Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel)

by Jackson, Brenda

  “Your aunt Karen is on the line.”

  A smile touched Skye’s lips. She had returned to town only to discover her aunt had taken a trip to Boston with friends. “Please put her on through.”

  A few minutes later her aunt’s cheerful voice sounded. “Skye, how are you?”

  “I’m fine, Aunt Karen; how was your trip to Boston?”

  She heard her aunt’s quick laugh. “Oh, as usual it was wonderful. I have to tell you all about it.”

  She leaned back in her chair and made a quick decision. “How about now? What are your plans for lunch?”

  “I don’t have any. Would you like for us to meet somewhere, let’s say in half an hour?”

  “I’d love to. There’s so much I want to tell you,” Skye said excitedly.

  A few minutes later, she hung up the phone. At least there was one person who was interested in knowing how she’d spent her time in Texas.

  Wayne Bigelow waited until he had gotten into his car and snapped on his seat belt before making what he considered an important call on his cell phone. As soon as the voice he wanted to hear came on the line, he said, “She’s trying to be difficult.”

  There was a brief pause before the party he’d called said, “Then it’s up to you to make sure she doesn’t become a problem. You’re a man with incredible charm, and I suggest you use it. You should never have broken off your engagement to her.”

  “I thought doing so would make her come around.”

  “Well, evidently you were wrong. The success of your future depends on you being able to control her. Under no circumstances is she to find out the identity of her biological father.”

  Wayne rolled his eyes. “I really don’t think that matters to her. She hired a private investigator to find out the identity of her mother. And right now she’s so caught up in this brother she’s found.”

  “Maybe. But then I don’t believe in taking chances, and I’m depending on you to make sure she doesn’t take her search any further.”

  Then without saying anything more, the person ended the call.

  Slade stood at his office window on the fifteenth floor of the Madaris Building with his hands dug deep into the pockets of his trousers. He had been working on a project all morning and decided to take a break since it was nearing lunchtime. Instead of going out, he’d asked his secretary to order a sandwich and soda from the café on the ground floor.

  Below, he could see a number of people eating lunch on the benches by the pond, while others used their lunchtime to take a brisk walk. It was a beautiful day and the first week in June. He, Blade, and Luke had returned to Houston the same day Skye had left to return to Maine, and he’d tried to keep busy ever since to keep her off his mind.

  But he found it wasn’t working.

  He thought about her every waking moment, and last night he had gone so far as to contact Lorren for her phone number, so he could give her a call to see how she was doing and to ask if she had thought any more about his offers. But something had held him back from calling her.

  This morning when he’d awakened he had considered sending her flowers, since it seemed every floral arrangement he looked at reminded him of her freshness and beauty. And he couldn’t let go of the memories of all the kisses they had shared. He had not only been taken by her; she had also shaken his world and left him mesmerized.

  He turned around when the buzzer on his desk sounded. Crossing the room, he pressed the button to respond to his secretary. “My lunch has arrived already, Claire?”

  “No, sir. You have a visitor. Your uncle Jake Madaris is here to see you.”

  A smile spread across Slade’s lips, corner to corner. “Please send him in.”

  It didn’t take Slade long to wait for his grand-uncle to open the door and walk in. In Slade’s opinion, his grandfather’s youngest brother was the epitome of a Texan man from the top of the Stetson he wore on his head all the way down to the expensive leather boots he wore on his feet. A man in his late forties, he was tall at six-seven, and as far as Slade was concerned, he was the best uncle anyone could ever have. Slade loved and respected all his uncles, but Jake Madaris would always have a special place in all of his nieces’ and nephews’ hearts, because even with his extremely busy schedule of running one of the biggest and most productive ranches on a stretch of land not far from Houston, he’d always made time for them while they’d been growing up.

  “What brings you off the Whispering Pines ranch, Uncle Jake?” Slade asked, crossing the room to give his uncle a huge bear hug.

