Stone Cold Surrender (61 page)

himself,
don’t
waste
your
time.
Rock
Mason
is
as
hard
as
they
come
when
the
discussion
of
marriage
comes
up
and
he
intends
to
maintain
his
bachelor
status
for
quite
a
while.”

Stone
switched
off
the
television,
shaking
his
head.
Of

course,
as
usual,
Noreen
had
reported
only
part
of
the
truth.
At
the
moment
he
hadn’t
made
a
decision
about
Europe.
And
of
course
she
had
put
her
own
spin
on
what
she
had

gleaned
from
their
conversation.

He
crossed
the
room
to
finish
packing.
The
cab
would
be
arriving
shortly
to
take
him
to
the
airport.
Right
now
the
only
thing
on
his
mind
was
getting
back
to
Madison.

Hundreds
of
miles
away,
Madison
was
also
packing.
She
had
watched
Entertainment
Tonight
and
had
heard

everything
the
reporter
had
said.
Stone
had
been
gone
for
ten
days
and
she
hadn’t
heard
from
him.
Although
the

phone
lines
were
down,
if
he
had
wanted
to
contact
her
he
could
have
sent
her
a
letter
or
something.
The
postal
plane
delivered
mail
to
the
residents
in
the
area
at
least
twice
a
week.

He
still
prefers
bedding
women
to
wedding
them…

She
closed
her
eyes,
fighting
back
tears.
Why
had
she

allowed
things
to
get
serious
with
Stone
when
he
had
told
her
from
the
very
beginning
what
his
feelings
were
on
the

subject
of
marriage?
He
didn’t
want
to
be
accountable
for
anyone
but
himself
and
he
was
going
to
prove
it
by
taking
off
to
Europe
for
the
next
four
months.
Any
pain
she
was
suffering
was
nobody’s
fault
but
her
own
so
she
couldn’t
feel
betrayed
in
any
way.
He
had
been
totally
upfront
and
truthful
with
her.
She
had
been
the
one
to
assume
she
had
meant
something
to
him
and
that
each
time
they’d
made
love
it
meant
more
than
just
having
sex.
She
had
actually
thought
that—

“You’re
leaving?”

She
turned
at
the
sound
of
her
mother’s
voice.
After

meeting
her
mother’s
gaze
and
nodding,
she
continued

packing.
Her
mother
and
Corey
had
been
in
the
living
room
with
her
when
ET
had
come
on
and
had
also
heard

everything
the
reporter
had
said.

“Running
away
won’t
solve
anything,
Madison.
You
told
Stone
you
would
be
here
when
he
returned
and—”

“What
makes
you
think
he’s
going
to
return,
Mom?
You
heard
what
that
lady
said.
He’s
made
plans
to
do
a
book
tour
in
Europe.
I
made
a
mistake
and
put
too
much
stock
into
what
I
thought
he
and
I
were
sharing.
End
of
story.”

Abby
crossed
the
room
and
took
her
daughter’s
hand
in

hers.
“It’s
never
the
end
of
the
story
when
you
love

someone.
The
end
of
the
story
only
comes
when
the
two
of

you
are
together.”

Madison
pulled
her
hand
from
her
mother.
“That
may
have
worked
for
you
and
Corey,
but
then
the
two
of
you
love
each
other
and
deserve
a
happy
ending.
I
know
how
I
feel
about
Stone
but
at
no
time
did
he
ever
tell
me
that
he
loved
me,

and
at
no
time
did
he
lead
me
to
believe
we
had
a
future

together.
I
made
a
mistake
by
assuming
too
much.
I
never
expected
to
fall
in
love
with
him
so
quickly
and
so
hard,

Mom,
but
I
did.
Even
now
I
don’t
regret
loving
him.
The
only
thing
I
regret
is
that
he
doesn’t
love
me
back,
but
I’ll
get
over
it.
I’m
a
survivor,
and
someway,
somehow,
I’ll
eventually

forget
him.”

Abby
reached
out
and
pulled
Madison
into
her
arms.
She
knew
that
now
was
not
a
good
time
to
tell
her
daughter
that
she
knew
from
firsthand
experience
a
woman
could
never
truly
forget
the
man
she
loved.
She’d
been
there,
had
tried
doing
that
and
it
hadn’t
worked.

She
sighed
as
she
released
Madison
and
stepped
back.
“So,
when
do
you
plan
to
leave?”

“In
the
morning.
I’ve
already
talked
to
Corey
and
he
said
the
postal
plane
will
arrive
tomorrow
with
the
mail
and
he’s
sure
they
won’t
mind
giving
me
a
lift
down
the
mountain
and

back
to
the
Silver
Arrow
ranch.
When
I
get
back
to
Boston
I’m
going
to
contact
the
Institute
about
helping
to
provide

students
with
summer
lessons.”