She lifted her eyes to his. When Mason smiled sweetly, Phaedra smiled back.
“I want to thank you for everything you did for me today,” she said softly, “and I want to apologize.”
“Apologize for what?”
“For spoiling our first date,” Phaedra said, her smile coy.
Mason nodded. “Apology accepted as long as you’re willing to give me another chance to impress you,” he said with a wry smile back.
Phaedra nodded. “Well, I’m already impressed, but I was thinking that dinner might be a nice idea. My treat, of course, so that I can make up for all the crying.”
“I think dinner would be a great idea,” Mason answered, meeting her gaze.
And Phaedra couldn’t help noticing that there was something she was really starting to like shimmering deep in his eyes.
* * *
Collin Broomes rode the large black stallion with an air of confidence. He made two slow laps around the paddock grinning widely from ear to ear. Matthew stood with Mason and John outside the fenced closure, the men all nodding their approval.
“He’s a natural,” Mason said.
Matthew nodded in agreement. “Collin is exceptionally skilled. I admire the fact that he’s allowed himself to learn and he doesn’t mind being critiqued. He’s come a long way. I am really proud of his maturity.”
“We all appreciate the time you’ve invested in him, Matthew,” Mason said. “Collin needed a strong male presence in his life, and you being willing to step up to the plate has been admirable.”
Matthew grinned. “I love your sister. How could I not love that big-headed son of hers!” he said with deep chuckle.
John leaned on the fence beside them, taking in the conversation. He didn’t say so, but he was as proud of his brother as his brother was proud of the youngster. None of them could have predicted that young Collin stealing Matthew’s car months earlier would have ended with Matthew married to the woman of his dreams and about to welcome his own child into the world. It never ceased to amaze him how life could turn on the flip of a dime. He suddenly thought about his own father and Phaedra.
“How was Phaedra when you left her?” John asked, shifting his attention toward Mason.
His friend nodded. “Better. This was a difficult day for her and I don’t think she was prepared for it.”
“I know we didn’t help the situation.”
“This isn’t easy for any of you,” Mason said. “I know Phaedra regrets that it came out the way it did, but ultimately it needed to come out.”
Matthew nodded in agreement. “So, tell me,” he said curiously. “You and Phaedra seem to have gotten quite close, quite fast. What’s up with you two?”
Mason laughed. “What, my sister put you up to asking?”
Matthew laughed with him. “You know she did and you know if I didn’t ask I will never hear the end of it.”
John’s head waved from side to side. “Just to toss in another two cents, Marah made a point of saying you two make a very nice couple.”
“Was that before Phaedra dropped her bombshell or after?” Mason questioned.
“Before—” John paused, his eyebrows raised
“—and after. Actually, they all really seem to like Phaedra.”
Matthew laughed out loud. “It was on the tip of my tongue to say, ‘what’s not to like?’ because the woman is absolutely stunning, but now that she might actually be our sister, that seems kind of weird.”
John laughed with him, shaking his head. “You’re right! In fact, now that I think about it, if she is our sister, we’re going to have to start screening all of her dates. You’re lucky, Mason. You’ve already passed inspection,” he joked.
Mason grinned. “I appreciate that!”
“You should,” Matthew added, “because I assure you if it turns out that we’re related, it’s not me or John you’d have to impress. I bet my last dollar Mark is going to be the most overprotective. Phaedra doesn’t have a clue what she’ll be in for.”
John smiled. “I was thinking the same thing. He’s playing hard, but Mark is as soft as they come.”
“I may be wrong, but I really don’t think Phaedra will mind,” Mason noted as the three men fell into reflection.
Minutes later Collin lapped the paddock for the umpteenth time and Matthew gestured for the young man’s attention. Collin brought the horse to a halt in front of his stepfather and uncles. He leaned forward, his hand gliding down the horse’s thick neck. “Isn’t he great? He makes it so easy for me to ride.”
The horse nuzzled his muzzle against Matthew’s hand. “Yeah! He’s a good boy. Ride him into the barn. One of the hands will help you unsaddle him. He needs to cool down and be brushed. Then you’re going to put him into the stall you mucked earlier. Make sure he has fresh feed before you leave. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Collin paused, neither he nor the horse moving.
“Is something wrong, son?” Matthew asked.
“Aren’t you going to watch me?”
Matthew shook his head. “No. I trust you’ll do what I expect.”
Collin raised a questioning eyebrow. “You trust me?”
Matthew smiled. “If I didn’t you wouldn’t be riding my favorite horse.”
With a nod of his head, and a grin as wide as a canyon, Collin galloped the horse toward the barn. John met his brother’s gaze, both he and Mason enjoying the moment.
“You’re getting pretty good at that father thing,” John said, chuckling softly.
Matthew laughed. “I learned from the best, big brother,” he said as he bumped shoulders and fists with the man. “I learned from the best.”
