Spilling the Tea

Prologue

“C hance, are you listening to me?”

Chancellor Madaris tilted his Stetson back off his face. His cousin Corbin had been pacing the living room floor and rambling since arriving nearly thirty minutes ago. Initially, Chance had been listening, but his mind had begun drifting when he remembered all the chores he needed to do that day. When you owned a working ranch, every daylight hour counted, and May was one of his busiest months. When he’d been summoned from the barn, he was told his cousin wanted to see him and said it was urgent. Chance had stopped everything and quickly walked to the ranch house.

His grandfather, Lucas, and Corbin’s grandfather, Nolan, were brothers. There had been seven Madaris brothers in all. Milton Jr., Lee, Nolan, Lucas, Robert, Jonathan, and Jacob, who everybody called Jake. All were alive except for Robert, who’d been killed in the Vietnam War. With seven Madaris brothers, there were plenty of cousins to go around, some of whom had been born within days or months of each other. It always amused Chance how the four oldest Madaris brothers made sure they’d had sons named after them, and each of those sons had done the very same thing.

His great-grandmother, Felicia Laverne Madaris, the matriarch of the family, whom they fondly called Mama Laverne, said it seemed that, according to the ages of her great-grands, they formed into groups and ran together around Houston in wolf packs. Her analogy wasn’t far from the truth.

And speaking of Mama Laverne, Chance noticed her name being mentioned more than once during Corbin’s ramblings, and he could imagine why. Their ninety-something-year-old great-grandmother had stated countless times that she was making it her life’s mission to marry off the first sixteen of her great-grands before she took her last breath.

In keeping with that goal, she made a list of all their names, recorded them by age, and was determined to find them suitable spouses. So far, she had a perfect record. Although the males had fought her manipulations tooth and nail, by the time they’d reached the altar, they had been over-the-top in love with the women chosen for them. Chance had to give it to the old gal. She was an ace when it came to matchmaking.

To know Felicia Laverne Madaris was to love her. Her family certainly did, although he would admit there were times you’d want to strangle her. Yet no one would ever harm a single hair on her head. She was too precious to all of them. She was why all seven of her sons had grown up to become God-fearing men…although he’d heard the oldest four had been a bunch of “hell raisers” before settling down, getting married, and starting a family. He figured by then it had been drilled into them, just like they’d drilled it into their offspring, that a Madaris man was expected to keep the family motto of protect, provide, and prosper. Chance knew that to his great-grandmother, to prosper also meant to produce. Specifically, to assure there were plenty of future generations of Madarises. Although that might be the case, he also knew there was never any pressure placed on anyone in the family who didn’t agree with her way of thinking.

After losing their great-grandfather, Milton Sr., Chance knew that Mama Laverne was the glue that had held the Madaris family together. She was the backbone of the family, and the woman had a heart of gold. She thought of others before thinking of herself…maybe too much at times. As far as he was concerned, she was the epitome of a strong woman.

“What were you saying about Mama Laverne?” he asked, refusing to admit he had allowed his mind to wander.

Corbin, two years older than Chance’s thirty-three years, rubbed a frustrated hand down his face before saying, “It’s about that damn hit list of hers. Rumor has it that she will pair me up with Cheryl Carlyle. Can you imagine such a thing?”

Chance leaned back in his chair, stretched his long legs out in front of him, and crossed his booted ankles. Cheryl Carlyle was a looker; there was no denying that. However, he recalled hearing that last year, her father had caught her taking part in a ménage à trois with two ranch hands.

“No, I can’t imagine it, and you shouldn’t either, Corbin. Don’t be another Victoria.” Victoria was Corbin’s sister and the first girl born in their generation.

Corbin frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Chance responded, “Need I remind you that Victoria assumed Mama Laverne had picked Tanner Jamison for her when that wasn’t the case?”

“But I heard Cheryl’s father has been privately hanging out after church to meet with Mama Laverne. I bet those meetings are about me,” Corbin said vehemently.

