Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel) Read online

  “So what are your plans, Skye, regarding Vincent? What happens after you meet him?”

  She shrugged. “That depends on Justin and Lorren. They’ll know better than anyone if Vincent is ready for me to be a part of his life. I’m sure he doesn’t know anything about me, and I’m concerned how he might feel upon discovering that his mother gave up a child for adoption at the same age he is now.”

  A part of Slade understood her concern. “You’re right that Justin and Lorren would be the ones to know whether Vincent is ready to handle something like that, but a part of me thinks that he is. He was only five when he lost his parents, and although I’m sure they’ll always have a permanent place in his heart, I also know that he considers Justin and Lorren his parents. No matter who he was before, Vincent is definitely a Madaris now. And at sixteen he’s far more mature than most young people his age. He’s secure in his parents’ and family’s love, and it shows. He does well in school, is selective with his friends, and is family oriented to a fault. He’s a great kid.”

  Skye smiled. “I really do hope that I can meet him.”

  “I’m sure you will. He’s at school now and won’t be home for a few more hours if he doesn’t have soccer practice.”

  She glanced over at Slade, surprised. “He plays soccer?”

  “Like he was born for the game.”

  A giggle bubbled up in Skye’s throat upon hearing that. “Umm, isn’t that interesting. I played soccer while in high school as well, and I got offered a scholarship to play in college.”

  “Did you take it?”

  She shook her head, remembering her disappointment. “No, my parents wouldn’t let me. They felt they could afford to send me to college without the help of a scholarship. Besides, the university I wanted to attend was somewhere in Florida and they felt that was too far from home.”

  “So where did you attend college?”

  “The University of Maine, right there in Augusta. But I did get to live on campus.” She decided not to add that she had appreciated being away from her parents’ prying eyes. To say that Tom and Edith Barclay had been the epitome of strict parents would be an understatement.

  “So what do you think of this place?” Slade asked when they stopped walking.

  She glanced around before smiling up at him. “I think Lorren Oaks is simply beautiful.”

  Besides the massive ranch house, they had passed a barn that housed several horses, and the part of the ranch where Justin’s medical facility was located. A cluster of oak trees lined the walkway that led to several corrals. The scenery was beautiful, and it was a nice day for a walk. She was glad Slade had invited her. She could imagine Vincent living here, learning to ride horses and taking walks along these paths.

  “Ready to go back?”

  Somehow the thought of going back was a downer. She liked being out here in the fresh open sky with him. “Yes, and thanks for taking the time to take me for a stroll,” she said. “It was very kind of you to do so.”

  “No problem. I could tell your heart was pretty heavy and that you needed to get out, breathe in a bit of fresh air.”

  “I did and I feel a lot better now.”

  “There is one thing I want to ask you about, though, before we head back.”

  “Yes?” She looked up at him. They had stopped walking and were facing each other. His eyes held her captive, and his hands were still holding hers. He was a handsome man with a beautiful smile. She studied his features, fascinated.

  “You mentioned things had ended between you and your fiancé and that you were no longer engaged. Is there a possibility the two of you might work things out and get back together?”

  Skye breathed in deeply, not sure why he was asking but knowing she would tell him the truth. She reflected on the last conversation she’d had with Wayne and all the cruel things he’d said. And not for the first time she wondered why her parents thought he was the perfect match for her when it was plain to see that he was not.

  She shook her head. “No, there’s no possibility that Wayne and I will get back together. There won’t ever be a wedding between us.”

  Slade nodded, and without saying anything further, they began walking back toward the ranch house.

  Lorren Madaris met them at the entrance to the wrought-iron gate with a huge smile on her face. “I hope the two of you are hungry, since I took the liberty to prepare lunch for everyone.”

  Slade grinned. “That sounds like a winner to me. If you ladies will excuse me, I’m going to wash up.”

