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Kayla's Cowboy
Callie Endicott
It's never too late…right?Kayla Anderson is never going back to Montana. At least, that was the plan. But when her teenage son runs away to meet his great-grandparents, she ends up back in Schuyler…face to face with her high school sweetheart, rancher Jackson McGregor. It's complicated doesn't quite cover it, especially since Alex happens to be Jackson's son, too. Alex and his dad couldn't be more different, but Jackson will do anything to connect with his boy. And suddenly old wounds pale beside the possibility of a second chance under the wide Montana sky…
It’s never too late...right?
Kayla Anderson is never going back to Montana. At least, that was the plan. But when her teenage son runs away to meet his great-grandparents, she ends up back in Schuyler...face-to-face with her high school sweetheart, rancher Jackson McGregor. It’s complicated doesn’t quite cover it, especially since Alex happens to be Jackson’s son, too. Alex and his dad couldn’t be more different, but Jackson will do anything to connect with his boy. And suddenly old wounds pale beside the possibility of a second chance under the wide Montana sky...
No wonder Kayla disliked him.
And it was true that his parents hadn’t been happy he was dating her. So even if they’d known about Alex and supported her financially, she might have resented taking the money. On the other hand, she might have felt it was owed to her.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.
“I did okay.”
“You did better than okay,” he told her.
They fell silent again, but it was more comfortable this time. After exactly sixty minutes, DeeDee came running downstairs. “Can we swim now?” she pleaded. “There’s a neat pool house where we can change.”
“Sure,” Kayla told her. “I’ll go with you.”
Jackson went to his bedroom to put on his swim trunks, then headed outside.
Kayla stood next to the pool in her bathing suit, chatting with Morgan. She looked like a model in one of those “vacation paradise” magazine ads—long legs, hair fiery in the sun and a body that nearly made him howl.
He was in deep trouble.
Dear Reader (#ulink_6ab37a0d-c231-57de-be90-56058a902979),
Because my parents were older when I came along, camping was rarely a part of my childhood. The last time we went was before I turned five. I remember the family picking berries and my mom making a batch of jam from them. Having made jam myself, now, I know she was a little insane for doing it over a camp stove.
When my hero in Kayla’s Cowboy is struggling to find a way of connecting with his rebellious teenage daughter, as well as with the son he’s just met, sending everyone camping at Yellowstone seems like a good idea. Besides, Yellowstone is an amazing place, and it felt as if I got a vicarious visit to the park along with them.
But they have to return to reality—and one of Jackson McGregor’s realities is his attraction to his son’s mother, Kayla Anderson. That’s a big problem with their painful history, a mutual struggle to trust and the fact that he’s from Schuyler, Montana, while she lives in Seattle, Washington.
I enjoy hearing from readers. Please contact me c/o Mills & Boon Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, ON, M3B 3K9, Canada.
Callie Endicott
Kayla’s Cowboy
Callie Endicott
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CALLIE ENDICOTT often wishes her life would slow down, but so far it doesn’t show any sign of cooperating. There aren’t enough hours in the day for everything she likes to do, whether it’s writing stories for her readers, hiking on a mountain trail, or walking on the beach. Reading is another passion for Callie, along with her cats (Myna and Winston), cooking and travel. Luckily, Myna and Winston are getting along better than they did in the beginning, but Myna remains stubbornly jealous of Callie’s guy.
To Teddy Roosevelt and the other visionaries who set aside the US National Parks.
Contents
Cover (#u696e598d-6aae-5e82-9615-554b91bc79a0)
Back Cover Text (#ueffb7fa6-57f0-53ba-90c6-8aee645f7219)
Introduction (#u2f21149c-6dad-5aa2-b9bd-954e33db35e6)
Dear Reader (#ulink_ab646237-f0e1-5552-a30b-9cd2fb8bc819)
Title Page (#u4da4c4ec-78f9-5b61-bc9d-f94d86202d25)
About the Author (#ua70a7c7f-8f71-502e-86d8-8e2186ee4593)
Dedication (#u4793fac9-7e15-5ba0-ab0e-75def35761b9)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_e7c720ec-2085-589d-884e-cc85bd8ec687)
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_fed3016d-7393-5754-8741-e4f3d511e25f)
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_6a2b1643-6c00-54d7-b48b-5ac20e031096)
CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_74bb84b1-73bf-5cb6-959d-7e68789332ae)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_bdd67e46-a231-5481-9778-869b0a24f7c0)
KAYLA ANDERSON STARED at the sign indicating she was still more than a hundred miles from Schuyler, Montana. After driving all night from Seattle, she was exhausted. And scared.
A hitchhiker caught her eye and she leaned forward to get a better look. She sagged with disappointment. It wasn’t her son.
Had Alex gotten this far?
Fifteen-year-old kids couldn’t rent cars, though they could take a train or bus without raising too many questions.
She shuddered at the idea of her son hitchhiking. Surely he had better sense. Of course, she’d never dreamed he would run away during his two-week visitation with his dad and head for Montana on his own. And how could Curtis have waited all day to let her know Alex was missing? She’d rushed home to see if Alex had come back, only to find a note explaining where he’d gone. Despite that, Curtis still hadn’t been concerned, certain Alex was just “exerting his independence.”
Her smartphone sounded with a chime indicating she had a voice mail. Could it be Alex? She’d gotten a signal off and on the whole night. Pulling off the road, Kayla checked her messages.
