Stone Cold Surrender (6 page)

“Stone,
are
you
all
right?”
Madison
asked
in
concern.

Stone
looked
at
her,
not
sure
if
he
was
all
right
or
not.
The
man
she
had
just
described
sounded
a
lot
like
his
uncle
Corey.

But
a
woman
on
Corey’s
mountain?

He
cleared
this
throat
thoroughly
before
asking
his
next

question.
He
met
her
gaze,
hoping
he
had
not
heard
her

correctly.
“Are
you
saying
that
some
guy
who
is
a
retired

park
ranger
and
who
owns
a
ranch
high
up
in
the
mountains
is
the
person
your
mother
ran
off
with?”

After
wiping
her
mouth
with
a
napkin,
Madison
nodded
her
head.
“Yes.
Can
you
imagine
anything
so
ridiculous?”

No.
In
all
honesty
I
can’t,
if
we’re
talking
about
the
same

person.
Stone
thought
about
what
she
had
told
him.
He
then
considered
everything
he
knew
about
his
uncle,
especially
how
he
felt
about
a
woman
ever
setting
foot
on
his
beloved
mountain.

He
then
answered
Madison
as
honestly
as
he
knew
how.
“No,
I
can’t
imagine
anything
so
ridiculous.”

She
must
have
talked
the
man
to
death,
Madison
thought,

glancing
over
at
Stone
a
short
while
later.
Conversation

between
them
had
dwindled
off
and
he
was
leaning
back
in
his
seat,
his
head
tipped
back
against
the
headrest,
his

eyes
closed
either
in
sleep
or
deep
thought.

She
couldn’t
help
but
take
this
opportunity
to
examine
him.

If
a
man
could
be
described
as
beautiful,
it
would
be
him.
He
was
more
handsome
than
any
man
had
a
right
to
be.
She
could
easily
tell
that
he
had
broad
shoulders
and

although
he
was
sitting
down
there
was
no
doubt
in
her
mind
that
he
probably
had
pretty
lean
hips.
But
what

captivated
her
most
about
him
were
his
dark
almond-

shaped
eyes
and
she
wished
they
weren’t
closed
so
she
could
gaze
into
them
some
more.

They
were
as
dark
as
midnight
and,
when
he
had
looked
at
her,
it
was
as
if
he
could
see
everything,
right
deep
into
her
very
soul.
Then
there
was
his
neatly
trimmed
curly
black
hair
that
was
cut
low,
his
high
cheekbones
and
his
beautifully
full
lips
that
had
almost
melted
her
in
her
seat
when
he
had

smiled.
And
the
healthy
texture
of
his
chestnut
skin
tempted
her
to
touch
it
to
see
if
it
was
really
soft
as
cotton.

For
the
first
time,
her
mind
was
not
focused
on
the
fact
that
she
was
on
a
plane,
but
on
the
fact
that
she
was
sitting
next
to
the
most
gorgeous
man
she
had
ever
seen.
Ordinarily,
she
would
be
the
last
person
to
notice
a
man
after
what

Cedric
had
done
to
her
a
couple
of
years
ago.
Finding
out

the
man
you
were
about
to
marry
was
having
an
affair
was
painful
to
say
the
least.
Since
then
she
had
decided
that
no
man
was
worth
the
trouble.
Some
people
were
just
meant
to
be
alone.

She
settled
back
in
her
seat,
frowning
as
she
wondered
if
the
reason
her
mother
had
taken
off
with
a
man
was

because
she
had
been
tired
of
living
alone.
Abby
Winters
had
been
widowed
for
over
ten
years,
and
Madison
knew
her
father’s
death
had
not
been
easy
on
her.
She’d
also

known,
even
though
her
mother
had
refused
to
discuss
it,

that
her
parents
had
not
had
a
happy
marriage.
All
it
had

taken
was
a
weekend
spent
in
the
home
of
a
high
school

friend,
whose
parents
were
still
very
much
in
love,
to
notice
things
she
didn’t
see
at
home.
Her
father
had
never
kissed
her
mother
before
leaving
for
work,
nor
had
they
exchanged
funny
looking
smiles
across
the
dinner
table
when
they

thought
no
one
was
watching.

Her
parents
had
been
highly
educated
people:
Harvard

graduates.
Somehow
over
the
years
they
had
become

absorbed
in
their
individual
careers.
Although
there
was
no
doubt
in
her
mind
that
they
had
loved
her,
it
was
clearly

obvious
that
at
some
point
they
had
stopped
loving
each
other.

It
seemed
they
had
pretty
much
accepted
a
loveless

marriage.
Even
after
her
father’s
death,
her
mother
still

didn’t
date,
although
Madison
knew
several
men
had
asked