* * *
Juanita was hiding out in the kitchen when John made his way back into the family home. As he stood watching her stir a pot that was bubbling on the stove, he sensed that she was no more interested in having a conversation with him than the man in the moon. But they were going to have to talk because he had questions and she seemed to have all the answers. He called her name, startling her from her thoughts.
“John!” Juanita gasped, pressing a hand to her heart as she spun in his direction.
“I’m sorry, Aunt Juanita. I didn’t mean to startle you, but we need to talk.”
Juanita sighed. Resting the spoon in her hand on the counter, she bit down against her bottom lip, taking another breath and blowing it out. She gestured for John to follow her to a seat at the counter. “Do you want something to drink, baby?” she asked as he settled himself comfortably on a cushioned stool.
John shook his head no. “But thank you for asking.”
Juanita nodded as she took the seat beside him. She’d been regretting this conversation, and no matter how much she wished she could avoid it, she knew John would never consider letting it go. She looked him in the eye as he waited for her to start the conversation.
“Is it true?” John finally asked. “Is it possible that Phaedra is our sister?”
Juanita blew another deep breath. His mother, Irene Stallion, had been her dearest friend in the whole wide world. The two had grown up together, best friends since they’d both been singing in the children’s choir of the Baptist church they’d been raised in. They’d gone through every imaginable trial and tribulation with each other, from bad hair to bad boy days. There wasn’t a secret Juanita hadn’t shared with Irene or Irene with her. And Irene had shared one secret that Juanita had hoped to take to her grave.
John interrupted her thoughts. “I really need the truth, Aunt Juanita. Was our father unfaithful? Did he cheat on our mother?”
Juanita hesitated, pausing as she took a deep breath. “Yes,” she said, meeting his gaze evenly. “But it’s not what you think.”
“I don’t know what to think,” J
ohn said, cutting to the chase. “But I want facts, not assumptions, so if you can give me that I would really appreciate it. I just need the truth, Aunt Juanita.”
Juanita nodded. “You all were just babies. You were five, maybe six. Matthew was three or four, and Mark was just beginning to walk good. That was the first summer that Irene let you boys go to your uncle Joseph’s to spend time with Travis.”
John nodded. There had been many summers when they’d gone to visit his favorite cousin. He had no memory of that very first summer.
Juanita continued. “Your parents were going through a lot that summer. Your dad had just started his refrigeration repair business. He was working in the factory at nights and running the repair shop during the day. Your mom was also working two jobs and it put a lot of stress on their relationship. The only reason Irene let you boys go was so she could take the time to try to get her marriage back on track.”
“And Dad helped her do that by cheating on her?”
“It’s more complicated than that. Your mother was lonely. She didn’t get to spend a lot of time with James and it was a big issue between them. And then she met this man.”
John suddenly slammed his fist against the countertop. Heat flushed his face, rage seeming to rise out of nowhere. Juanita jumped, rattled by the brash display of emotion. John’s fists were clenched tight as he processed what he thought she was trying to tell him. Juanita held up both her hands in pause.
“Nothing happened, I swear. Your mother loved your father, but this man could see that she was vulnerable and he preyed on that. The only mistake your mother made was to let this man get into her ear and put doubt into her heart. Your father saw what was happening and it was a nasty blowup, but I swear, nothing ever happened between your mother and that man. Nothing!
“But your father didn’t know that. James thought the absolute worst because it looked that way. God knows it looked bad,” Juanita said, her head shaking frantically. “James thought he’d lost her. Anyway, that summer your father had gotten the Amana appliance contract to be their regional representative here in Texas and he had to go to New Orleans for a training seminar. He was still thinking that your mother wanted to be with this other man and he just wanted her to be happy, so he left believing that Irene had done him dirty and their marriage was done and finished.”
John nodded. “And that’s when he met Arneta Parrish?”
“Yes. James was gone for almost two months. When Irene finally realized what had happened, she followed James there and brought him back home. Your father told her about Arneta and it was rough for them for a long time, but they eventually found their way back to each other. No two people have ever loved each other as much as James and Irene loved each other.”
“Did he know about Phaedra?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Juanita said. “If he had, your father would have acknowledged her and your mother would have supported his decision to do so. James would never have abandoned any child of his. Never! You know better than anyone that your father was not that kind of man.”
John’s gaze drifted to the view outside the large picture window. He did know. He had always known what kind of man his father was. He had worked all of his life to be at least half that man, emulating the best of who he’d known his dad to be. He was suddenly overcome with emotion, fighting not to break down. Outside, it had begun to rain, dark clouds crying a fine mist of warm water in sympathy.
Relationships were complicated. What John now understood was that whatever challenges his parents might have had to face, and clearly they had gone through some things, when communication broke down between them, they’d been lost. Somehow, though, they’d been able to find their way back to each other and John remembered them only at their very best. All he had ever seen between them had been a wealth of love, that summer of reckoning not even the shimmer of a memory in his mind.
Rising from his seat, John leaned to wrap Juanita in a big bear hug. He kissed her wrinkled cheek, held the gaze she gave him for a brief second, then went in search of his wife. He needed to find sanctuary in what he trusted most, wanting only to hold Marah tight in his arms and to tell her how much she was loved.