  “I’m meeting Nedwyn for lunch to discuss plans for the retirement party that Diamond and I are giving him in a few weeks.”

  Slade nodded. Senator Nedwyn Lansing and his uncle Jake had been good friends for years. Senator Lansing had first been Jake’s deceased brother Robert’s best friend, and after Robert Madaris had died in the Vietnam War, the senator and Jake had forged a strong friendship. The senator had retired last month after serving in the United States Senate for over twenty years.

  “How is the family doing? Diamond, Granite, and Amethyst?” His uncle was married to former movie star Diamond Swain. Years ago she had traded in the bright lights of Hollywood to be a stay-at-home mom and rancher’s wife. On occasion, she could be pulled out of retirement to do a movie or two, and that was only when her and Jake’s good friend Sterling Hamilton sat in the director’s chair.

  Jake smiled as he always did with the mention of the wife and children he loved and adored. “Everyone is doing fine. Since I was in town I thought I’d start from the bottom floor of this building and work my way up to the top before meeting Nedwyn at a restaurant across the way. I’ve seen Dex, Christy, and Alex, and Clayton and Syneda. And everyone seems to be doing fine. Blade and Luke came out to the ranch and spent a few days last week and I talked to Justin on the phone last night. He shared Vincent’s good news. I understand you got a chance to meet his sister while you were in Ennis a week ago.”

  “Yes, and she’s a real nice person. I’m glad she and Vincent found each other.”

  At that moment the buzzer on his desk sounded again. “Excuse me, Uncle Jake,” Slade said, right before hitting the speaker button to respond to his secretary’s summons. “Yes, Claire?”

  “Your lunch is here, sir.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Well, let me be going,” Jake said, walking with Slade toward the door. “I don’t want to keep Nedwyn waiting.”

  “How long will you be in Houston?”

  “For the rest of the day. I’m going to try to get by to see everyone, and Mom wants to talk to me. It seems she’s been dreaming about fish again.”

  Slade lifted a brow. “And she thinks it’s Diamond?”

  Jake laughed. “No, I think she wants to hear it directly from me that it’s not Kimara.”

  Slade laughed. Kimara was married to Jake’s good friend Kyle Garwood, and already the couple had seven children, all under the age of ten, which included two sets of twins. “I thought Kyle and Kimara have decided not to have any more children,” he said.

  Jake grinned. “They have but I guess Mom doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned.”

  “Personally, I think it’s Syneda,” Slade said, knowing what kind of reaction he would get from his uncle.

  Slade watched Jake stop dead in his tracks, and in a serious tone Jake said, “Please, Slade. Don’t scare us like that.”

  Slade laughed. Everyone knew just what a handful Remington was. But then the little girl was Clayton and Syneda’s child, so her antics at times really weren’t surprising. She was a chip off both of her parents’ blocks.

  “You will be coming to Nedwyn’s retirement party at the ranch later this month, right?” Jake asked.

  Slade nodded. “Yes, I plan on being there.”

  “Good, and bring a date. You need to get out and meet someone before Blade corners the entire Houston market.”

  “I have met someone,” Slade said, immediately thinking of
Skye.

  “Glad to hear it, and I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

  Slade smiled when he responded by saying, “And I’m looking forward to you meeting her as well, Uncle Jake.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Skye always enjoyed having lunch with her aunt, and this time she had a lot to tell her. She told her all about Justin and Lorren Madaris and how kind they had been to her. And she mentioned Slade briefly, only to say he had been visiting the Madaris family and had been kind to her as well. She wasn’t ready to share just what good friends they had become to anyone just yet. She spent most of the time talking about Vincent and what a wonderful brother he was and how mature and well adjusted he was for his age.

  And then after their meal, she decided to tell her aunt of her decision to spend the summer in Houston. Not surprisingly, her aunt thought it was a wonderful idea but quickly reminded her that her parents would not think so.

  Skye thought of her aunt’s words as she took a sip of her tea. She then glanced up at her aunt. “Please help me to understand something, Aunt Karen; just why are my parents so opposed to me establishing a relationship with Vincent?”

