Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel)

by Jackson, Brenda

  Slade nodded. “Just one more. Christy is the baby girl who’s about your age. She married Alex Maxwell two years ago. And Alex’s brother, Trask, is married to our cousin Felicia.”

  “Oh.” Skye sighed. This was getting rather confusing. Earlier they had mentioned that Lorren’s best friend, Syneda, was married to Justin’s brother Clayton.

  Blade smiled. “Are we confusing you, Skye?”

  “No,” she insisted, chuckling, not about to admit anything to him. “It’s just that your family seems to get bigger and bigger every time someone talks about them.”

  “It’s probably even larger than you can imagine. There were seven Madaris brothers. All are still living except for Uncle Robert. He got killed in the Vietnam War. That was Felicia’s daddy,” Luke explained.

  Skye nodded. “Who’re Justin’s parents?”

  “Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Marilyn,” Slade replied. “They had six kids. Justin is the oldest; then there’s Dex and Clayton. Then came the girls, Traci, Kattie, and Christy.”

  “Don’t try to learn about everyone now,” Luke warned. “There are too many of us. Besides, if you decide to spend the summer in Houston, you’ll get to meet everyone at the Madaris family reunion in July.”

  She looked surprised. “I will?”

  “Yes. I’m sure Great-Gramma Laverne has heard about you by now. She’ll want to check you out.”

  Skye lifted a brow. “Check me out for what?”

  She saw Blade and Luke exchange amused glances. Slade, she noticed, had suddenly grown an interest in the contents in his coffee cup and was gazing down into it.

  It was Blade who finally spoke, and the smile on his face reminded her so much of Slade. “To see which of her great-grandsons she can match you up with.”

  Skye blinked, pretty sure she had not heard him correctly. Before she could ask Blade to repeat himself, Luke said, smiling, “But don’t worry about it. We’ll make sure she knows you already belong to Slade.”

  You already belong to Slade.

  A few hours later Luke’s statement still bothered her. That was the kind of nonsense she didn’t want anyone to start assuming. And although she and Slade had tried convincing the two men they were nothing more than friends, she had a feeling Luke and Blade hadn’t believed them. But then how convincing could you be when you’d been caught kissing?

  After breakfast Slade had given her another riding lesson while Blade and Luke had gotten settled in the guest rooms Rubena had given them to use. When Skye and Slade had returned to the ranch Rubena had a message from Vincent. He had called from the guidance counselor’s office at school. In order to get full credit for the student internship, he would have to work for the Madaris Construction Company the full three months. There could be no exceptions.

  After Rubena had delivered the message and walked off, Slade glanced over at Skye. “Does that mean you’ll be spending your summer in Houston?”

  Skye inhaled deeply. She’d been hoping it wouldn’t have to come to that. “It looks that way, because I really want to spend time with Vincent. But I don’t want to disrupt any plans he’s made with your family.”

  Slade smiled. “You won’t be. He has cousins his age that he hangs out with whenever he comes to town, but all of us are so glad to see him whenever he visits Houston, we have him rotating all over the place. But he mostly stays with his grandparents Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Marilyn.”

  Skye nodded. “I think it’s just wonderful how all of you just embraced him into the Madaris family although you knew he was adopted.”

  “It didn’t matter. Once Justin and Lorren claimed him as their son, that pretty much settled it. He automatically became one of us, and you’ll find when it comes to family, the Madarises protect their own. It’s just that simple.”

  Skye wished it would have been just that simple in her world. Her aunt Karen had always been kind to her while she’d been growing up, but when her mother had seen the relationship getting too close, she had stepped in and had stopped Skye from going over her aunt’s house on the weekends to visit with her. Skye had never understood why her mother had done that. Skye assumed that since her mother and aunt didn’t get along most of the time that had had a lot to do with it, but now she wondered if her adoption was the reason. Since she’d found out she was adopted from overhearing the conversation between her aunt and her parents had her mother been fearful that Karen would let something slip around her? Had that fear led Edith to end Skye and her aunt’s close relationship?

  Skye shook her head. Little did Edith know that her close relationship with her aunt didn’t end. Oh, there had been years they hadn’t been able to talk like they used to, but once she left home for college to live on campus, she and her aunt met each week for tea at one of the café houses on campus. Those days had been the high points in her life. Her aunt had always been there giving her support when things got rough with her parents. And her aunt had given Skye her blessings when she’d told her of her decision to find Vincent. In fact, her aunt had been the only supportive one.

  “Skye?”

  She blinked upon realizing Slade had been talking to her.

  “Yes?”

  “I asked what are your plans?”

  She shrugged. “I really haven’t made any. Other than knowing for certain I’ll be spending time this summer in Houston.” Which was only a couple of weeks away. This was the last week of school for Vincent, and according to Lorren he was supposed to report to work for Slade the second week of June.

  “I guess I need to return home and set everything in motion,” she said, which she knew also meant breaking the news to her parents. That would be the hardest part because she knew there was no way they would understand her reason for what she had to do.

