Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel) Read online

  “Now then,” Lorren Madaris said in a soft voice while holding tight to her husband’s hand. “Tell us about your discovery.”

  Skye nervously smoothed the fabric of her skirt across her thighs. She quickly glanced over at Slade. He was staring at her. But then a glance at the Madarises indicated they were staring as well. Everyone was staring and waiting.

  The air surrounding her seemed to thicken, and breathing took an effort. But she forced herself to speak. “I discovered a little over a year ago that I was adopted. My parents never told me.”

  “How did you find out?” The question was asked by Dr. Madaris.

  “I stopped by my parents’ home one afternoon to visit. They didn’t hear me enter and were in the living room discussing me with Aunt Karen, my father’s sister. She was trying to convince them it was time to tell me the truth, that I’d been adopted. She thought I had a right to know and that I should know, considering the fact that I was getting married within the year.”

  “You’re engaged to be married?” Slade asked, quickly glancing down at her hand and then returning his gaze to hers. She immediately became captured by his intense stare.

  To break eye contact she glanced at her own hand that was now minus the engagement ring she had worn for a year and a half. She returned her gaze to his. “No. Not anymore.”

  She decided not to bother them with the details of how Wayne Bigelow had made good his threat last week to call off their wedding if she continued to pursue what he considered a foolish move in flying out to Texas and meeting her brother. Wayne had given her an ultimatum, either him or Vincent.

  “You hadn’t suspected you were adopted?” Lorren asked.

  Skye shook her head. “No, I hadn’t had a clue and no reason to think so. It had been a well-kept secret and I was too shocked to ask my parents anything that day. It was another two weeks before I approached them with what I’d overheard.”

  “And that’s when they told you the truth?” Dr. Madaris asked.

  “Yes.” But not before they lied and told me I’d heard wrong, she decided not to add. She also decided it wouldn’t be worth mentioning how they’d joined forces with Wayne asking that she not look for her biological mother. The three of them saw her doing so as disrespecting her adoptive parents.

  “So what happened next?” Slade inquired.

  “I hired a private investigator,” she said. Against my parents’ and my fiancé’s wishes. “It took him almost nine months to finally get back with me, and it was then that I found out that my mother had given birth to me when she was sixteen, given me up for adoption, and later gone to college and met the man she married and they had two children.”

  “And how old are you, Ms. Barclay?” Justin Madaris asked.

  “I’m twenty-six.”

  Lorren gazed at her husband before asking, “And who was your biological mother?”

  “Kathy Lester. And she was married to John Lester. They had two children, Vincent and Candice. Kathy, John, and Candice were killed in a car accident almost twelve years ago. Vincent survived the accident.”

  When Lorren nodded, Skye inhaled deeply and then continued. “It took me several more months to find out what had happened to Vincent. I learned he had first become a ward of the State of Texas since he had no living relatives. Then I discovered that at the age of six he had been adopted by the two of you.”

  Lorren smiled proudly. “Yes, we adopted Vincent on his sixth birthday and he’s been ours ever since. He’s so much a part of us that we often forget he’s adopted. That might have been what happened in your parents’ situation. Over the years the word ‘adoption’ had no meaning in the relationship. In our case, of course Vincent knows he’s adopted, and remembers his parents and sister, although he was only five when the accident happened. He remembers the happy times he spent with them, and when he was younger he spoke of them.”

  “But he doesn’t anymore?” Skye asked curiously.

  “No, he hasn’t mentioned them in a long time. We were able to obtain some of their possessions for Vincent, like family pictures, and I think that helps because he has visuals that he can see whenever he wants.”

  Skye’s stomach fluttered at the thought that someone had a picture of her biological mother. That had been the one thing the private investigator hadn’t been able to obtain.

  As if reading the sudden look of longing in her gaze and understanding it, the older woman asked when she met Skye’s eyes, “Would you like to see the pictures, Skye?”

