Jackson clamped a tight reign over his body. He wasn’t a randy high school boy any longer; an experienced man of his age ought to have discipline over himself.
“I thought it was interesting how easily Alex and Morgan got along,” he commented finally. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think they were already friends.”
“Sometimes teens have fewer inhibitions—it depends on their mood.”
“True, but is there any way they might have spent time with each other?”
“Not in Schuyler. Alex hasn’t wanted to go anywhere alone in case he ran into...”
Her voice trailed and Jackson sourly finished the sentence in his head...in case he ran into you.
“They could have connected through one of the social networks,” Kayla said. “Does Morgan do Facebook?”
“Constantly. I have a page for the ranch and post periodic updates, but she’s on it all the time. I’m always warning her to be careful.”
Kayla chuckled ruefully. “That sounds familiar. I do so many safety lectures, I should just tattoo them on my forehead to save time.”
“I suppose DeeDee would be insulted if she thought you were directing them all at her.”
“You’re making assumptions again. Boys are at risk, same as girls.”
“I know,” Jackson said, realizing he probably had assumed boys were safer than girls. “I’ve just never needed to think about it. Now I’ll have to start looking at the other side of the coin.”
“There’s no need to rush. I’ve got it covered.”
“I’m not implying your care is lacking, but I need to take responsibility.”
“No, you don’t,” Kayla said stubbornly.
“I’m his father. I’ve already talked to my accountant about setting up a fund for his education and sending regular support checks.”
“Not needed.” She enunciated the words precisely, with an underlying edge in her tone. “We’re doing fine. And as for college funds, both Alex and DeeDee have one, though we’ve never planned to pay for everything. I happen to think kids take their education more seriously when they have to work for it.”
Everything she’d said was reasonable...and annoying. The “we” was obviously a reference to her ex-husband, and it was reminder that Alex thought of Curtis Anderson as Dad, not Jackson McGregor.
“What’s the matter?” Kayla asked. “I can tell you’re uptight about something. Again.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Good grief, Jackson. If you don’t want me to know when you’re unhappy, you’ll have to start relaxing your jaw. I could crack walnuts on it right now.”
Jackson frowned. Was he that easy to read, or was she more observant than most people?
“Fine, something is bothering me,” he admitted. “But I don’t want to discuss it.”
Kayla already knew how he felt about missing most of Alex’s childhood, and mentioning it again would just earn another tart remark about it being his own fault. For any hope of a relationship with Alex, he had to build a working partnership with Alex’s mother. Like it or not, they’d be dealing with each other for the rest of their lives—graduations, a wedding, grandchildren, they’d share them all.
Grandchildren?
He suddenly felt old, and he was only thirty-four.
Hopefully Alex wouldn’t follow in his footsteps when it came to early fatherhood, but they’d have to know each other better before discussing the facts of life. So far Jackson had mostly listened to his son interacting with other people. Still, he should be glad he’d been able to do that much. For a moment after arriving that morning, he’d wondered whether Alex would refuse to come out of the house.
“What would you have done if Alex had changed his mind about going today?” he asked curiously.
“We would have talked, but ultimately I would have said he needed to follow through on his word.”
“I thought you were leaving all the power in his hands.”
“Power?” she questioned. “That’s an odd way of putting it. He’s a boy, not a wild young steer to be thrown and branded.”
“You know what I meant.”
“I know you don’t approve of letting him choose about meeting you, but he’s fifteen, not eight. How would you have reacted as a teenager, being told you had to meet your birth father for the first time, regardless of how you felt about it?”
Jackson thought back to when he was Alex’s age. From fifteen on, he’d pushed for more and more independence, been wildly interested in girls and ready to wrestle the world to its knees.