Stone Cold Surrender - Brenda Jackson [45]
Stone hugged her tighter to him. “Maybe your parents were passionately in love at one point.” But he knew what she meant. He also knew that his uncle had a way with women and he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps, when he saw Abby Winters, he had detected untapped passion in her in the same way Stone had detected it in Madison.
“But I plan to do as you suggested, Stone.”
Her words intruded on his thoughts and he glanced down at her. “What is that?”
“Keep an open mind about things and not be judgmental.”
He nodded. “I’m sure your mother would appreciate that. She’ll probably be surprised as hell to see you. The last thing she needs is for you to become the parent and make her feel like a naughty child.”
Madison sighed deeply. “Do you think I made a mistake by even coming?”
He put his hand on her wrist to stop them from walking any farther, knowing he had to be honest with her. “At first I did, but now I know it’s just your nature. You were concerned about her. I think she will understand that.”
Madison hoped so. The closer the time came to seeing her mother, the more she began to feel nervous about her motives in pursuing her. What right did she have to interfere in her mother’s life? Her mother was a fifty-year-old woman and if she was going through a midlife crisis then it was her business. She shook her head. Her mother was the only family she had so anything her mother was going through was both of their businesses. She would just have to adjust her way of thinking about things and practice understanding. And thanks to the man standing in front of her, she believed that she could. Stone had shown her the true meaning of passion and the pleasures of making love. And he had also introduced her to the joys of loving and Madison now knew that she truly loved him.
Once things were settled with her mother, she would leave immediately for Boston. The memories she would have of the time she and Stone had spent together would keep her warm on those lonely nights when she would long to have him naked in bed beside her; those times when she would yearn for her dreams of him to become reality. Already the thought of leaving him caused pain to pierce her heart, but she would survive…she had no other choice.
Eight
W ow! That was the one word that immediately came to Madison’s mind when they reached the top of the mountain where Corey Westmoreland lived.
Coming to Montana had certainly opened her eyes to the beauty of an area she had never visited before. Seeing the spacious and sprawling ranch house in the distance, set among a stand of pine trees and beneath the beautiful Montana blue sky, forced a breathless sigh to escape from her lips.
“Why would one man need a place so huge?” she turned and asked Stone.
His mouth twitched into a grin. “Mainly because of his family, especially his nephews. When it became evident that the number of male Westmorelands was increasing and this place would be their summer home, Uncle Corey decided he needed lots of space and a huge food budget.”
Madison blinked. “You mean, while growing up, all eleven of you would visit at the same time?”
Stone chuckled. “Yeah, we would all be here at the same time. But you’d better believe that, although everyone thought Uncle Corey was nuts for having all of us here, they knew him well enough to know that he would keep us in line and keep us busy. He did and we loved it. My fondest childhood memories were of the times I spent here. That’s why me and my four brothers and six cousins have such a close relationship. Each summer we did some serious male bonding and learned how to get along with each other. Once in a while, we’d let Delaney come with us during the summer, but she preferred coming during her spring breaks.”
Madison nodded. “Your uncle must really like kids.”
Stone smile wavered some. “He does.