“Mom?” A woman’s voice came from the front of the house.
For the first time, Colton perked up. A smile crossed his face as a woman a little older than him, but just as incredibly good-looking, came around the corner in black yoga pants, flip-flops, and a nice top that somehow elevated the whole ensemble. That was magical, that was. Madison needed to learn that trick.
From behind her barreled two kids, one about seven or so, and one nearer five, a boy and a girl. The boy was laughing and shaking the doll clutched in his hand.
“That’s mine!” the girl wailed, catching him at the stairs and yanking his hair.
“Ow! Mom!”
“Well, you stole it,” Ralph said, shaking his head. “That’s what you get.”
“Annie, don’t pull your brother’s hair—”
“He got what was coming to him,” Ralph muttered.
“Joe, give her doll back,” the woman yelled.
“It’s not her fault she’s a scrapper. She gets that from me,” Ralph muttered to himself. “You get something taken that’s yours, you get it back at all costs. He needs to learn how the world works.”
“Oh Ralph, enough,” Martha said, rolling her eyes.
“Well?” Ralph shook his head again. “Kids these days are too soft, if you ask me.”
“No one was asking you, Dad,” the kids’ mother said.
“Maddie, this is Cheryl, my sister.” Colton looked back toward the stairs. “And those were her two rug rats. Where’s the third?”
“You mean Oops?” Cheryl smiled and reached out to hug Madison.
Madison hit her throat on Cheryl’s shoulder. “Sorry, I’m an awkward hugger,” she murmured.
“Don’t call her that,” Martha said in disapproval.
Cheryl laughed. “Owen is bringing her.”
“Hello?” came another voice, a man’s this time.
“Your family treats houses like telephones,” Madison said softly to Colton.
Colton started to laugh, squeezing her close.
“It’s because the place is so big,” Cheryl said, heading toward the kitchen.
“What?” Martha asked.
“Nothing, Mother,” Colton replied, steering Madison after his sister.
“What he needs with a house this size, I do not know,” Martha said, following them. “Colton, why don’t you watch the game with your father? We can handle the preparations.”
“It’s all under control.” Once in the kitchen, amidst the incredible smells of Colton’s creations, Cheryl sat at the island with a weary sigh. “I’m exhausted. The baby is waking up at night again. I have no idea why.”
“Hon?” the man called.
“In the kitchen,” Cheryl shrieked, not bothering to get up. “And guess who gets to get up with her all night?” Cheryl hooked a thumb back at herself. “This girl.”
“Well, Owen has a very important job right now. He needs all his sleep.” Martha followed Colton to the oven.
Madison grimaced and turned away. Not really sure what to do with herself, since Colton was ten times the cook she was, she wandered closer to the island and found Cheryl studying her.
“Honey, I can do this. Shoo out of here now and let us girls talk.” Martha motioned Colton away.
“My house, my rules, Mom.” He closed the oven door and surveyed a set of trays off to the side.
“Hey.” A man about Cheryl’s age, with half the beauty, entered the kitchen carrying a squirming toddler with wild hair and chocolate all over her face. There was a hint of wave to his salt-and-pepper hair, and he had soft, brown, kind eyes. The diaper bag was slung around his shoulder and he had a bottle of wine in his hand.
“Let me take that.” Martha rushed forward for the wine. “That child needs her face cleaned.”
“And her butt changed.” Cheryl looked up at her husband. “Would you mind?”
“Just going to do it now. I’ll grab the things from the car after.”
“Thanks, babe.”
He gave a hurried hello to Martha and nodded at Madison but didn’t stop as the toddler gave a wild kick and started to scream. “I’ll be right back,” he said, grabbing the child with both hands and hurrying out of the room.
“Owen is a great father. So helpful. Ralph never changed a diaper in his life,” Martha said lightly. She wasn’t fooling anyone. That tone was laden with disapproval. “That was my job. I was in charge of the domestic affairs.”
Cheryl sighed. Clearly she’d heard this before.
