Stone Cold Surrender - Brenda Jackson [12]
Stone didn’t really know what he could tell her; her mother being on his uncle’s mountain didn’t make much sense to him, either. He couldn’t wait to get Durango alone to get the full story.
“I guess there are times when things happen that defy logic, Madison, and it appears this is the case with your mother and Uncle Corey. Just like your mother’s actions are unusual, his actions are unusual, too. For as long as I’ve known him, which has been for all of my thirty-three years, he’s been pretty much of a loner; preferring not to marry and spending most of his time when he wasn’t at Yellowstone up on his mountain. And he’s always had a rule about taking women up there.”
Madison lifted a brow. “And what rule is that?”
Stone smiled. “That it would never happen. Other than female family members, there has never been a woman on his mountain. There must have been something about your mother to make him change his way of thinking about that.”
A thought crossed Stone’s mind. “Is there a chance that my uncle and your mother knew each other before?”
Madison frowned. That thought had crossed her mind but she didn’t see how that could be. “I guess anything is possible. That would certainly explain things somewhat if it were true. But I don’t see how that could be possible unless your uncle had visited Boston. My parents dated all through high school and college, and married right after graduation. I was born two years later.” She decided not to mention the unhappy marriage her parents had shared even though they had tried to pretend otherwise.
“Then there could be another reason for their madness,” Stone said softly, reclaiming her attention, casting a sideways glance.
She looked at him, squinting against the sun that shone through the vehicle window. “And what reason is that?”
“Instant attraction.”
Stone watched as Madison immediately parted her lips to refute such a thing was possible, then she closed them tight. She had to know that such a thing was possible because the two of them had experienced that same attraction on the plane, so to deny such a thing existed would be dishonest.
Moments later she said, “I’m sure that’s possible but can it be that powerful to make a levelheaded person become impulsive and irrational?”
Stone chuckled. “Trust me, Madison, I’ve seen it happen.” One day he would prove his point by telling her about his two brothers who’d recently married. He didn’t count his sister’s marriage as anything unusual, since Delaney had always looked at things through rose-colored eyes, which was the main reason he and his brothers had been so overprotective of her during her dating years.
But his brothers Dare and Thorn had been dead set against marrying anytime soon, if ever. He clearly understood why Dare had wed since Shelly had been Dare’s true love. When she had returned to town after having been gone ten years, and with a son Dare hadn’t known existed, it had been understandable that the two would get back together and make a home for their child. But a sense of obligation had nothing to do with Dare’s marriage to Shelly. His brother loved Shelly, plain and simple.
Now there hadn’t been anything plain and simple about Thorn’s marriage to Tara. Thorn was the last Westmoreland anyone expected to marry and he was a prime example of what instant attraction could do to you if you weren’t careful.
“Well, I can’t imagine anything like that happening with my mother,” Madison said defiantly, recapturing Stone’s attention. “Does your uncle have a phone up on his mountain?”
Stone nodded his head. “Yes.”
“Then I need the number. I want to call my mother and let her know I’m on my way up there.”
Durango, who had been quiet all this time, ended his silence