But what bothered Jackson was that he’d talked to Alex as much for Kayla’s sake as for his son’s.
“Hey, boss, you out here?” called a voice from behind the fence, dragging Jackson’s thoughts into the present.
“Yeah, Greg, what’s up?”
“Ruby is edgy. She doesn’t show sign of getting ready to drop her foal, but you might want to check her.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
Jackson got dressed and headed to the barn where they kept the broodmares. Most of them had dropped their foals in May and June, but they’d bought Ruby from a rancher down south, who’d bred her late. She was younger than Jackson liked, too, for a first-time mother.
“Hey, girl.”
Ruby pushed her nose into his chest and he rubbed her neck. She was a sweetheart, a purebred Appaloosa like Thunder, and he hoped one day to breed them together.
“Do you just want attention?” he asked the mare.
She stepped uneasily from foot to foot and he checked her over carefully. As Greg had said, there weren’t any indications she was going into labor, but it wouldn’t hurt to watch her.
“Go on, I’ll stay,” Jackson told the foreman.
“Could be a long night, boss.”
“I’ll have Ace call if anything happens.”
Ace was the cowhand assigned to the night watch that week. Going from barn to barn and corral to corral all night long wasn’t popular, so they rotated the duty between the hands, Jackson taking his turn along with the others.
“Go,” he ordered. “She doesn’t like you as much as me anyhow.”
“Yeah, it’s your killer charm with the ladies,” Greg said, and ambled out.
Jackson got a grooming cloth and began wiping Ruby down, knowing it would calm her. He’d been grooming horses every day for as long as he could remember, and the familiar task didn’t demand as much of his attention as he would have liked.
Why was he so restless?
He’d just enjoyed the best sex of his life. He should be supremely relaxed. After all, he’d gotten what he’d laughingly wished for in the pool. But he couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling that he’d settled for much less than he could have had.
It was strange. He’d been determined never to get seriously involved with another woman, fiercely resolute never to let another Marcy or Patti come near him. But Kayla wasn’t the least bit like the other two women, which was something he needed to think about very carefully.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
LATE THE NEXT morning Kayla pulled up in front of Jackson’s house and assumed her best game face.
“Hi,” she called as he stepped out on the porch. “Are the kids here?”
“Not yet. At the moment they’re eating my mother’s pancakes and deciding whether to take a detour up to Halloran’s Meadow. I told Mom we’d call if we wanted them to come straight back.”
Jackson’s eyebrow lifted in what she interpreted as a challenge, but Kayla refused to react. “We’re going home in a couple of days. Let them have a little more vacation fun.”
He frowned, though she didn’t try to interpret what it meant.
“You look tired,” she added, trying to look as bright-eyed as possible, despite having gotten little rest herself.
“I was up all night with a foaling mare,” he explained. “I just came in to change my clothes and then head back out to the barn. But now that you’re here, I’d like to show you something.”
With a neutral smile Kayla followed him into his office. After all, she was an expert at survival. At worst, Jackson was a passing heartache. That was all.
She hoped.
Silently she examined the papers he showed her. He’d established a trust fund for Alex.
“You don’t have to tell him about it,” Jackson said, “but it’s there if needed.”
Kayla returned the documents. “I’d rather he didn’t know. Aside from anything else, his relationship with you should be separate from money.”
“I guess you’re right.” He tossed the papers into a drawer and locked it.
Kayla didn’t know what else to say, so she suggested visiting the new foal. Luckily two of the ranch hands were there when they arrived, keeping things light the way she wanted.
* * *
AS THEY RODE IN, Alex followed as Morgan veered toward the barn she’d said was for their broodmares. A truck with some writing on the side was parked next to the door.
“Hey, guys,” Morgan called over her shoulder. “That’s our vet. Dad’s new mare might be foaling. Let’s go check.”
They tied their horses at the corral fence and trooped toward the large doors.