“I believe you’re way off the mark.”

“You think so?” Corbin asked, looking hopeful and putting an end to his pacing to sit down on the sofa.

“Yes. I’m pretty sure I’m right.” The one thing Chance knew about his great-grandmother was that she held the Madaris family’s reputation as sacred. That meant she would never add anyone to the family who might, in her eyes, one day disgrace it. That would eliminate Cheryl Carlyle. In addition to having an ear for any gossip spread, Mama Laverne read the newspaper daily and was fully aware whenever the Madaris name appeared in print.

Unfortunately, there had been times when not only would a Madaris’s name appear in print, but their face as well. Some of his Madaris cousins had been known as notorious womanizers, and the newspaper’s social column enjoyed sharing details of their exploits.

“Besides, Corbin, have you forgotten that Mama Laverne modified her list to place those four Bannister brothers ahead of you? Giving you a pass once again.”

Everyone knew their great-grandmother’s list was being worked with a well-measured timeline. After Nolan had married, Corbin should have been next on the list. However, Mama Laverne had skipped over Corbin and a few of her male great-grands to marry off Victoria, who’d been much younger than all of them. Luckily for Corbin, Mama Laverne had modified the list once again.

The four Bannister brothers they were referring to were Wyatt, Camden, and the twins—Brenton and Branson. Since they were best friends to several of her great-grandsons and were first cousins to six of her grandchildren, she’d had no qualms about adding them to her list.

Corbin’s features widened with a grin after being reminded of the reprieve he’d gotten yet again. “Yes, that is true.”

“Finding those Bannisters suitable wives might take some time,” Chance said. “They deliberately stopped dating to protest what she’d done.” No one wanted to fall victim to his great-grandmother’s matchmaking schemes.

“Crap, I haven’t gone that far,” Corbin said. “But I do ask questions first.”

Chance lifted his brow. “What sort of questions?”

A smile spread across Corbin’s lips. “I want to know if they’ve ever met Mama Laverne. Who are their parents and grandparents? What schools did those family members attend, and did any attend church summer camps as teens, or do they attend church conventions now? I also want to know if their relatives have gone on cruises out of Galveston within the last twenty years.”

Chance shook his head. He figured the latter question had been added because one of his granduncles had been taking Mama Laverne on a three-week cruise annually for the past twenty years. He didn’t want to think how many people with eligible daughters, sons, or grandchildren she might have met.

“I’ve even hired Alex to do background checks on a few of my dates.”

Alex Maxwell was married to their cousin Christy and was a well-known private investigator. Chance rolled his eyes. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m not kidding.”

Chance stared at his cousin in disbelief. “Do you feel such a thing is necessary?”

Corbin leaned forward in his seat. “Yes, I do. And as far as I’m concerned, you shouldn’t have an opinion about it since your name is far down on that blasted list. Quantum’s and Kane’s names appear on the hit list before yours.”

That information about his cousins surprised Chance. “Why would you think that when I’m older than they are?”

“Because you have issues.”

There was no comeback he could make because Corbin was right. Chance did have issues. His family members knew he wasn’t the easiest person to get along with, and they also knew why.

He joined the military right out of high school with the career goal of being an army ranger. After ten years as a ranger, he returned home after an injury in Iraq left him in a wheelchair with a medical prognosis that he would never walk again.

To make matters worse, the woman he’d loved and planned to marry, Ravena Boyle, broke off their engagement, refusing to be tied down to someone she considered half a man. She had moved from Houston to Nashville and, within less than a year, had married someone else. From what he’d heard, that marriage didn’t last long, and she’d gotten a divorce less than two years later.

Her rejection had made him wallow in self-pity, the one thing his great-grandmother wouldn’t tolerate when it came to a Madaris. To this day, Chance credited Mama Laverne with giving him the will to live again. She had refused to let him give up on life and gave him the determination to prove Ravena wrong. He wasn’t half a man but a whole man.