  Karen shook her head. “I really don’t know, just like I don’t understand why they were so against you ever knowing you were adopted. Even now Edith blames me for your finding out since you overheard my conversation with them. People adopt kids all the time and I always assumed they would tell you, and when they hadn’t, I merely asked them about it that day.”

  Skye nodded. “What do you remember about my adoption?” she asked.

  “Not a whole lot,” Karen said. “At the time I was married to your uncle Larry. He was a Foreign Service diplomat and we were living in Japan. I came back home to discover Tom and Edith had gotten you as a newborn through a private adoption. I had known for years that Edith couldn’t have any children because of a childhood illness, but I’d always thought that she and Tom had pretty much decided to go through life childless, so I was surprised that they had adopted you. I was surprised yet pleased.”

  Skye nodded again. She also knew that her aunt had always intended to have children herself, but after her husband had died at an early age of colon cancer, she never remarried. “Well, I’m telling them about my plans tonight, and regardless of how they feel about it, I plan to establish a relationship with Vincent and will spend the summer in Houston.”

  At that moment Skye’s cell phone went off. She pulled it from her purse hoping it wasn’t Wayne. She glanced at the identification of the caller and didn’t recognize the number. Curious, she made an excuse to her aunt and flipped her phone open to answer it. “Yes?”

  “Skye, how are you?”

  Skye closed her eyes for a moment at the sound of the ultrasexy voice. And to make matters worse, visions of his handsome face flooded her mind. When she reopened her eyes she found her aunt looking at her curiously. “Slade?” she asked, although she knew it was him.

  “Yes. I had you on my mind and thought I would give you a call. I got your number from Lorren. I hope you don’t mind.”

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t mind, and to answer your other question, I’m doing fine. I’m having lunch with my aunt at the moment, though.”

  “Sorry to interrupt.”

  “No, that’s okay. It’s good hearing from you. How are Luke and Blade?”

  She could hear him chuckle. “They’re fine, just trying to stay out of trouble.”

  She smiled thinking of the pair and knowing staying out of trouble for those two would be a rather difficult task. “I’m still thinking of your offers but haven’t made a decision about either yet,” she decided to say, wondering if that was the reason he had called.

  “Take your time; the offers aren’t going anywhere. I just don’t want you to worry about a thing while you’re here in Houston. I’m looking forward to your visit. Well, let me let you get back to enjoying lunch with your aunt. It was nice talking to you, Skye.”

  “It was nice of you to call. I’m looking forward to my visit as well.”

  “Okay, and you take care. Good-bye.”

  “Good-bye, Slade.”

  Skye’s stomach did a funny little flip when he ended the call and returned her phone to her purse. When her aunt cleared her throat Skye glanced across the table and looked into her aunt’s smiling face.

  “Why is it I get the feeling that you didn’t tell me everything there is to know about Slade Madaris?”

  Skye couldn’t help the smile that touched her lips. “Mainly because the man is too good to be true; at least compared to Wayne he is. He is everything Wayne is not.”

  “Then I’m impressed.”

  Skye chuckled at her aunt’s comment. Karen had never liked Wayne. Skye started to tell her aunt of Wayne’s visit to her office and changed her mind. She hoped she had made herself clear to him, and if he did show up at her place later that day, thinking he could just waltz his way up the elevator to her apartment, he would be in for a big surprise.

  “Thanks for this guest list, Nedwyn,” Jake Madaris said, standing and tucking the piece of paper into the pocket of his jacket. “Diamond is excited about planning the party in your honor.”

  Senator Lansing smiled. “And I appreciate the both of you doing it. My secretary said the list is pretty complete.”

  Jake nodded as he sat back now. “What do you plan to do with yourself now that your days in the Senate are over?”