“Maddie, sit, love,” Colton said, moving closer. His eyes were tight as he glanced first at his mother, then at his sister. “Cheryl, ladies, what can I get you to drink?”
“It’s like a complete role reversal these days.” Marta tsked and shook her head.
Madison laced her hands together, really, really wanting to go hang out with Ralph. She clearly had different opinions than Martha, and her blunt approach would go over about as well with this woman as a meat buffet at a “save the animals” rally.
“It’s my house, Mother,” Colton said firmly. “I am the host. Therefore, I am entertaining. What can I get you to drink?”
She patted him on the arm. “I can see to that. I brought some Chardonnay from the winery I belong to.”
“Beer, Colton,” Cheryl said.
Martha tsked again. “Beer makes you bloat, honey. Wine is better for your waistline.”
“Beer for me too, please,” Madison said, not able to help herself. She’s wasn’t a fan of Chardonnay. Plus, she wasn’t a fan of bullies, regardless of who they were. She’d had enough of that to last a lifetime. If she and Colton ever made a go of it, she didn’t want this woman thinking she could push her around.
Martha tightened her lips as her gaze slid Madison’s way.
Here we go.
“And what do you do for a living, Maddie?” Martha removed the white wine from the wine refrigerator built into the cabinets.
“I’m a director at a global beverage distributor specializing in alcoholic products. We do have some food products, as well. Those that best accompany our beverages. I handle the import arm.”
Cheryl’s eyebrows rose and her lips formed an upside-down smile. Her expression said she was impressed.
Madison stifled a smile. She didn’t know why that made her feel awesome, but it did.
“How long have you known Colton? We only heard about you today. Thank goodness we were able to come to dinner at the last minute.”
Martha set the wine bottle and an opener next to Colton, silently telling him to get to work. He popped the caps on the bottles of beer and set them down in front of Cheryl and Madison, before moving on to fulfill his mom’s unasked request.
“Not very long, actually. A few days.” Madison took a sip. Then grimaced. The black label had a skull and crossbones on it. “The label did warn me this stuff would taste like poison. My bad.”
Cheryl started laughing mid-sip, drooling beer out of the side of her mouth. She grimaced too. “Do you have anything else, Colton? This stuff is rotten.”
Martha’s expression said, I told you so.
“I can make us a drink,” Madison said, really hoping that was true. She’d seen Janie do it often enough. She hopped off the stool. “What liquors do you have, Colton?”
He waited for her to come closer before slipping his hand around her waist. The world slowed down as he led her to a cupboard at the side of the wine refrigerator. There was a built-in rack, well stocked with various liquors. He kissed her temple and held on for a moment. His smell wrapped around her in dizzying ways, and her eyes fluttered closed as he lightly kissed her lips.
“Good luck,” he said softly.
“With the drink,” she murmured, “or…the opposition?”
He chuckled. “Both.” He ran his fingers down her cheek. “I need to check on dinner.”
She stared at him dumbly for a moment as he moved toward the oven, missing his heat. Shaking her head to clear it, she bent to grab th
e vodka, the one she knew the most recipes with.
Muttering to herself, because Janie always talked her way through her creations, she set the bottle on the island and moved to the fridge to search out ingredients. Turned out, she was the bachelor in this relationship. While her fridge was largely bare of necessary items for survival, mostly housing things like whipped cream and pudding, his was fully stocked with healthy, organic ingredients. Janie would call it a rich man’s refrigerator, but maybe it was just a cook’s refrigerator.
She picked out what she thought she needed, took a drink mixer from Colton’s outstretched hand, and descended on the island.
“I’ll go check on the baby,” Martha said, excusing herself.
Cheryl let out a huge sigh and deflated. To Madison, she said, “Why would you want into this family? You do not need to adopt that woman into your life.”
“I’ve only known him for a few days,” Madison said with a burning face.
“I’m going to see what my dad is up to,” Colton said, rubbing Madison’s back. “You okay in here?”
“We’ll see. Janie makes it look so easy.”