He recalled those days. They hadn’t been easy, and some had been extremely difficult, both physically and emotionally. His great-grandmother had been worse than any drill sergeant he’d encountered, but he had persevered, and she had proved the military doctors wrong. In less than two years, he was out of the wheelchair and back riding a horse again.

Although he had improved physically, mentally was a different matter. The once fun-loving, life-of-the-party guy had become antisocial, a loner, a man who preferred keeping to himself. That was the one thing his great-grandmother hadn’t been able to do: make him look at life and love the same way. He was not the same man who’d left home for the military at seventeen and doubted he would ever be that person again. He had seen too much, done too much, and felt too much. As far as he was concerned, heartbreak had been the worst.

His family had been there for him in his darkest times. They were all he needed then and all he needed now. Upon returning home and knowing his career in the military was over, he’d turned to his other love: ranching. He would never forget that day he received a call from his uncle Jake to let him know that a homestead within a few miles of his uncle Jake’s Whispering Pines ranch had come up for sale.

Uncle Jake was a dedicated rancher, a highly successful businessman, and a great financial adviser. Over the years, he made many wise investments for the Madaris family. As a result, Chance was able to buy the two-hundred-acre ranch, which he’d named Teakwood Ridge, without a mortgage. That meant he owned his spread free and clear. Like his uncle Jake, Chance raised some of the best cattle in Texas.

As far as women were concerned, whenever he had physical urges that needed to be taken care of, he had no problem doing so. He wasn’t into long-term affairs and only engaged in one-night stands. Nothing energized him more than a night of hot, mind-blowing, unemotional sex when needed. Hooking up with a woman who agreed with his terms had never proven difficult.

“I don’t envy the woman Mama Laverne picks out for you, Chance.”

Corbin’s words cut into Chance’s thoughts, and he couldn’t help but chuckle since he didn’t envy the woman either. If what Corbin suspected about his name being further down the list was true, he could see why Mama Laverne had placed it there. She knew the hurt, pain, and bitterness Ravena’s rejection had caused him. She was also aware of his vow never to fall in love again.

“I’m not concerned about my placement on her list,” Chance said.

His cousin shook his head. “When the time comes, just like Victoria, you’ll meekly take whomever she selects for you.”

It was a statement, not a question, so Chance addressed it. “And I have no problem doing so. Felicia Laverne Madaris is a miracle worker. For me to be able to walk around is living proof of that.”

He paused a moment and then added, “I will never question anything she decides to do regarding me. Who knows? Maybe by the time she gets to my name on her list, I will be a changed man.”

Now it was Corbin who chuckled. “Do you honestly believe that?”

“No.”

“Neither do I.”

Chance fought back a grin. He wanted to have kids one day. When he was ready to do so, he would marry but would consider such a union as a business arrangement, not a true marriage.

“I’m sure you didn’t drive out here to blow off steam about Mama Laverne’s matchmaking shenanigans when you aren’t next on her list, Corbin. Is there another reason for your visit?”

Chance kept to himself out on his ranch and received very few visitors, so he was usually the last to hear family news or gossip. “Yes, there is another reason I dropped by,” Corbin said, sitting up straight in his seat as if remembering.

“Let me guess,” Chance said. “Did Mama Laverne dream about fish?” Usually, whenever she did, someone in the family was pregnant.

“No, not that I heard of.”

He rubbed his chin and then asked. “Did Tanner call off his wedding?” Tanner Jamison was a family friend whose wedding was scheduled for next month.

Corbin rolled his eyes. “Not hardly. Tanner is so ready for that wedding he’s gotten annoying.”

Chance sighed as he stood to stretch. “Okay, I give up. What is it?”

Corbin paused a moment, held Chance’s gaze, and then said. “Ravena Boyle is back in town.”

Dr. Zoey Pritchard placed her mobile phone on speaker while glancing at the document she held. It was a bill of sale of a ranch house in Houston, Texas.

