see the kids return to the house soon after she and Jackson finished their own ride.

Around one o’clock her grandparents arrived, along with members of the McGregor family.

“I’m sorry you’re going home,” Madison told her as they sat in the shade of the awning.

“Vacations have to end sometime.”

“Yeah, I know, and Seattle may be a better place to raise kids. I’ve been thinking about moving to the city myself.”

“To Seattle?”

“Maybe. At least somewhere bigger than Schuyler. It’s hard to think of leaving, but the guys are backward here. You’d think they dropped right out of the nineteenth century, especially when it comes to their women.”

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