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“Isn’t Japanese hard?” Morgan asked.
“Yeah, but it would be neat to learn. And the United States does lots of business with Japan.”
“I thought you wanted to be president someday.”
“I’ve got to do something until then. You have to be, like, ancient before you can run for president, so I’m going to study international law.”
“I guess knowing Japanese would help.”
“Sure, and I’ll have to learn other languages, too.”
Morgan made a face. She had enough trouble in English class. “I’m taking French this fall.”
“That’s cool.”
“Dad says Spanish might be more useful, but I want to visit Paris someday.”
Talking about class starting was depressing. Not because Morgan hated school, but it was a reminder that Alex and DeeDee were going back to Seattle soon. Of course, things were probably going to get better at home now, and Alex had said he’d show her how to do video calls with him on the computer. Besides, he’d come back to Montana to see everyone, and he was going to ask if she could visit them in Seattle. It just wouldn’t be the same as him and DeeDee being here all the time.
“What’s the matter?” Sandy asked.
Morgan shrugged. “I’m going to be lonely when you guys leave.”
“Yeah, I was lonely while Alex was gone. I could have killed him when he emailed and told me he’d blown off his dad to go to Montana.”
Morgan nodded; she would have been mad, too.
She liked Sandy, though a jealous little part of her wanted to keep Alex to herself.
“Alex says you might come to visit Seattle,” Sandy continued. “That’s cool. I’ll take you sailing on Lake Washington. Alex won’t go, he gets seasick.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s gross.”
Morgan laughed. “I won’t get sick. My grandparents have a boat and we go sailing on Flathead Lake.”
“Awesome. We’ll thumb our noses at him as we sail away.”
“He won’t care.”
“No, but we’ll do it anyway.”
It sounded fun and Morgan wondered how soon she could go. It was a long way to Seattle. Dad would have to let her fly, but maybe he wouldn’t mind. He might even want to go, too. After all, Alex was a boy and that probably meant a lot to him.
She’d always known her father had wanted a boy instead of a girl. It was what her mom had said—that he’d wanted them to have more kids because he’d hoped one would be a son. It bothered her a little, but not as much as thinking he hadn’t wanted her at all.
* * *
KAYLA ANXIOUSLY WATCHED for Alex’s return, wondering how he might be taking the one-on-one time with Jackson. So far, Alex had tried to stay in a group whenever his birth father was around.
Alex came into the backyard by way of the house. He’d changed into his bathing suit and immediately jumped into the pool.
Jackson followed, but stopped when he saw Elizabeth pulling the churn dasher from the ice cream maker.
“I can’t tell any difference,” he said after eating a spoonful, “unless it’s one of those lesson things—we get more out of the stuff we have to work for.”
“Hush,” Hank warned, “there are kids here. Don’t give away a parent’s trade secrets.”
“My apologies.”
Keri, listening from the pool, giggled.
Kayla had always imagined an extended family gathering would be like this, filled with warmth and laughter. She was grateful Alex and DeeDee were experiencing it now, and that there’d probably be many more in the future.
The McGregors seemed genuine about wanting DeeDee to be part of their family, and she knew her grandparents felt the same about Morgan. It was partly why she’d warned Jackson to be careful about giving anyone the wrong impression—there was no sense in anyone thinking they’d get together. Of course, it was possible the McGregors didn’t have that in mind since they had to be aware of Jackson’s reputation. Madison certainly didn’t have a high opinion of her brother’s attitude toward women and marriage.
Nevertheless, Jackson seemed to have taken her warning seriously. Aside from casual friendliness, he didn’t come over to talk with her, or do anything else that might suggest they were becoming a couple. So she was able to concentrate on other people...mostly.
Around eight, after another meal, the kids started getting ready for their sleep-out. Elizabeth and Hank said good-night and left for home.
“You’ve got everything you need?” Kayla asked her son and daughter and their friends.
“Everything’s cool, Mom,” Alex said.