  “Rest and relax. The person elected as my successor will do an excellent job, and I had no problems turning everything over to him. I plan to enjoy life.” He got quiet for a moment before adding, “I also planned to do something else that I’ve put off for years, but I want to talk to you about it first.”

  Jake lifted a brow. “Sounds serious. What is it?”

  Nedwyn smiled. “Maybe you should ask who is it instead.”

  Jake grinned. “I think I already have an idea. It’s Diana, isn’t it?”

  When a huge smile spread across Nedwyn’s face, Jake knew he had given the right answer. Nedwyn had confided in him years ago that he had fallen in love with Jake’s deceased brother’s wife. The reason Nedwyn had never tried pursuing a relationship with Diana was because he hadn’t been sure how she would feel about it—she had been widowed for many years and hadn’t thought of remarrying. Besides, Nedwyn had been one of Robert’s best friends.

  “Yes, it’s Diana. For the past year, with me spending more time in Houston and less in the nation’s capital, we’ve been seeing each other quite a bit and she’s been my date at a couple of social functions. I think she feels comfortable in that role and has no idea I’ve been in love with her for years.”

  Jake leaned back in his chair. “Now is the time to let her know how you feel, Nedwyn, don’t you think? I never understood why you held back before. After meeting and falling in love with Diamond, I wish every man had a special woman in his life. Robert and Diana had a good marriage, and I know losing him in ’Nam was hard on her.” He remembered that time like it was yesterday. His niece Felicia had been barely two years old when they got the word that Robert had lost his life while serving his country.

  “Diana tried devoting her time to raising Felicia,” Jake said. “But as you know, she shared that task with her husband’s six brothers, which I’m sure wasn’t easy for her. That’s why we all think so much of her. She didn’t move away with Felicia to start another life someplace else. She stayed right here, enmeshed in the Madaris family. She is and always will be a beautiful and special lady to all of us.”

  Nedwyn absorbed what Jake had said. He thought she was a beautiful and special lady as well. He also considered her a good friend. He had realized that he had fallen in love with her a few years ago but didn’t make a move because he hadn’t wanted her under the media’s scrutiny as someone he was interested in, especially when that person was the widowed wife of the man who had been a very close friend. Only two people knew how he felt about her: Jake, and one of Nedwyn’s other
best friends, Syntel Remington, millionaire oil magnate.

  “I figured I’m not getting any younger, Jake, and I want to settle down and spend the rest of my life with someone I care about, so I intend to start letting Diana know just how I feel,” he said softly, with a firm conviction in his tone.

  Jake took a sip of his wine, smiled, and said, “All I have to say to that is it’s about time.”

  “Clayton, this is Alex. Can you talk?”

  Clayton Madaris leaned back in the chair at his desk. “Yes. I don’t have to worry about Syneda popping in. She’s downstairs having lunch with Caitlin,” he said of his brother Dex’s wife. “What did you find out?”

  “Nothing, really. The woman is who she says she is. In fact, she’s led a pretty sheltered life. Her adoptive parents are pretty well-off, and over the years they have given her the best of everything. She went to private schools all her life and has pretty much had servants at her beck and call. I don’t see her looking Vincent up just to get money out of him when she’s had plenty of money of her own over the years. And I don’t see where she’s ever been wasteful with it. In fact, she gives a lot of it away to a number of charities.”

  Clayton nodded. “What type of work do her parents do?”

  “Her mother has never worked outside the home, and her father is an accountant.”

  Clayton lifted a brow. “And the man can afford servants and private schools on an accountant salary?”

  “It seems both her parents came from wealthy families and received trust funds when they reached a certain age. They are considered part of Augusta’s elite class. And speaking of trust funds, Skye is set to receive one on her thirtieth birthday. And it’s a pretty hefty sum, so trust me when I say she really doesn’t need any of Vincent’s money. You can drop the notion that she’s a gold digger, because she’s not.”

  “Hearing you say that makes me feel better.”

  Alex chuckled. “I figured it would. So, I’m closing my file on her, unless there’s something else you want me to check out.”