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Kayla hadn’t needed Grams’s advice to keep her savings hidden. She’d memorized the bank account number and destroyed the paperwork; Carolyn had never known it existed.
Jackson was staring at the passing traffic as if he didn’t know how to respond. “It still must have been rough,” he said, finally. “Alex is my son. I should have helped.”
Kayla saw genuine remorse in Jackson’s face...and heard a note of anguish in his voice. The ranching world he came from was filled with tradition and rigid codes of behavior. He hadn’t wanted to believe he was the father of her baby, so he’d broken that code. Now he was paying the price.
“You can help now by letting Alex be himself,” she suggested carefully. Jackson McGregor might be chauvinistic, impatient and demanding, but he was also the kind of man who could make an adolescent boy feel inadequate, especially if he thought the man in question looked down on him.
“What do you mean?”
“Just that Alex isn’t a cowboy. I suspect that’s part of why he’s so reluctant to meet you. He may worry you won’t approve of him, or that you might expect him to be different than he is.”
Jackson jerked with surprise. “He thinks I won’t like him if he isn’t a jock or something?”
“I don’t know, but I have to wonder. And even if he isn’t worried about it now, he might be later. Just be excited about who Alex is, not who you think he should be.”
“Surely you know I’d never intentionally hurt my own kid, Kayla.” Jackson sounded faintly offended.
She sighed. “It’s the unintentional damage I’m concerned about. You obviously have very...traditional ideas about male and female roles.”
His mouth snapped shut and she gave him credit for not going ballistic.
“Anyway,” she continued, “I’ll bring Alex to the park in the morning. I’m hoping it will help him make up his mind about going on the camping trip.”
She drove back to the house and sat down with her son. “Okay, we’re all set for tomorrow.”
Alex chewed the inside of his lip and looked ready to run for the Montana state border.
“This is not the time for second thoughts,” she said gently.
“Jeez, Mom, I know, but the thing about tomorrow...and Yellowstone...” His voice trailed into silence.
“Yes?” Kayla prompted. She knew he was mixed-up about a lot of things, but if he didn’t talk to her, she couldn’t help.
“I’m afraid I messed up our family,” he said in a rush. “What if that guy tries to make me stay in Montana?”
“Alex, I don’t think that’s what Jackson wants, and even if he does, he couldn’t make you stay. No judge would let it happen.”
“Really?”
“Honest,” Kayla assured him. “But would it be terrible to come back for visits? We’d see Grams and Granddad, and if you and Jackson hit it off, you can spend some time with him and your sister Morgan. That doesn’t sound bad, does it?”
“No, I like Montana. I just don’t want to stay here forever.”
Kayla couldn’t resist ruffling his hair the way she’d done when he was three. “Do me a favor. Next time you’re worried about something, ask before twisting yourself into a knot.”
He grinned. “Okay.”
She went to her bedroom, shaking her head. Jackson thought moodiness belonged to teenage girls?
At least she’d learned what some of Alex’s foot-dragging was about, though she could kick herself for not figuring it out earlier. If she’d believed Jackson might try to seek custody, she’d have been bothered, too...and lining up lawyers from Schuyler to Seattle.
But custody wasn’t a serious concern. Aside from Alex running away to Montana, he’d never been in any trouble. He got excellent grades in school, was well-adjusted and his home life in Seattle was stable. Even if Jackson decided to seek custody, no Seattle judge would give him the time of day. And her grandparents were so respected, he wouldn’t get far in Schuyler, either.
Yet Kayla frowned. Her motherly instincts remained uneasy. Alex’s “unauthorized vacation” had been a drastic step, and she still thought there was more to it than he’d confessed.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING Kayla pulled in at the park and turned toward Alex, sitting next to her in the front seat. He looked sick to his stomach.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Do I have to?”
“You said you would, and Jackson came into town just for this.”
Alex nodded, but he still scrunched down and tried to spy over the edge of the dashboard so he could see his birth father without being spotted.
