Why had he said he’d go? Spending time with Morgan would be okay, but he wasn’t sure about anything else. While his birth father might not be able to get custody or force him to stay in Montana, everything would be different from now on.
Alex swallowed hard and wished he was on another planet, even the Klingon home world.
* * *
NERVOUS ENERGY RAN down Kayla’s spine as she walked toward Jackson’s Chevy Suburban. Jackson stepped onto the sidewalk and a teenage girl with a sulky expression followed him.
Morgan was pretty, with wavy blond hair and green eyes. Kayla had expected her to resemble her mother, but there were only a few similarities. Marcy had fancied herself a dark-haired Marilyn Monroe, complete with pouty mouth and dramatic poses. Unlike Marilyn, however, nothing about Marcy had suggested a hidden vulnerability.
“Morgan,” Jackson said, “this is Kayla Anderson. She’s Alex’s mother.”
Morgan stared with open curiosity, something Kayla understood. Maybe she was comparing her half brother’s mother to her own.
“Hi, Morgan,” Kayla said with a friendly smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Uh, hello.”
“This is my daughter, DeeDee,” she introduced as DeeDee came up beside her.
“Your shirt is so dope,” DeeDee said, looking at Morgan’s black T-shirt with a white tiger lunging across the front.
“Thanks.”
Despite her taut nerves, Kayla noted Jackson’s jeans and the muscles rippling under his blue shirt. With his cowboy hat and boots and powerful physique, he was the epitome of a confident outdoorsman, which made him the opposite of Alex, who was suffering through a skinny, gangly period of self-conscious adolescence.
Jackson was obviously trying to act casual, though she noted his gaze shifting around, looking no doubt for “his” son. Lord, hopefully she wouldn’t have to coax Alex out of the house. If he’d changed his mind and didn’t want to go...well, she’d have to remind him that he’d agreed and needed to follow through.
Fortunately the front screen door opened before she had to do anything, and her son came down the steps. Jackson urged Morgan up the walkway. It was painfully awkward as they all came together.
Alex swallowed. “It’s...uh...nice to see you again, Mr. McGregor.”
The muscles tightened visibly beneath Jackson’s shirt. “Same here, but you don’t need to call me Mr. McGregor.”
“Okay,” Alex said, “I’ll call you Jackson.”
Aside from breathing faster, Jackson seemed to be keeping it together. Kayla suspected that Alex was testing him, though she didn’t know if he was doing it consciously. But what else had Jackson expected? Alex already had somebody he called Dad.
“That’s a good place to start,” Jackson returned pleasantly.
“Hey, Alex,” Morgan stepped forward to say.
Alex’s face changed as he grinned. “Hiya, Morgan. What are you doing up in the middle of the night?”
Morgan’s eyes rolled and the teenagers exchanged a laugh. “I slept in my clothes.”
“Me, too.”
Jackson watched them with a puzzled expression, and Kayla wondered if they were thinking the same thing. Morgan and Alex acted almost as if they already knew each other, though she was sure they hadn’t met. Alex had avoided going around Schuyler by himself alone for fear of accidentally running into Jackson.
“Breakfast is ready,” Elizabeth announced. She was a great believer in the power of eating together. Along with oatmeal and a pitcher of cream, she’d prepared huge platters of country potatoes, deluxe scrambled eggs and sliced ham.
Jackson had been obviously impatient when he learned Kayla’s grandmother planned to serve a meal before they left, and his reaction had worried Kayla. Apparently when Parker McGregor had taken his sons and nephew camping or fishing, they’d left before it was light and eaten what they had packed. But if Jackson was trying to replicate the experiences that had bonded his own family, the trip to Yellowstone would be an abysmal failure.
“It looks delicious, but you didn’t need to fix anything this elaborate,” Jackson said.
Elizabeth waved her hand. “I thought we should start with a meal. If you and Morgan don’t like your eggs with mushrooms and such, I have plain scrambled in the pan.”
“I love the extra stuff,” Morgan asserted.
Jackson’s eyebrows rose slightly and Kayla wondered what it might be about, especially when Morgan ate a good serving of the mushrooms and other chopped vegetables in the eggs.
All three kids were eating and chatting at one end of the table and while Jackson sent quick looks in their direction, he didn’t intrude. Kayla almost felt bad for him. His one meeting with Alex had been horribly uncomfortable, and now they were in a room with five other people and no chance of private conversation. For a man accustomed to being in control of his universe, he must be churning with impatience.