  Skye smiled as a happy thrill shot to every part of her body. This was almost too much to hope for. “Yes, please. If you don’t mind.”

  Lorren waved such a thought away as she stood. “Of course we don’t mind. I’m sure all of this, finding out you were adopted and have a brother, had to have been an awesome experience for you.”

  “Yes, it was,” she said softly. And the impact could have been softened if I’d gotten support from my parents and fiancé, she thought. But it was as if the very idea of her finding out the truth had bothered her parents for some reason. And as for Wayne, what had been important to her just hadn’t mattered to him. From the day they’d started dating, it had always been all about him. She had put up with it only because her parents thought the two of them were a perfect match and she’d always wanted to please her parents.

  “Would anyone care for something to drink while I’m up?” Lorren asked.

  “Yes, sweetheart, a glass of wine would be nice,” Justin said, smiling at his wife. “I’ll pour the drinks while you get those albums.”

  Standing, he glanced over at Slade and Skye. “Would the two of you care for anything?”

  Skye, who’d felt her throat drying up earlier, said, “Yes. I’d like a glass of wine, too. Thanks.”

  “Same here, Justin,” Slade replied.

  While Justin walked over to a bar set up in the corner of the room, Skye glanced over at Slade. Once again she was captured by his intense stare. A part of her wondered if he’d somehow known she’d deliberately left out parts of the information she’d share with everyone?

  “What about your father?”

  She blinked upon realizing Slade had spoken. “My father?”

  He nodded. “Yes, your biological father. Have you tried locating him as well?”

  Slade’s words filled her mind, and she tried concentrating on them and not on him. An atmosphere of sensuality surrounded him, to a degree she definitely wasn’t used to in a man. She struggled to calm the unfamiliar emotions rising within her as she responded to his question. “No, although I’d like to. But it seemed to take forever to get the information on my mother and more than anything I wanted to know about her first.”

  Skye thoughtfully nibbled on her lower lip. She didn’t want to think how her parents would feel if she began getting information on her biological father as well.

  “Here’s your drink, Skye.”

  She glanced up and looked into the eyes of a smiling Justin Madaris. She accepted the wineglass he handed to her. “Thank you.”

  At that moment Lorren Madaris returned with several large photo albums. She smiled over at Skye. “I think John Lester’s favorite pastime was taking pictures of his family, and I’m thankful for that,” she said, handing the albums over to Skye. “And I know this has to be a very special moment for you, one you might want to experience alone. We’re going into the kitchen for a while to give you your privacy.”

  “Thank you.” Once again Skye was appreciative of the woman’s understanding and insight. Somehow Lorren Madaris understood her need to see the pictures for the first time alone. It would be like unveiling a part of her history. She would be seeing photos of her mother, sister, and brother. They were another family she hadn’t known existed.

  She watched Justin and Lorren turn to leave. Lorren stopped and sent Slade, who hadn’t moved out of his chair, a questioning look. “Slade?”

  He glanced at Lorren and Justin before moving his gaze to Skye. Skye fe
lt her skin tingle when he stared at her for a second before giving her a soft smile. “I’m staying with her,” he said simply.

  Skye’s heart stuttered at his words, and when Justin and Lorren glanced back at her, seeking confirmation that it would be okay for him to remain, she nodded. For some reason she wanted Slade to stay. “Yes, that’s fine,” she said softly.

  After Justin and Lorren left the room, Skye glanced over at Slade. He still hadn’t moved out of the chair, and his encouraging smile sent a wave of goose bumps over her skin. “Go ahead and look at the photos, Skye. I’m going to be right here, if you need me.”

  His words touched her. He didn’t know her. He had met her less than an hour ago, yet Slade Madaris had done something in that time frame that Wayne hadn’t done in all the years he’d known her. Slade was making himself available to her. Unselfishly. Somehow he understood the impact seeing the photos might have on her and hadn’t wanted to leave her alone. She was overwhelmed by such thoughtfulness and caring coming from a total stranger.

