“The jewelry design gene in my family takes many forms,” he said offhandedly.
She smoothed her hand along Pearl’s back, flattening her bristly fur. “Have you ever thought about offering more input on the designs?”
“That’s Amie’s realm. We try not to encroach on each other’s territory. The last thing we need is more competition in this family.” He scratched his collar bone, drawing her eyes to his bare chest. “Besides, this is my hobby, my way of relaxing.”
Her mouth watered at the flex of his tattoo along his arm and the muscled expanse of his chest. “Did you destroy the drawings of me the way you promised when we broke up?”
“You mean the nude drawings.” He grinned wickedly. “What do you think?”
She wasn’t sure what she thought. In the past couple of days she’d come to realize he was very good at keeping secrets and she had been very good at dodging tough subjects in the interest of keeping her fantasy alive. “Should I trust you?”
“Absolutely,” he said without question. “I’m trying to make things right. And as for the drawings, I don’t need any help remembering every amazing inch of you.”
He angled out of the chair to kiss her with a firm, sure confidence that swirled her senses. In a fast sweep, he lifted her and settled her onto his lap. “We have about an hour before we need to head over to the house. Any ideas how we can spend that time wisely?”
She teased the swoop of bed head in his hair. “I think you may need a shower. Are you sure you don’t want to hurry and help Alex drive your grandmother home?”
“I’ll just leave Alex and Amie to duke that out between them.”
She leaned back against his chest. She’d missed moments like this, enjoying the steady thud of his heart. “They’re both so competitive. It should be interesting to watch them once their test comes. I always felt sorry for them as a kid.”
“How so?” he asked. “They had everything—money, parents, a family.”
Really? He was that clueless? “They had a mom who trotted them out like prize horses and a father so tied to golf and hiding from their mom they barely saw him.”
“The pageant thing was a little over-the-top,” he conceded.
She couldn’t hold back a laugh. “You think?”
“Amie never protested—” He held up a hand. “Wait. I take that back. She complained once. She wanted to go to some high school dance and it fell on the weekend of a pageant competition.”
“Did she get to the dance?”
“Nope. She won her crown.” A one-sided smile kicked a dimple into his cheek. “We found the tiara in the middle of a silver tureen of grits the next morning.”
“Miss Texas Grits,” she quipped. “I like it. Amie is full of grit, after all.” Johanna had spent so much of her life idealizing the McNairs, minimizing their struggles, feeling sorry for them on some issues, but overall envying them.
The sound of an approaching taxi pulled her attention out of their bubble of intimacy. Johanna kissed Stone quickly then eased off his lap.
She extended a hand to him. “We should go back inside before the rest of the guests saddle up for the day. I don’t want to have to fight off the tourists. They’ll be drooling over a half-dressed cowboy.”
Her half-dressed cowboy. The possessive thought blindsided her.
The cab drove past the Hidden Gem Lodge and drew closer, as if coming to her home. Johanna hesitated half in, half out of her door. Sure enough, the taxi stopped right at her fenced front lawn. Ruby and Pearl leaped to their feet and flew off the porch, barking.
The back door of the vehicle opened and a woman stepped out, one high heel at a time. Stone’s quick gasp gave her an instant’s warning before recognition hit.
The reed-thin woman bore a striking resemblance to Mariah and Amie for a reason. After four years away, Stone’s mother—Jade McNair—had come home.
* * *
Stone carried his mother’s designer luggage into the guest suite in the family’s portion of the Hidden Gem Lodge. He’d been on autopilot since the second he’d seen his mother step out of the taxi. He vaguely recalled Johanna filling the awkward silence with small talk while he grabbed his shirt and boots. His mother had said something about seeing him on Johanna’s porch so Jade had instructed the taxi driver to go to the cabin rather than straight to the lodge.
His only thought had been to divert any crisis that might upset Mariah.
He put the hang-up bag in the closet and dropped the two suitcases by the leather sofa, onto the thick wool of the Aztec patterned rug. She’d certainly brought enough to stay for more than a weekend trip.
Pivoting, he found his mother standing in the middle of the floor, shifting from foot to foot under the elk horn chandelier. From nerves? Or in need of a fix? She was as thin as a bird, her skin sallow and eyes haunted but clear—her standard postdetox look. He’d seen it enough times to recognize it, and he’d seen it fall apart enough times not to bother hoping the new start would stick.
He cut straight to the chase. “Mariah needs peace, not drama. Cause her any heartache and I will throw you out myself.”
Jade nodded nervously, her hand shaking as she pushed back a hank of dark hair with new threads of silver. “I’m not here to cause trouble. I heard the news about my mother’s cancer from a friend.”
“Are you here to make sure you’re in the will?”
She sagged onto the upholstered bench at the foot of the bed. “I understand you don’t have any reason to trust me, but I want to see my mother. I would also like to help if I can—and if she will let me.”
She sounded genuine. But then she always did at this stage of the cycle.
“Jade, keep in mind what I said. Mariah’s comfort and health come first.” He turned for the door, wanting the hell out of here and back to Johanna’s cabin with the dogs.
“Stone, wait,” his mother called.
He stopped with his hand on the door handle. His shoulders sagged with a weary sigh. “Remember the part about no drama? The same goes in talking to me.”
She stayed silent until he finally faced her again.
Jade still sat on the bench, hugging one of those fancy throw pillows women insisted on. “I’m sorry for not being a real mother to you. I regret that.”
“Everyone has regrets.” He understood she had to make amends as a part of the recovery process. She’d walked the steps again and again until he had the whole routine memorized. Too many times he thought she’d bottomed out enough that she’d finally begin a real recovery.
He wasn’t falling into that trap again.
She looked at him uncertainly. “What? No telling me off? Handing over pamphlets for the latest, greatest rehab center? I just finished with one of the best, you know.”
“So I hear. Congratulations.” Time would tell, but he wasn’t holding his breath.
“You’ve changed,” she said sadly. “You’re colder than ever, something else I need to make up to you.”
“I’m an adult. I accept responsibility for who I am.” He put his hand back on the door handle. “Now if we’re done here...?”
Her eyes welled up. “My mother is dying. Can you cut me a little slack?”
“Yes, she is,” he snapped, pushing past the lump in his throat. “And she doesn’t need you sapping what strength she has left.”
“Maybe I can bring her some comfort,” Jade said with a shaky hope that hinted at the brighter spirit she’d been during some of the better times of her life. She toyed with a turquoise cascade around her neck, a piece her dad had made for her eighteenth birthday. “I have a small window here to get things right, and I’m not going to waste it.”
“You can sit by her side as long as you’re lifting her spirits. If you don’t do that, you’re gone.” That’s all he cared about. And hadn’t he made that freaking clear the first time? Impatience gnawed at the back of his neck. “Now what else do you need from me?”
“Keep being the good man that you are.” Her eyes went doe-wide as she launched into a facade he liked to call “the good mother.” She deluded herself that she had something to offer. When he was a kid, this phase had been killer because it offered the false impression that she gave a damn.
“Right.” He ground his teeth together, knowing Johanna would tell him to get through this. Keep the peace. At least, he thought that’s what she’d say. He’d never given his mother that much airtime to know for sure.
“And Stone? Figure out how to be the kind of husband Johanna deserves because even I can see the two of you are meant to be together. I’m going to try to help here, but I know there’s probably nothing I can accomplish better than you or your cousins.”
Already this was seeping into drama-land. “Mom, can we stop? I need to go—”