When he was gone, and Madison was tapping the cranberry juice in thought, Cheryl said, “Has my brother told you why he has such a big house?”
“For his future family, you mean?” She tapped the orange juice. Then the pineapple juice. She couldn’t remember the combination. “Or because he wanted to buy a house before he invests in his mini-golf course?”
“So he told you.”
“I’m going with the cranberry. Decision made. Now for the other one. Dang it, what did she use?”
“Grab the grapefruit juice,” Cheryl said, getting off the stool and heading to the fridge.
“He didn’t have any. My friend Janie improvised once, but I can’t remember how.”
“What’d you think about the family thing?” Cheryl asked, pulling open the heavy door.
Madison shrugged and measured the juice into the mixer. “In all honesty, it’s weird to me. I don’t know that I’ve ever thought that far ahead. I would never make a decision based on the certainty that I’ll have kids one day. I’ve certainly never known a man to think like that.”
“Owen does. He had the money to buy a house before he met me, and decided on one that would fit a family. I think that’s where Colton got the idea. He’s a serious planner, Owen is. He always thinks about his future. I have to force him to live in the moment. Which is how we got Ava. My bad.” Cheryl chuckled. “I think Owen has been good for Colton. Gotten him on the right track. You’re right, no grapefruit. Do a Sex on the Beach. He has peach schnapps.”
“That is a drink, I realize. I do not know how to make that drink.”
Ignoring her, or maybe ready to take over, Cheryl grabbed the schnapps out of the alcohol cupboard. “We never thought Colton would have a problem finding a girl, and he hasn’t, but he’s never found a decent girl. I’ve met a few of his dates, even if my parents haven’t. They were all cute and bubbly and big-breasted and dumb as rocks. It’s nice to see he found you.”
Madison frowned. “Thanks for calling me smart?”
Cheryl laughed. “Sorry, that came out wrong. Bottom line is, you’re not like the others in the best possible ways. How did you two meet?”
It belatedly dawned on Madison that she and Colton should’ve agreed on a cover story prior to his family’s arrival. Swallowing hard, Madison stepped aside as Cheryl took control of the drink making.
“I met him at a wedding,” she said. “We hit it off pretty quickly, but this is actually our first real date.”
“Your first real date with my brother is meeting his family?” Cheryl asked dryly.
“Yes. Yesterday we saw each other, but my friend Janie ran into some trouble, so he was helping with that.”
“What kind of trouble?” Cheryl measured out the schnapps, then the vodka.
Seeing that the drink making was in capable hands, Madison took another step away. “Her on-again, off-again boyfriend was abusive, it turns out. I didn’t know until yesterday, when I saw the effects of his treatment.”
Cheryl tensed. “Did you help her?”
“As much as I could. We went to the police station and then the hospital.”
“You took her to do all of that?”
“Of course. If all else had failed, we got pretty far along with a backup poisoning plan. That’s on the back burner for now, though. I think Colton was her angel in disguise. He handled it beautifully. He’s invited his friends around to keep her company, which was great yesterday. I’m not so sure about today.” Madison grabbed her purse from the counter, where she’d placed it on her initial walk-through. Taking out her phone, she checked to see if Janie had texted. Sure enough, there were two messages.
Janie: There is a super hot guy cleaning your appt.
Janie: The super hot guy is now reading one of your romance books on the couch. He hasn’t said a word to me. I don’t know if I like him, or think he’s creepy. How’s it going?
Madison smiled and fired back, Not sure yet, before returning to the conversation. “He knew exactly what to say and what to do. He has a knack for it.”
Cheryl laughed. “What do you mean he’s doing the right thing? He invited my mother on your first date. It doesn’t get any worse than that, trust me. She hasn’t even started grilling you yet.”
“What’s that?” Martha asked as she walked back in.
“Nothing,” Cheryl muttered, her head down.
Martha checked the oven. Only then did Cheryl glance up at Madison with a look that spoke volumes.
Let the games begin.