Her paternal grandaunt, Paulina Pritchard, who’d raised her since the age of eight, had died unexpectedly of a heart attack two weeks ago. While going through her aunt’s belongings today, she had come across the document in a trunk underneath the bed.

Since the paperwork had been in Zoey’s mother’s maiden name, she could only assume her mother had inherited the ranch from her parents. The date on the bill of sale, which happened to have been Zoey’s ninth birthday, meant Aunt Paulina had sold the property less than a year after Zoey’s parents had been killed in a car accident.

That was close to twenty years ago. It was an accident where an eight-year-old Zoey had miraculously survived. The police, paramedics, and fire departments had said it was a miracle. But that miracle hadn’t come without a price. In addition to several physical challenges she’d had to overcome, she had lost her memory of the first eight years of her life.

A year ago, Zoey began dreaming of being on a ranch with a couple she knew were her parents from photographs she’d seen of them. As far as she knew, she had been born and raised in Boston. Whenever she mentioned the dreams to Aunt Paulina, she had dismissed such a notion of her parents ever being on a ranch or owning one as ludicrous. Both had been orthopedic surgeons who’d met and married right out of medical school and worked in a hospital in Boston. Why hadn’t Aunt Paulina told her about the ranch then? Instead, she’d made it seem like there hadn’t been any merit to Zoey’s dreams whatsoever.

“I can’t believe it, Lucky,” she told her best friend. “Why didn’t Aunt Paulina tell me about this?”

“I don’t have an answer for you, Zoe, but it doesn’t surprise me. I always thought your aunt deliberately kept a lot of stuff about your parents from you. Now you have proof that she did.”

Yes, she did have proof, Zoey thought, placing the paper in the middle of the kitchen table. She glimpsed out the window and saw how wonderful the weather was outside. San Francisco was always nice during May, with flowers blooming everywhere.

“So, what are you going to do?” Lucky interrupted her thoughts to ask.

She and Lucky Andres-Tankersley had been best friends since junior high school when the Andreses moved into the neighborhood. Zoey had considered Lucky’s home to be a fun house. The Andreses were the type of parents she wanted to believe hers would have been had they lived.

After high school, she and Lucky packed their bags and left California for New York to attend NYU. After graduation, Lucky remained at NYU to get an MBA. Meanwhile, Zoey moved to Baltimore to attend Johns Hopkins medical school after deciding to follow in her parents’ footsteps and become an orthopedic surgeon, where she remained after completing her internship, while Lucky landed a job with a well-known technology firm in Manhattan.

“I truly don’t know what I’m going to do. Now more than ever, I believe those dreams of me on a ranch with my parents might be the start of a break in my memory loss.”

“I just don’t get it, Zoe. I would think when you told your aunt about those dreams, she would have been happy at the possibility that your memory was returning.”

“Yes, I would have thought so too,” she said, drawing a deep breath, not fully understanding why her aunt had not.

“Your aunt hadn’t been kidding about not approving of your parents’ marriage,” Lucky said. “It was as if she wanted to wipe your mother’s presence from your and your father’s lives.”

Zoey nodded, sadly thinking the same thing. For the longest time, she’d stopped asking her aunt anything about her parents. Although Aunt Paulina usually had good things to say about Zoey’s father, that had not been the case with her mother. She claimed she had no idea where her mother was born or about her family’s history. All her aunt would say was that her parents had met in medical school and that Holton Pritchard had lost his ever-loving mind after meeting Michelle Martin. He’d claimed it had been love at first sight. Because Aunt Paulina believed such a thing was complete nonsense, she hadn’t approved of the marriage and had seen no reason to attend the wedding.

“I can’t help but wonder what else she kept from me other than the document and the necklace,” Zoey said.

“What necklace?”

Zoey fingered the beautiful heart-shaped gold pendant necklace with a diamond in the center that she’d placed around her neck earlier. She then told Lucky about finding it in the trunk as well. “It belonged to my mom,” she said, trying not to choke on the words.