  “I’ll need to put in the paperwork to my employer, which won’t be a problem. Then I’ll check on a place for me to stay in Houston and—”

  “You can stay with me.”

  She glanced up at Slade. “Excuse me?”

  He smiled. “I said you can stay with me. Our construction company built some pretty nice condos for millionaire land developer Mitch Farrell. As part of our compensation package, Blade and I are owners of several of them that we lease out. Both Blade and I live there.”

  “And you want me to live with you?”

  His smile widened. “I think that would be a rather nice arrangement.”

  Well, she didn’t. She was having a hard time trying to figure out how they would share office space if she took him up on his job offer. She didn’t want to think how things would be if they were to share personal space as well. Besides, her moving in with him would definitely send out a wrong message to his family. They’d probably think there was more between them than friendship. It was obvious his brother and cousin already thought so.

  “Thanks, but no thanks, Slade. I don’t think us living together, even for three months, would be a good idea. I’ll just check the Houston rental sections to see what I can find.”

  “Don’t bother. If you don’t want to share quarters with me, then there’s a vacant condo I often use as a model, so it’s completely furnished. You’re welcome to use it.”

  “I couldn’t possibly do that.”

  “Sure you can. Consider it as a favor from a friend. You’re going to like it and it’s within minutes from the Madaris Office Park.”

  Sky raised a brow. “The Madarises own an office park?”

  Slade chuckled. “Justin and his brothers, along with Uncle Jake, are the owners. They commissioned me and Blade to build it, and thanks to Mitch Farrell, the Madaris Building went from being a four-story office building in downtown Houston to an exclusive fifteen-story building that’s surrounded by a cluster of upscale shops, restaurants, and a beautiful park with a huge man-made pond. All of it is erected on a huge parcel of land on the outskirts of town. The condos are right across from the pond.”

  The place sounded beautiful and the chance to live in one of the condos was temptin
g. But…

  “Can I think about it, Slade?”

  “Yes. I’m sure living arrangements while you’re in Houston are just one of many things you’ll have to think about. But the offer is out there. If you want to fly to Houston to take a look at it, then let me know. I’ll be returning to the city on Sunday.”

  She nodded. She would be leaving to return to Maine on Sunday as well. That meant she had only two more days to spend with Vincent before leaving.

  And only two more days to spend with Slade.

  She hung her head for a moment. Why did the thought of not seeing him for two weeks bother her?

  “Skye?”

  She lifted her head up and met his gaze. “Yes?”

  “Whatever it is that’s bothering you, let it go. Things are going to work out just fine. You have to believe it.”

  At that moment, a tremble ran through Skye’s body. Slade Madaris had to be the most positive man she knew. From the moment she had first met him, all he’d done was offer her encouragement. And something else he’d done was introduce her to passion. The man had more passion in his little finger than Wayne had had in his entire body. She had never met a man such as Slade and doubted she ever would again. He had a way of making her feel feminine and attractive without really trying. It was the way he would look at her, smile at her, talk to her in that throaty and sexy voice of his.

  “So now I have two offers out there on the table,” he said. “One is for you to come to work for me this summer, and the other is a place for you to stay. The decision, Skye Barclay, is yours.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Almost a week later after returning to Maine, Skye still hadn’t made a decision regarding Slade’s offers. She had, however, gotten an approval from her employer for a leave of absence for the entire summer. Now the only thing remaining was telling her parents what she planned to do.

  As she sat at the desk in her office she glanced out the window. She had a beautiful view of the city’s skyline as well as the Kennebec River.

  She’d always thought that Augusta was a world-class city where its citizens were able to pursue lifelong learning while attending first-class schools, patronizing libraries and historic and cultural facilities. Downtown, where her office was located, was considered the heart of the city, and a lot of buildings were situated along Water Street and throughout the Capitol complex.

  As she sat there, she couldn’t help but recall the last two days she had spent in Ennis with the Madaris family. It had shown her that a normal family life did exist for some people. Everyone had been simply wonderful, and she had hated when Sunday had come around and it was time to leave.

  She had quickly made friends with Slade’s brother Blade and his cousin Luke, and Justin and Lorren’s hospitality still had Skye in awe of their love, not only for each other, but for their children as well. Because of them, her brother had grown up to be a very special young man with outstanding respect for others and values.

  And then there was Slade.

  Her heart caught every time she thought about him. After he had made those offers to her, there was never a time the two of them were alone. They spent time with Blade and Luke as they shared more and more tidbits about the Madaris family as well as some of their escapades while growing up. It was easy to see the three weren’t just relatives by blood but were also close friends who wouldn’t hesitate to do what they could for one another.

  She couldn’t help but smile each and every time she recalled something she and Slade had done together. Thanks to him she’d had her first horse-riding experience, and she now appreciated the value of taking walks whenever she had a lot on her mind. Even without trying he had made her feel special, not only as Vincent’s sister but as a woman as well.

  She couldn’t forget the kisses they had shared, and in the final days when, thanks to Blade and Luke, he couldn’t seem to get her alone, she couldn’t help but remember the flirtatious glances and heated looks he had sent her way. Those memories only made the decision of whether to take him up on his offers that much harder.