  He walked away, leaving them alone. Skye didn’t answer Lorren immediately because, quite frankly, she didn’t know what to say. Things were certainly not going the way her parents and Wayne had warned her they would. They claimed Justin and Lorren would see her interference in their lives as a threat to their adopted son and would not want her and Vincent to get to know each other. They also felt that because of Jake Madaris’ wealth and personal connection to key political figures, the Madarises would make her life a living hell. Her parents and Wayne wanted her to let what was in the past remain in the past and look forward to a future with Wayne.

  “Skye? Are you all right?”

  She met Lorren’s gaze. “Yes. No.” She inhaled deeply, knowing her answers were probably confusing the woman. “What I mean is that I really don’t know. You and Dr. Madaris are certainly not taking this the way I thought you would.”

  Lorren chuckled as she tucked a curl behind her ear. “And how did you think we would take it? You’ve fully explained how Vincent is your brother and we believe you. We have no reason not to.”

  “And you don’t see my coming here as a threat?”

  Lorren chuckled again. “Of course not. Why would we? We see you as someone who, for the past year or so, has been seeking answers, which led you here to meet the brother you hadn’t known you had. Vincent is not a child. He’s sixteen years old, so I doubt you’d want to stake any guardianship claim on him at that age. Besides, a judge would let Vincent decide who he would want to live with until he’s eighteen. No, Justin and I don’t see you as a threat. But what I do see when I look at you is someone who’s ecstatic about finding her brother but who’s afraid to show it for some reason.”

  Skye inhaled deeply. Lorren’s assessment was right on the money and Skye wondered how she’d known. “What makes you think that?” she asked softly.

  “Umm, just a hunch. I was raised in a foster home and although I made numerous friends among the others who lived there with me, one in particular who to this day I consider my very dearest and closest friend, I would have been ecstatic, jumping for joy, totally elated, if someone would have shown up one day claiming to be a brother or sister I hadn’t known about. It would not have mattered to me if they would have been an outside child of my father or a child my mother had given up for adoption. Just the thought that the person was related to me in some way would have sent me skyrocketing past heaven.”

  “B-but what if Vincent doesn’t feel that way? What if he sees my appearance as an invasion into what he has here with the two of you and your other children?”

  Lorren shook her head. “He won’t. I know my son, Skye. He’s a very mature young man who’s too secure in our love for him to think that way. Besides that, he’s a lot like Justin. Vincent is a deeply caring individual and he loves family.”

  Lorren got quiet for a few minutes and then she added, “I can remember distinctly the first day I met Vincent. Justin and I were dating and he invited me to go camping with him one weekend. He was a volunteer at the Children’s Home Society and had planned to take a few of the little guys along. All of them were absolutely precious, but there was something about Vincent that immediately captured my heart. He was the youngest in the group and the most withdrawn. Justin later explained what had happened to his family and my heart went out to him because I had lost my parents the same way, in an automobile accident. I think I fell in love with him that day, and when Justin and I married one of the fi
rst things I wanted to do was make Vincent our son. We adopted him before we’d been married three months. In all the ways that matter he’s ours, but I’m realistic and secure enough in our relationship with him to accept that he has other family as well.”

  Skye wondered why her own parents couldn’t be as secure in their relationship with her. Why did they feel her uncovering information about her biological parents meant that she didn’t care as much for them? “Thanks for sharing that with me, Mrs. Madaris.”

  Lorren smiled. “Please call me Lorren, and I have a feeling that in the future we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

  Skye smiled. She hoped what Lorren said was true.

  Slade flipped open his cell phone the moment he walked out of the guest bathroom. “Yes?”

  “It’s Blade. Luke’s here. When are you coming home?”

  Slade shook his head, grinning. Blade hated talking on mobile phones, so his words tended to be short and to the point. “My work here is almost finished and I was planning to return this weekend, but I’ll let you know on that.”

  “If your work is almost done, what’s keeping you there?”