Twenty-Four
Madison let Colton lead her to the table and pull out her chair for her. She sat, pleased that he sat next to her instead of at the head of the table. Cheryl and Martha finished arranging the last of the trays of food and everyone sat down, the kids at the far end and the baby in a highchair between Cheryl and Owen.
“So, here we are,” Cheryl said, grabbing a bottle of wine before sitting down.
“This looks really good, Colton,” Madison said softly, rubbing his thigh.
“Colton could’ve made it as a chef,” Owen said as Ralph motioned for Cheryl to grab some meat from the platter in front of her.
“Had I known he would spend his days taking off his clothes, I would’ve pushed him toward that.” Martha pursed her lips.
“Modeling, she means,” Cheryl said with a grin.
Madison stopped herself from grimacing. If only they knew the truth.
“My mother doesn’t approve.” Colton reached for the wine. “Obviously.”
“It won’t last forever, dear.” Martha scooped herself some peas. “You have to know that. So then what will you do? I’m just worried about you, is all. That’s my job as your mother.”
“You know what I want to do next.” Colton’s expression closed down.
“Oh yes, right. The playground.”
“Playground?” Madison asked, confused. “I thought it was miniature golf.”
Cheryl nodded at Madison before rolling her eyes.
“There is still time to go to law school.” Martha handed off the peas.
“Law school? Why would he want to go to law school?” Ralph waved his hand before spearing a deviled egg with his fork. He deposited it on his plate. “I was a lawyer for thirty-five years. Hardly saw my kids, my wife…” He shook his head and speared another egg. “Nowadays, there are too many lawyers and not enough jobs. And if you do get a job, you’re spending so much money paying off your school loans you don’t reap the rewards of all that stress. No. Terrible idea, law school. Do yourself a favor and steer clear.”
“Where was this guy after I graduated college?” Colton said with a frown. “It would’ve saved us a great many arguments.”
Ralph grunted in response and took a baked potato from the tray Cheryl had offered him.
“There are plenty of other jobs you can do,” Martha said, her pl
ate full and her hands folded in her lap. “Plenty of other jobs. If you start now, you can be in a top position in no time.”
“Just let Madison support you while you get your playground going,” Cheryl said with an evil grin, probably tickled by her own choice of words. “She doesn’t mind, and you’ll be as happy as a pig in…mud. Voila.”
Madison shrugged without thinking, trying to get a deviled egg onto her plate without using her fingers. “I’m your huckleberry.”
Movement at the table slowed and finally stopped. It was then she realized what she’d said. Worse, the words had felt right.
Her heart started to hammer, because if he asked her to support him so he could chase his dreams, she’d say yes. Without a single thought, she’d say yes to nearly a perfect stranger. She had resented paying more for Frank, but somehow, with Colton, it was completely different. Somehow, she knew that Colton wouldn’t think of it as a handout, but as an investment in the future. Their future.
And now she was thinking about their future being together. How crazy was she?
Her face burned. Into the silence, she said, “I’m at a loss for words, same as you.”
Cheryl started laughing. “See how smart I am?”
Madison felt Colton’s warm hand on her leg. When she forced herself to look up at him, that special something stirred deep in her middle. His eyes were deep and sparkling. And soft. Oh so soft.
A shiver washed through her, because she saw in his eyes the same feeling that was stirring deep in her gut. It was too soon, absurdly soon, but didn’t they say that when you knew, you knew?
“That’s just preposterous.” Martha huffed.
“Let her pay the bills,” Ralph said, looking over the rest of the offerings. “If she wants to, go for it. Why not? Being a provider is not as fun as it sounds, believe you me. Colton, ride that train all the way to the station. Until you have kids. Then switch back out. Kids are too much work.”
“Yes, where was this guy in the beginning?” Owen said quietly, looking at Colton.
“Retirement has…” Martha lightly touched her temple with her middle finger and raised her eyebrows. “He needs a hobby.”
Thunder (Big D Escort Service Book 1) Page 20