Chapter 8
“I owned a hotel-owning company that I just sold to the Stallions.”
Phaedra looked slightly confused. “And what exactly is a hotel-owning company?”
Mason smiled. “Mine was an entity that owned, managed, leased or franchised, through various subsidiaries, over four thousand hotels and more than six hundred and fifty thousand guest rooms in one hundred countries and territories around the world.”
“Sweet!” Phaedra said. “That’s pretty impressive.”
Mason shrugged. “It had moments,” he said nonchalantly.
The duo had been talking nonstop, the restaurant having closed its doors around them. Bribing the manager, Mason had convinced the man to let them stay, the staff pretending they were not even there. With the exception of their waiter, who would periodically check to see if they needed anything, they hadn’t seen anyone else for hours.
Phaedra leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs out in front of her, her hands resting in her lap. “So, what’s next for Mason Boudreaux? What’s your next business adventure?”
Mason lifted his elbows to the table, resting his chin against the backs of his hands. “I’m not sure. I’m going to take a short sabbatical for a few weeks to wind down and then I’m going to pretend to help your brothers for a few months, although they really don’t need my help. Then we’ll see. Who knows what might come up?”
Phaedra sighed as she lifted her glass of pinot grigio and took a sip. “My brothers… That sounds so strange,” she said, shaking her head.
“I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before it will be the most natural thing in the world for you to hear,” Mason countered.
“I wish I was as certain as you,” she replied with a slight shrug.
Mason shifted his large body in his chair. “So, Ms. Parrish, how long are you planning to be in Dallas?”
“Not long at all actually. I’ll stay for the DNA tests tomorrow and then I have to leave for Thailand the day after. I have a photo assignment that I’m contractually obligated to do. I can’t get out of it.”
“Thailand!” Mason shouted. “You’re going to love it! Thailand is beautiful.”
“You’ve been to Thailand?”
Mason nodded. “I’ve spent a lot of time in Thailand. I used to have a hotel there,” he said, smiling, “and I still own some property off the coast of Phuket.”
Phaedra looked intrigued. “What kind of property?”
Smiling, Mason leaned forward, moving Phaedra to lean toward him as if he were about to share a deep secret with her. “It’s a private island called Koh Rang Yai, one of the most beautiful pieces of property that you could ever experience.”
His tone was low and deep and sent a shiver of electricity through Phaedra’s core. Phaedra shifted her body back as though she’d been burned. Her eyes widened at the sensation.
“It sounds very special,” Phaedra said, her own voice coming in a deep whisper.
Mason smiled. “I’d love to show it to you someday.”
“I’d love to see it,” Phaedra responded, so lost in the intense look he was giving her that she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to find her way back.
“How about the day after tomorrow?” Mason asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Let me go to Thailand with you and when you’re done working I can show you my private island.”
Phaedra laughed, tossing her head back against her shoulders. “You’re kidding me, right?”
Mason eased himself even closer, dropping a hand against her knee. “I don’t kid about things that are important to me,” he said.
His seductive tone was just too distracting to be any good for anyone, Phaedra thought suddenly. She took a deep breath, dropped her hand against the back of his and gently pushed his palm away from her leg.
“I am not that kind of girl, Mr. Boudreaux,” she said teasingly.
This time Mason laughed, the sound coming from deep in his midsection. He shook his head. “I assure you, Miss Parrish, my intentions are strictly aboveboard.”
Phaedra still eyed him with reservation. “So, why would you want to go to Thailand with me?”
Mason smiled, the look so spectacular that Phaedra found herself holding her breath at the sight of him. When he responded she melted into a puddle of overstimulated hormones, every nerve ending in her body feeling as if it were about to combust.
“Because you are the most exquisite woman I have ever met and if following you to Thailand will allow me more time to get to know you, then I’m following you to Thailand.”
Phaedra paused as she took in his comment. Then she smiled back. “Understand, Mr. Boudreaux, nothing and no one gets in my way when I’m working. So understand there will be no private anything, island or otherwise, between us until after my photo shoot. Is that clear?”
Mason grinned, his head bobbing eagerly. “Crystal.”
She nodded. “So, tell me more about your island.”
* * *
Too fast. Phaedra’s words echoed through Mason’s thoughts. You move too fast. He smiled as he reflected on her. She was obstinate when he’d insisted on them flying his private jet to Bangkok. Phaedra had resisted, reasoning that she had a perfectly good airline ticket courtesy of the company that had hired her to photograph their new line of women’s shoes.
It had been Phaedra’s suggestion that they shoot in the tropical paradise. Adding her opinion and creative vision to the advertising presentation had helped her beat out fifty other photographers for the job. Her first-class travel expenses had been one of the many perks she’d negotiated for herself and she saw no reason for it to go to waste. But Mason had insisted and she had come kicking, steadfast in her pronouncement that he was moving way too fast for his own good.
Forever a Stallion Page 6