  It was an ongoing joke in the Madaris family that Blade had ways like their cousin Clayton, who was Justin’s youngest brother. Both had a tendency to ask a lot of questions. Sometimes Slade wondered why Blade hadn’t followed Clayton’s footsteps and become an attorney instead of the engineer that he was.

  “Slade, I asked what’s keeping you there?”

  Slade glanced across the way to where he saw Skye still talking to Lorren. He then thought about the revitalization of his social life. “Just a minor detail. How long will Luke be in town?” Luke Madaris was another cousin their age and was well-known on the circuits as a rodeo star. Because of his busy schedule, his trips back home were infrequent.

  “Luke’s going to be here for at least a week. Great-Gramma Laverne sent for him.”

  “Why?”

  “Someone mentioned to her that he won’t be making the family reunion in July due to some rodeo show. She wants him to look her in the face and tell her he won’t be coming.”

  Blade then chuckled and added. “As usual, she’s claiming this is her last reunion and wants to see all her children, grands, great-grands, and great-great-grands.”

  A slow smile spread across Slade’s lips. It was hard to believe that at three years short of facing ninety the matriarch of the Madaris family was still as feisty as ever. “You know what’s going to happen, don’t you, Blade?”

  “Yes. Luke’s going to drop whatever plans he’s made and be at that reunion. Do you blame him?”

  “No.” And that was the truth. The last thing anyone with a lick of sense would want was to get on Felicia Laverne Madaris’ bad side. Besides, if Luke was to miss the family reunion this year and something did happen to their great-grandmother before the next reunion, Luke would be fearful the old gal would come back and make his life a living hell until his dying day.

  “Something else you ought to know,” Blade was saying.

  “What?”

  “Great-Gramma Laverne dreamed about fish last night. Everyone is hoping it’s not Syneda.”

  Slade laughed. Syneda was their cousin Clayton’s wife. The family thought that Clayton and Syneda’s four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Remington, was a handful, and the thought of them adding another child to their already chaotic household was too much to think about.

  “Have you ever considered that with your track record, twin brother, her fish dream could possibly mean that one of your—”

  “Don’t even think it, Slade. I’m too careful for that. Besides, I do women. Not babies. Luke and I will look for you this weekend. If something comes up and you can’t make it back, let us know.”

  Blade then clicked off the line.

  A few minutes later, Slade was opening the French doors to join Justin, Lorren, and Skye on the veranda for lunch.

  “We thought you’d gotten lost,” Justin said, grinning.

  Slade chuckled as he sat down at the table. “I got a call from Blade letting me know that Luke’s in town. Great-Gramma Laverne sent for him.”

  “Poor Luke,” Lorren said, grinning.

  “Who’s Luke?” Skye asked curiously, and hoped she wasn’t out of place for doing so.

  Evidently she wasn’t, since Justin didn’t waste time answering her. “Lucas, who we all call Luke, is one of my cousins and he’s the same age as Blade and Slade, just a few months younger. He’s a well-known rodeo star around these parts.”

  “Really?” she asked, taking a sip of her iced tea.

  “Yes, really,” Slade said, smiling, liking the sound of her voice whenever she talked. “Have you ever been to a rodeo?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’ve watched one on television, though.”

  Slade laughed. “That doesn’t count. You have to see one live, from inside the arena. That’s the only way you can really get your adrenaline pumping. If you hang around long enough I’ll make it my business to take you to one,” he said simply.

  His words surprised Skye. From the tone of his voice she had no doubt that he meant it, and where she came from such a statement would constitute a planned date. “Thanks, Slade, I’d like that. And I hope to be around awhile, that is, if Justin and Lorren approve.”

  Justin reached across the table and captured Lorren’s hand in his. “Lorren and I have no reason not to approve. I think Vincent will be excited when he finds out he has a sister.”

  “Even one who’s ten years older?” she asked, still not sure of the situation.