“Kayla, this is your grandfather. Don’t worry, Alex is here and he’s all right. I imagine you’re on your way. Travel safe, and we’ll see you soon.”
Kayla let out a shaky, relieved breath. She still had dozens of questions, but the most important one was answered. Her son was safe, instead of lying in a ditch or kidnapped, or any of the other terrible things her imagination had conjured. She debated calling her grandparents but decided to wait until they were face-to-face.
Glancing into the rear seat, she saw her nine-year-old daughter was asleep again, the wrappers from her fast-food breakfast scattered on the floor. Curtis had said it was ridiculous to bring DeeDee with her, but he hadn’t been that upset to have his time with the kids cut by a few days. As she’d learned during their marriage, Curtis Anderson had a short attention span. Since their divorce he’d slid from one relationship to another. His work history was the same.
Kayla’s mouth tightened and she tried to remember that her ex-husband wasn’t a terrible father. And he had wanted to adopt Alex from the very beginning. He’d just never grown up. He adored romance and falling in love and playing daddy, but relationships were beyond him. He was now on his third marriage since their divorce. Kayla no longer cared, but it was hard on the kids.
Before getting on the road again, she called Curtis to tell him Alex was safe. Two hours later, they passed the Schuyler city-limit sign. Her terror had subsided, but other anxieties had surfaced; the last thing she’d ever wanted was return here.
It wasn’t that she’d hated Schuyler. In fact, she’d had high hopes when she and Mom had moved into her grandparents’ home. Though it was the first time Kayla had met them, she’d thought the Garrisons were nice and she had started making friends at high school. But less than a year later Mom had been hitting the bottle even harder and they were on the road again. As far as Kayla knew, her mother hadn’t spoken to her parents since then.
Kayla pulled up in front of a three-story house that hadn’t changed since the day her mother had driven them away from it. As she hurried up the walkway, the front door opened and a familiar figure emerged—like the house, Elizabeth Garrison also appeared unchanged by the years, except that her brown hair was now shot with gray.
“He’s all right,” Elizabeth assured quickly.
“I know, I got Granddad’s message.”
“Good. We called the home phone as well but figured you were already on your way.”
“Where’s Alex?”
“He’s gone to the office with your grandfather to clean and organize the supply room.” Elizabeth’s eyes crinkled with a gentle humor. “We decided it was a suitably mundane thing for a kid to do after running away.”
Kayla agreed with a shaky laugh. “What’s the number?” she asked, taking out her phone. “I need to hear his voice.”
She punched in the numbers and the secretary put her through to her grandfather, who told her how much he loved her before passing the phone to Alex.
“Uh, hello?” her son said cautiously.
“Are you all right?” Kayla demanded.
“I’m fine, Mom, just dusty from some boxes that haven’t been moved in, like, forever.”
“We’ll talk later. We’ll talk a lot,” she warned.
“I kind of figured.”
After hanging up, she couldn’t keep the tears from stinging into her eyes.
Elizabeth gave her a quick hug before drawing away to gaze at her intently. “Oh, honey. It’s so good to see you.”
“I’m sorry it’s been so long,” Kayla managed to say.
“You’re here now, that’s what matters.”
Kayla still felt bad. She’d had little contact with her grandparents herself over the past sixteen years—just Christmas and birthday cards. That was fine for distant relatives, but the months she’d spent with the Garrisons as a teenager had been the happiest of her childhood. They’d even invited her to stay instead of leaving town with her mother. But Kayla hadn’t been able to bear the thought of Mom being alone. Besides, she couldn’t have stayed in Schuyler, not after Jackson had declared that he’d always used a condom, so the baby couldn’t possibly be his.
The memory might hurt more if she’d really loved Jackson McGregor, instead of having a short-lived crush. Still, crush or not, she’d ended up pregnant. And while she could never be sorry about having Alex, it hadn’t been easy.
Pushing the thought away, Kayla squared her shoulders. “There’s something I should tell you—about Alex, I mean.”
“It isn’t necessary,” Elizabeth answered. “Until I saw him in person I hadn’t realized how much he looks like the McGregors. A certain McGregor, as a matter of fact. As I recall, the two of you were quite an item for a while.”
Kayla winced. “Yes. And by the way, Alex doesn’t know Curtis isn’t his biological father. He adopted Alex right after we were married, and wanted to wait before telling him.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t say anything. Where’s DeeDee?” Elizabeth asked. “Is she still in Seattle?”
“She’s in the car, asleep.”
Elizabeth’s eyes lit up and she rushed to look through the Volvo’s back window at her great-granddaughter. “She didn’t wake up when you turned off the engine?”
“Most kids probably would have.” Kayla let out a tired chuckle.
“She looks so sweet lying there, curled up like a kitten.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. That’s my wild child.” Kayla’s humor faded. “At least she was until Alex pulled this stunt.”
“Well, he’s fine, and as hard as it’s been for you, I can’t be completely sorry. It’s wonderful to see you.”
Her throat choking up, Kayla dashed a hand across her eyes. Lord, she was getting soft. At sixteen she hadn’t given in to weepiness, not even when hopped up on pregnancy hormones.
“I take it you drove from Seattle, instead of flying and renting a car?” Elizabeth asked.
Kayla nodded. Her grandmother must have noticed the Washington state license plate and the “My kid is an honor student at...” bumper stickers on the Volvo, showing it wasn’t a rental.
