Stone Cold Surrender - Brenda Jackson [59]
“You’re leaving?”
She turned at the sound of her mother’s voice. After meeting her mother’s gaze and nodding, she continued packing. Her mother and Corey had been in the living room with her when ET had come on and had also heard everything the reporter had said.
“Running away won’t solve anything, Madison. You told Stone you would be here when he returned and—”
“What makes you think he’s going to return, Mom? You heard what that lady said. He’s made plans to do a book tour in Europe. I made a mistake and put too much stock into what I thought he and I were sharing. End of story.”
Abby crossed the room and took her daughter’s hand in hers. “It’s never the end of the story when you love someone. The end of the story only comes when the two of you are together.”
Madison pulled her hand from her mother. “That may have worked for you and Corey, but then the two of you love each other and deserve a happy ending. I know how I feel about Stone but at no time did he ever tell me that he loved me, and at no time did he lead me to believe we had a future together. I made a mistake by assuming too much. I never expected to fall in love with him so quickly and so hard, Mom, but I did. Even now I don’t regret loving him. The only thing I regret is that he doesn’t love me back, but I’ll get over it. I’m a survivor, and someway, somehow, I’ll eventually forget him.”
Abby reached out and pulled Madison into her arms. She knew that now was not a good time to tell her daughter that she knew from firsthand experience a woman could never truly forget the man she loved. She’d been there, had tried doing that and it hadn’t worked.
She sighed as she released Madison and stepped back. “So, when do you plan to leave?”
“In the morning. I’ve already talked to Corey and he said the postal plane will arrive tomorrow with the mail and he’s sure they won’t mind giving me a lift down the mountain and back to the Silver Arrow ranch. When I get back to Boston I’m going to contact the Institute about helping to provide students with summer lessons.”
Abby reached out and stroked her daughter’s cheek gently, feeling her pain. For her to even think about getting on a small plane showed how desperate she was to leave. “I had hoped you would stay with Corey and me for a while, at least until the end of the summer.”
Madison nodded. She had hoped that, too, but knew the best thing for her was to return to Boston. School would start soon and she would go and get prepared for that. “I’ll be back in December for you and Corey’s wedding.”
Even thinking about that brought her pain, knowing Stone would probably be there for the wedding, too. He would just have returned from Europe. “Besides, you did say you’re coming home for a while in September to take care of business matters.”
Abby smiled. “And when I do, we’ll have to do a play or something. Definitely a concert.”
Madison smiled through her tears. “That would be nice, Mom. That will really be nice.”
“What do you mean she’s not here?”
Corey Westmoreland crossed his arms over his chest and met his nephew’s glare. “I mean just what I said. She’s not here. Did you actually expect her to stick around after what she heard on that television show?”
Stone frowned. “What television show?”
Corey’s frown matched Stone’s. “The one where that reporter announced to the whole world that you preferred sleeping with women instead of marrying them. I guess Madison felt she fell within that category.”
Frustration racked Stone’s body and he rubbed his hand down his face. “How could she think something like that?”
Corey leaned