  Justin chuckled. “Yes, even one who is ten years older.”

  Skye bit into the delicious chicken salad sandwich Lorren had prepared, thinking that she really hoped so. Everyone seemed to believe that Vincent would be fine in meeting her, and she just hoped they were right.

  She felt Slade’s eyes on her and glanced over at him. Her stomach jittered a little when their gazes connected. There was this attraction between them. She had felt it from the first, the moment he had opened the door. She idly took a sip of her tea, and instead of concentrating on Slade she glanced over at Justin and Lorren.

  From what Skye had read, they’d been married around ten years, and it was plain to see they were still very much in love. Lorren practically glowed in Justin’s presence, and certain things they did together seemed to come naturally, without much thought. The way they touched frequently, gazed at each other, and the smiles they exchanged. She thought about her own parents who’d been married five years before she’d come into the picture. The only time they came together was for family emergencies, such as when she’d found out about her adoption. Then they had been a united front against her and her decisions. Other than that it was all show. Oh, she believed that in their own way they loved her, but to them it was and always had been about dominating her life.

  “So where are you staying while in town, Skye?”

  She glanced up at the sound of Lorren’s voice. “At the Caprice Hotel.”

  “That’s a nice place, but we can’t have you staying there,” Lorren said, smiling. “You’re welcome to stay here with us if you like.”

  Skye was taken aback by the invitation. “I can’t possibly do that.”

  “Sure you can. We have plenty of room. And once you meet Vincent you’ll want to spend time with him, won’t you?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Then it’s all settled. Slade can go back with you to town to help you with your things. You don’t mind, do you, Slade?”

  “No, not at all.”

  The sound of Slade’s husky baritone, as well as the intensity of the gaze looking at Skye, sent shivers all through her.

  Lorren smiled at everyone at the table. “Then it’s all settled. Skye is officially our houseguest.”

  “Have you ever known such a bossy woman?” a grinning Slade asked Skye moments later while they finished off the rest of their lunch. Justin had a patient scheduled
at one o’clock and had left for his office in the back, and Lorren had gone to pick their other two kids, Justina and Christopher, up from the bus stop. Justina was nine and Christopher was six.

  Skye smiled as she glanced over at Slade. “Have you?”

  Slade laughed. “Yes. As far as I’m concerned, all the women in the Madaris family are that way. What about your family?”

  She shrugged. “I was my parents’ only child. My mother didn’t have any siblings, and since my father’s only sister Aunt Karen’s husband passed away before they had children, I didn’t have cousins. But my family did have friends who had kids my age.”

  She didn’t want to go into details of just how snooty those kids had been, so she had never fully developed friendship with any of them. She had practically gone through school being a recluse. Since her parents had selected her friends and she hadn’t liked the ones they’d picked, she had basically done without.

  “Must have been lonely for you growing up,” Slade said, reaching out and tucking a twisted curl behind her ear.

  She thought about what he said for a long moment or two, then said, “I didn’t know it at the time, but now I can see that it was. But I did a lot to stay busy. I had my piano and ballet lessons. I also learned to speak French and Japanese, and then when I was old enough to do sports I had soccer.”

  He gave her a half smile. “For some reason I can’t see you out on a field playing soccer. You seem too prissy for something like that.”

  She chuckled. “Trust me, my parents almost convinced me of that same thing, but luckily Aunt Karen came to my rescue. She got them to understand that every child needs some type of physical activity in their lives.”

  At that moment Slade’s cell phone went off. After checking the caller ID he smiled over at her. “Excuse me a moment. It’s my office calling.”

  “Sure.”

  Skye watched him walk off and suddenly images of Justin and Lorren Madaris filtered through her mind. It was so easy to see that they had a solid marriage; one that could handle anything that came their way. It was one built to last. That’s what Skye wanted one day for herself: a marriage where she and her husband would enjoy growing old together—through the good times and the bad—a solid marriage where they would love each other forever.