  “Thank you,” was the only thing she could think to say, too filled with emotion to say anything else at the moment.

  She noticed her hands trembling as she opened the first photo album. Her heart caught immediately. She swallowed hard. The very first photo was that of her mother, standing alone under a huge sycamore tree. She was smiling for the camera, for her husband. As Skye studied the picture, the first thought that came to her mind was, I favor her a lot. We have the same oval face, the same dark brown almond-shaped eyes, and the same-shaped lips.

  There was no doubt in Skye’s mind that she was this woman’s child. She inhaled deeply at the thought that Kathy Lester had been the one who’d given birth to her. Her biological mother.

  As Skye continued to slowly turn the pages, she knew this first album was one that John Lester had put together as a loving tribute to the wife he adored. And from the way Kathy Lester was smiling back into the lens of the camera, one would know that she loved her husband as well. No matter what mistake she’d made at sixteen, Kathy had found true love and happiness in later years with John Lester.

  Skye couldn’t help but wonder if her mother had told John about her, about the child she’d given up for adoption at sixteen. A part of Skye wanted to believe that she had. She wanted to believe her mother and her husband had shared a relationship based on love and trust and there hadn’t been any secrets between them.

  Skye then wondered if it had been a hard decision for Kathy to make in giving her up. Had she held her in her arms before doing so? Or did she have domineering parents who had left her no choice in the matter? Parents who’d made the decision for her.

  Skye closed the first album and placed it aside and opened the second. She was tempted to glance over at Slade, but she knew he was there, quietly sitting in the chair, sipping his wine and watching her. The first photo she came to nearly made her heart stop. It was a family portrait, probably the last one the four members of the Lester family had had taken together. Kathy Lester looked radiant and gorgeous, her husband handsome, and her two children were beautiful.

  Skye studied the face of the little boy in the photo, who couldn’t have been more than four when the picture had been taken. Like his mother’s, his face was oval, his eyes dark brown and almond shaped. But he had the smile and dimples of his father.

  Her gaze then moved to the little girl who was probably not quite two yet. Skye’s breath caught at how much the little girl favored her when she’d been that age. She stared at the photo, thinking of the loss of her mother and sister, their husband and father. Vincent. The four had lost one another in a way that could never be changed. And in a way she had lost them, too. Everyone but Vincent. A shiver of happiness ran through her knowing there was now more than a possibility that she could meet the brother she never knew she had.

  “Are you okay, Skye?”

  Slade Madaris’ voice filled the room. It was deep, sexy, concerned. A long pause ensued before she finally said, “Yes, I’m okay.”

  But even as she was saying the words, she swiped at the tears that came into her eyes and she knew she was headed toward an emotional meltdown, one she’d tried fighting since discovering she’d been adopted. But she couldn’t fight it any longer. Although she tried holding them back, the tears kept coming.

  Suddenly, the album was taken out of her hand. She felt herself being pulled up from the chair, and her throat seemed to squeeze shut when large, strong arms wrapped around her, pulled her close to a solid, muscular frame. She automatically leaned into Slade, totally mesmerized not only by his touch but by his tenderness. He was comforting her and she clung to him, as if he were the life preserver she desperately needed in this massive storm she was going through.

  More tears came and he wrapped her tighter into his warm embrace. Her mind became blurry. She didn’t want to question why Slade was giving her—a woman he didn’t know—so much attention. All she cared about was the fact that he was doing so.

  “That’s it. Let it all out, Skye. Cry for each of them. Cry for your loss. Theirs. It’s okay.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, and did just what he suggested. She cried for her loss. She wanted to let go of the hurt, the pain, and the betrayal, but the latter was hard because even now a part of her felt there were things regarding her adoption that her parents weren’t telling her, were deliberately keeping from her.

  But she didn’t want to think about any of it now. At the moment all she could think about was being held in the arms of a man who was becoming less and less of a stranger.

