Stone Cold Surrender (27 page)

Martin
said
you
were
coming
and
I
decided
to
cook
an

apple
pie
for
the
occasion.
I’ll
share
if
you
autograph
a
few
books
for
me.”

Stone
laughed
as
he
swept
the
woman
off
her
feet
into
his
arms
for
a
hug.
“Anything
for
you,
Mrs.
Quinn.
And
you
know
how
much
I
love
your
apple
pie.”
When
he
had
placed
her
back
on
her
feet
he
turned
her
around
so
he
could
introduce
her
to
Madison.

“Madison,
this
is
Morning
Star
Quinn,
Martin’s
wife.
They

are
good
friends
of
my
uncle
Corey
and
their
son
McKinnon
is
Durango’s
best
friend.”

Madison
smiled.
It
was
easy
to
see
that
the
woman
had

Stone’s
affection
and
respect.
She
offered
Morning
Star

Quinn
her
hand
to
shake,
liking
her
on
the
spot.
She

seemed
like
such
a
vibrant
person
who
blended
in
well
with
her
surroundings.
“It’s
nice
meeting
you.”

“It’s
nice
meeting
you,
as
well.
And
I’ve
prepared
a
place
for
the
two
of
you
to
stay
overnight.
I
understand
you
are
on

your
way
up
to
see
Corey.”

Stone
nodded.
“Yes.
Mr.
Quinn
mentioned
when
I
spoke

with
him
on
the
phone
yesterday
that
the
two
of
you
haven’t
seen
Uncle
Corey
in
a
while.”

Morning
Star
Quinn
shook
her
head.
“It’s
been
weeks.
He’s
missed
the
Thursday
night
poker
game
for
almost
three

weeks
now,
and
you
know
for
your
uncle
that’s
unusual.
But
we
know
he’s
all
right.”

“How
do
you
know
that
for
certain?”
Madison
couldn’t
help
but
ask.

Morning
Star
Quinn
raised
a
curious
brow
as
if
wondering
why
she
was
interested
then
smiled
at
her
and
responded.
“He
came
down
off
the
mountain
a
couple
of
days
ago
to
use
the
phone.
It
seems
something
is
wrong
with
his

telephone,
which
is
the
reason
no
one
has
heard
from
him.
Martin
and
I
had
gone
to
town
so
we
didn’t
get
a
chance
to
see
him,
but
McKinnon
was
here
and
had
a
chance
to
talk
to
him.
He
assured
us
that
Corey
was
fine.”

Mrs.
Quinn
then
switched
her
gaze
to
Stone.
“McKinnon
also
said
he
had
a
woman
with
him;
a
very
nice-looking
woman
at
that.
Of
course
that
surprised
all
of
us
because
you
know
how
Corey
feels
about
a
woman
being
on
his
mountain.”

Stone
shook
his
head,
smiling.
“Yes,
I
know.
In
fact
that’s
one
of
the
reasons
we’re
going
up
to
see
him.”

Tapping
her
finger
to
her
bottom
lip,
Morning
Star
Quinn

gazed
thoughtfully
at
Stone.
“Then
you
know
her?
You
know
who
this
woman
is?”

Madison
knew
that,
out
of
consideration
for
her
mother’s

reputation,
Stone
would
not
say.
But
she
knew
that
Morning

Star
Quinn
was
a
person
that
she
could
be
honest
with;
and
was
a
person
that
she
wanted
to
be
honest
with.
“Yes,
we
know
who
she
is,”
Madison
finally
answered.
“The
woman
up
there
on
the
mountain
with
Corey
Westmoreland
is
my
mother.”

Five

N
othing,
Madison
thought
as
she
walked
outside
on
the
huge
porch,
could
be
more
beautiful
than
a
night
under
a
Montana
sky.
Even
in
darkness
she
could
see
the
outlines
of
the
Rockies
looming
in
the
background
and
was
starkly
amazed
at
just
how
vastly
different
this
place
was
from

Boston.

She
turned
when
she
heard
the
door
open
behind
her
and
wasn’t
surprised
to
see
it
was
Stone.
She
smiled
as
she
took
a
couple
of
minutes
to
calm
the
rapid
beating
of
her
heart.
The
more
time
she
spent
with
him,
the
more
she

appreciated
him
as
a
man…a
very
considerate
and
caring
man.
Even
now
she
could
feel
the
warmth
of
his
eyes

touching
her.

Earlier
he
had
helped
her
unload
her
luggage
and
had

placed
it
in
the
bedroom
that
Mrs.
Quinn
had
given
her
to

use.
Then
later,
after
she
had
gotten
settled,
he
had
come
for
her
when
Martin
Quinn
and
his
son
McKinnon
had
come
home.
She
had
blinked
twice
when
she
saw
McKinnon.
The
man
was
simply
gorgeous
and
had
inherited
his
mother’s
golden
complexion.
After
introductions
had
been
made,

Stone
had
asked
her
to
take
a
walk
with
him
to
show
her

around
the
Quinns’
ranch
before
dinnertime.

On
their
stroll,
he
had
shared
stories
with
her
about
how,