“How do you know that?”

Zoey swallowed deeply. Her eyes began watering with tears, and she was glad Lucky wasn’t there to see them. “Because it’s the same necklace she wears in my dreams.”

“Oh, Zoe,” Lucky said sadly.

Zoey could hear the tears in her best friend’s voice. Tears she was shedding for her. For years, Lucky had been the only one to do so. After a few sniffles, Zoey said, “Just think, Lucky. Those dreams are a good sign.”

“Yes. I always thought they were a sign your memory was returning. Time for you to hire a hot, hairy, and handsome private investigator to uncover the truth.”

Zoey couldn’t help but laugh. Lucky always preferred men with a lot of hair on their bodies. With a full beard and hair that went past his shoulders, Lucky’s husband, Burke, from Canada, definitely fit her best friend’s requirements. “A private investigator, Lucky?”

“Yes. What if your parents hadn’t been killed in a car accident? What if you were kidnapped as a child and Paulina Pritchard wasn’t your aunt? What if you have other relatives somewhere?”

Zoey rolled her eyes. Lucky enjoyed watching crime shows. “Although I can’t recall what happened when I was a child, I do remember the physical injuries I endured as a result of the accident. Besides, there is no way my aunt would have been given custody of me if she truly wasn’t my only living relative.”

“I guess you’re right.” Lucky paused and then asked, “So, when are you leaving for Houston?”

“What makes you think I’m going to Houston?”

“Seriously, Zoe? How can you not? You’ve found a document that corroborates those dreams you’ve been having, as well as a necklace. Do you honestly want me to think you aren’t going to Texas to check things out for yourself?”

Zoey didn’t say anything, and the silence was thick. Lucky knew her like no other and was right. She was going to Houston but still had a few misgivings. “The ranch was sold close to twenty years ago. I’m not sure the people who bought it could tell me anything about my mother’s family.”

“But what if they can?” Lucky countered. “It would be nice if they let you look around to see if anything about the house is familiar to you.”

Zoey knew Lucky was right. There had to be a reason she had been dreaming of spending time with her parents on a ranch. She strongly felt it was the same ranch; if it was, being there could jog her memory even more. “You’re right. Maybe I will go.”

A short while later, after ending the call with Lucky, Zoey got up from the kitchen table to walk over to the window and gaze again at the flowers. Seeing them reminded her of the beauty in the world. That meant she had to remain positive. After all she’d been through over the past twenty-eight years, wasn’t it time for her to experience true happiness?

At least she had the time off work to take that trip to Houston. She’d been selected to teach a medical class at the Johns Hopkins University, and the semester had ended last month. She didn’t have to report back to the hospital until September.

She had planned to spend the entire summer touring London, Scotland, and Ireland. Now that wouldn’t be happening. In addition to planning to go to Texas, she needed to decide what she would do with her aunt’s home. She appreciated Aunt Paulina for taking her in for those ten years before she’d left for college, but she had never truly felt this was her home. Her aunt hadn’t mistreated her or anything; she just hadn’t experienced that same warm, loving aura she’d felt whenever she visited Lucky’s house. Her best friend’s parents openly displayed affection for each other, their three children, and their friends. Mrs. Andres seemed to always know whenever she needed a hug.

Zoey reached up and fingered the necklace again, figuring her father had given it to her mother as a gift. It was hard to believe that, after all these years, her memory might be returning. She wouldn’t waste time wondering why her aunt had kept information from her. The important thing was that because of that document she’d found, she had a chance to learn more about her history.

It might be a good idea to start in Boston. Surely, her parents had made friends when they’d lived there. Zoey had been born there but had no idea where they’d lived. Her aunt had only told her that her parents had worked at Massachusetts General Hospital.

A smile touched Zoey’s lips. Finally, she had a chance to find out about a past she couldn’t remember and couldn’t wait to discover everything she could.