  Slade Madaris was fast becoming her hero.

  CHAPTER 3

  Skye wasn’t sure how long she stood there, wrapped in Slade’s arms. But she knew her tears had stopped, her trembling had ceased. Yet he continued to hold her, and she made no attempt to step back. She got comfort being held by him. She heard the steady and strong beat of his heart, inhaled his manly scent, and marveled in his warm embrace. He continued to hold her tight to him; then, he eased away slightly while maintaining his hand at her waist and asked quietly, “Do you want to go for a walk?”

  She looked up at him. “Yes.”

  “I’ll let Justin and Lorren know.”

  He walked away from her and she heard the sound of the door opening and closing. She inhaled deeply and glanced around, actually noticing her surroundings for the first time. The room was neatly decorated and the furniture was sturdy and solid, which immediately reminded her of Slade.

  Numerous questions flooded her mind. Just who was Slade Madaris? His name had never come up in any of the reports from the private investigator she’d hired, but then, from what she’d gathered, the Madaris family was a rather large one.

  A shiver snaked up her spine when the door opened again and he was standing there, smiling. He crossed the room to her. “Ready?”

  She met his gaze and nodded. “Yes.”

  He tucked her hand in his before grabbing a wide-brimmed hat off the rack. Moments later he led her out through the French doors.

  With the Stetson on his head, Skye thought Slade Madaris looked even more like a cowboy and could easily be one of those male models who posed for western wear. And he walked with the grace, style and ease of a man who was confident with who he was and where he was going.

  She couldn’t help but admire that in him. Wayne had constantly needed assurances from her, someone to constantly stroke his ego and would get annoyed with her those times she didn’t. His parents, as well as her own, treated him like a king and he’d expected her to follow suit. She could imagine the disaster she would have faced eventually if the wedding had taken place as planned.

  Skye followed Slade along the brick walkway, grateful she had worn low shoes. Then he opened a wrought-iron gate and her breath caught.

  When she’d first driven up the long driveway, she’d thought the massive ranch-style structure was simply beautiful, and now, seeing the beauty of the land it encompassed, she thought that it was doub
ly so. And what touched her more than anything was the marker that had been erected at the turnoff. Justin had named the ranch in honor of his wife. It was called Lorren Oaks.

  Skye and Slade continued walking. It was a beautiful day, the last week in May, and the poignant scent of bluebonnets filled the air. Her fingers entwined in his reminded her that he was close. Not only that, but they were connected. But she didn’t need that as a reminder. His sheer presence beside her was overpowering.

  “So, Skye Barclay, what exactly do you do back in Augusta?”

  His voice flowed over her like warm honey and she tilted her head and glanced up at him. “I’m an accountant for a real estate firm. What about you? What do you do here in Ennis?”

  He smiled. “I’m an architect. My twin brother and I—”

  “You have a twin brother?”

  He grinned. “Yes. His name is Blade and he’s eight minutes older, but we aren’t identical twins. Blade and I own a construction company in Houston. I’m here visiting Justin and Lorren for a few days, doing some work for them. They’re enlarging the place and want me to design it.”

  Skye glanced back at the massive ranch house and then back at Slade. “Enlarging it? You’re kidding, right?”

  He chuckled. “No. They’re adding what one would think of as mother-in-law quarters for Lorren’s foster mother. Mama Nora is well up in age and has finally agreed that her house in town is too much for her and plans to sell it and move in with Justin and Lorren.”

  “Lorren has a foster mother?”

  “Yes, like Vincent, Lorren’s parents were killed in a car accident when she was a kid. I believe she was eight or nine at the time. And without any living relatives she became a ward of the state. Mama Nora and her late husband, Paul, were Lorren’s foster parents. In fact, they were foster parents to several kids.”

  Skye nodded. No wonder Lorren had understood her need to see the photos in those albums, her need to connect to the mother she hadn’t known.