  She jumped when the intercom buzzed on her desk. She glanced at her watch and saw it was almost lunchtime already. She had called her parents asking to meet with them later today. It would be then that she would tell them of her plans, and no matter what, she would not change them.

  When the intercom buzzer sounded again she quickly reacted by hitting the speaker button to respond to her secretary. “Yes, Ida?”

  “Wayne Bigelow is here. He says he’s taking you to lunch.”

  Skye frowned. Just showing up out of the clear blue sky and thinking she was supposed to drop her plans just for him was typical Wayne. They didn’t have lunch plans. In fact, as far as she was concerned, there was no need for them to see each other at all. He had said what he had to say to her, had told her exactly how he felt, before she’d left for Texas.

  “Do you want me to send him in, Ms. Barclay?”

  She could hear the annoyance in Ida’s voice. Evidently, as usual, Wayne was out in the reception area being a nuisance. For some reason he thought whenever he walked into a room, everyone was supposed to stop whatever they were doing and give him their full attention. He truly didn’t like being ignored. He’d probably heard she had returned to town and was a little ticked off that she hadn’t called him. Maybe it was time to let him know they really had nothing else to say to each other. He needed to get on with his life like she planned on getting on with hers.

  “Yes, Ida, please send him in.”

  Within minutes he strode into her office. She glanced up at him. He was handsome; she would have to give him that. But an acknowledgment of his good looks was all she would give him. The man was so full of himself it was a shame. In her opinion his attitude only diminished those good looks. And he’d always had a better than thou attitude about him. Spending time with Slade and seeing how a true gentleman carried himself made Wayne’s offensive behavior that much more obvious.

  “Get your purse, Skye. I’m here to take you to lunch.”

  She shook her head. And of course he expected her to obey his orders since he had walked into her office barking them out. He hadn’t taken the time to do something courteous like give her a proper greeting, ask how she was doing or how her trip was. Doing any of that would have meant it was all about her, but Wayne intended for it to be all about him. She wondered how she had remained engaged to him for the time that she had.

  “Hello, Wayne. We didn’t have a lunch date and at the moment I’m too busy to drop whatever I’m doing to go anywhere with you.” She flipped open a file that was on her desk for good measure.

  “Besides,” she decided to add, “why would we go out to lunch? It’s not as if we’re still seeing each other. If I recall, you called off our wedding before I left for Texas. I’d think you would be getting on with your life like I’m trying to do with mine.”

  He pulled out the chair across from her desk and sat in it, waving her words away with his hand. “Your stubbornness got me pretty upset and I said some things I should not have. But I’m over that now. I’ve decided the wedding is back on, and have called the planner to let her know it as well.”

  That bit of news angered Skye. The audacity of the man! She threw down the file she held in her hand. “You should not have done that, Wayne, because the wedding is not back on.”

  “Sure it is. Same date. Same time. And,” he said in a low voice that was meant to really capture her attention with its supposed sexiness, “I’ve called that place in Hawaii to let them know the honeymoon is back on as well.”

  She had heard enough. “If you’re counting on me marrying you, then you will be left standing at the altar alone, because I have no intentions of showing up. I know what you said to me that night and—”

  “Like I said, you made me angry, Skye. How was I supposed to act?”

  Like a true gentleman and not an ass, she wanted to say. Instead she said, “Like someone who cared about my feelings. But you didn�
��t.”

  He stood angrily. “You had made up your mind to travel miles away to meet someone you didn’t know based on some investigator’s report. Someone who didn’t know you and could probably care less that you existed.”

  “That’s right and what you should have been was supportive.”

  “Supportive while my future wife made a fool of herself? Get real, Skye. What purpose did it serve, finding this so-called brother of yours? Okay, according to your parents, you were treated decently, but what’s to come of it? Is he willing to leave the parents who raised him to start a life with you?”

  “That wasn’t my purpose in going, Wayne. I just wanted to meet him and get to know him.”

  “Fine, and I hope you’ve done both, because now you’re back and I intend for us to move forward in our wedding plans.”

  Now it was Skye who stood. “There won’t be any wedding plans because there won’t be a wedding. That’s the last thing I plan to say on the matter. Now I would appreciate it if you left.”

  He looked surprised, almost shocked. “You’re asking me to leave?”

  “Yes.”

  He frowned. “Okay, I can see that you’re still upset, but we can talk about this at another time. I’ll drop by your place later,” he said, heading for the door.

  “You aren’t welcome at my place any longer, Wayne.”

  He didn’t turn back around, nor did he stop walking. He merely tossed over his shoulder, “Sure I am. You’ll have cooled off by tonight. I’ll make plans for dinner.” And then he opened the door and left.

  For the longest moment she was too stunned to speak. In essence Wayne hadn’t heard anything she’d said, and if he had heard it, he hadn’t been listening. Well, she would have to show him. She would make sure the security guard who manned her apartment building knew that Wayne was no longer welcome.

  She was about to sit back down when the intercom on her desk sounded again. She reached out and pushed the button. “Yes, Ida?”