Stone Cold Surrender - Brenda Jackson [16]
“I don’t think joining you and Durango this evening for dinner would be a good idea, Stone,” she decided to say.
No matter how desperately she needed to know about her mother and their uncle, she also needed space from this man who caused emotions to grip her that were so foreign and unfamiliar. “I want to get settled in here first and think about a few things. Is there any way we can meet tomorrow, possibly before noon? I’d like to try and contact my mother to let her know that I’m here.”
Stone held her gaze. “Tomorrow’s fine, Madison. Just tell the lady at the front desk to phone Durango’s ranch. They have the number and I’ll be glad to come and pick you up.”
“All right.”
He stared at her for a few minutes then, without saying anything else, he turned and walked out of the door.
Pushing back from the kitchen table, Stone stood to help Durango clear the dishes. “I tell you, Stone, it was the strangest thing seeing Uncle Corey act that way, like a love-smitten twenty-year-old. And I didn’t want to say anything in front of Madison, but her mother wasn’t acting any better, although it would be clear to anyone that she was a lady with a lot of class.”
Stone shook his head. “Well, Madison is determined to find answers. I think I gave her food for thought earlier and she’s pretty much accepted the idea that her mother and Uncle Corey are involved in an affair, but she still needs to understand why.”
Durango raised a brow as he leaned against the table. “What’s there to understand? Lust is lust.”
Stone rolled his eyes upward. Durango definitely had a way with words. “Well, with her mother being such a classy, well-bred lady and all, lust as you see it is something Madison just can’t seem to understand.”
Durango grinned. “Then I guess it’s going to be up to you to explain it all to her then. Now if you need my help in—”
“Don’t even think about it,” Stone responded quickly in a growl.
Durango chuckled. “Hey, I was just kidding. Besides, you know how I feel about city women anyway.” Even with the laughter in his voice, his words echoed with bitterness.
Unfortunately Stone did know how he felt. “Need help with the dishes?” he asked after walking across the kitchen and placing them on the counter.
“Nope, that’s what dishwashers are for. If you want we can try reaching Uncle Corey again, but take my word for it, it’ll be a waste of time. He and his lady friend aren’t accepting calls. I truly believe they turned the damn thing off.”
Stone decided to try calling anyway and hung up later when he didn’t get an answer. He shook his head emphatically. “You would think Madison’s mother would have tried to reach her daughter.”
Durango raised a brow. “I thought she had. Didn’t Madison say on the drive over to the Silver Arrow that her mother had called to say she was fine and was extending her vacation for two weeks?”
“Yes, but she left the message on the answering machine. I’d think she would have made a point to talk to Madison directly to allay her fears.”
Durango raised his eyes heavenward. “And I’d think—which is probably the same way Madison’s mother is thinking—that at fifty years of age she doesn’t have to check in with anyone, not even a daughter, especially if she’s assured her daughter that she’s okay.” He grabbed an apple out of the basket and bit into it like he hadn’t just eaten dinner. “Do you know what I think, Stone?”
Stone shrugged, almost too afraid to ask. “No, Durango, what do you think?”
“I think the reason Madison is so busy sticking her nose into her mother’s love life…or lust life, is because she doesn’t have one of her own.”
A hint of a smile played at the corners of Stone’s lips. “She doesn’t have what? A love life or a lust life?”
“Neither of either. And I think that’s where you need to step in.”
Stone crossed his arms over his chest and met his cousin’s direct gaze. “And do what exactly?