Kyle's Modern Montana Bride (The New Montana Brides Book 6) by Susan Leigh Carlton Page B

me and don’t come see me. At the end of the ten days, I’ll call you and see where we are,”
    ““Not see, call?” he asked.
    “That’s right.”
    That’s the way you want it?”
    “That’s the way I want it.” she said.
    “What about Zach, Can I call him?
    “Yes, call him on his cell phone and you won’t get me.”
    “If that’s my only option, then it’s what I have to do. I don’t want to push you. This is too important.”
    “I agree,” she said. “Will you take us to the airport?”
    “I would like to,” he said.
    “Zach, are you satisfied?”
    “Yes sir.”
    “Susannah, we’ll pay for the tickets. You wouldn’t have been here if I hadn’t asked. Will that be all right?”
    “Yes,” she said.
    “Well, good night,” he said.
    “Goodnight..
    He hugged Zach. “By the way, you’re in my old room,” he said to his son.
    “I figured that with all of the models. Did you build all of them or buy them?” Zach asked.
    “I built them from kits,” Kyle answered.
    After the conversation with Susannah, Kyle went online and made two first class flight reservations from Helena to Phoenix for the next day. He printed out the boarding passes, gave them to her, and said, “You’re all set. We should leave here by ten to give you time to get through security.”
    She looked at the passes. “Why did you do first class? Coach would have been fine.”
    “It’s the way we travel. Zach is one of us. I figured you’d want to sit with him,” he said with a big grin.
    The next morning…
    Callie fixed a large breakfast as usual. She liked to see people eat heartily. As usual, Zach didn’t disappoint her, but Susannah picked at her food. Catherine asked, “You’re not hungry?”
    “I’m a little down this morning. I want to go home, but I’m going to miss you guys,” Susanna said.
     

chapter seventeen
    A Sad Goodbye
    The drive into Helena was quiet. No one was talking, Zach was the one who broke the silence, saying, “I don’t understand why I have to go back to Phoenix.”
    “Because Susannah is your guardian and your place is with her,” Kyle said.
    “What about you. You’re my Dad, why isn’t my place with you?”
    “Your aunt took care of you all of the years before I knew about you. The law says she is your legal guardian. I’m not going anywhere. You have my cell phone number on your phone. You can call me anytime, day or night from your phone. I’ll call you more times than you want, probably. Your aunt and I will make arrangements for us to visit. You can fly up for visits too.”
    “Do you promise you won’t forget me?” Zach asked.
    “I give you my word of honor, I will not forget. That is a sacred thing to a West Point graduate.”
    Kyle stopped at the curbside check-in outside the Delta passenger terminal. He checked their bags through to Phoenix and gave her the stubs.
    “You don’t have to do this, Susannah,” he said.
    “I do have to do it,” she said. “I wish you’d try to understand.”
    “What I understand is I love you, and you’re taking my son and leaving me.”
    “You sound like a petulant little boy. We’ll talk. I’ll call you in ten days like we agreed.”
    “Goodbye, Susannah,” Kyle said.
    “Goodbye, Zach. I’ll be calling you. I’m glad we found you. I’m proud of you, and I love you, son.”
    “I love you too, Dad.”
    “You take care of your aunt.”
    They held the embrace, for a good two minutes. Kyle said, “You’d better go.”
    Back at the TbarS, Kyle told his mother, “Putting them on the plane was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,”
    Kyle immersed himself in work over the next ten days. He spent days on horseback with the ranch hands, leaving before sunup and returning late in the evening.
    The day after they left, he called Zach from his cell phone. “How was the trip back? he asked.
    “It wasn’t too good,” Zach said. “Aunt Susannah cried most of the way home. You shouldn’t have let us come, Dad.”
    “I