The Secret (Butler Ranch Book 3)

by Heather Slade

  “You’re part of what they want.”

  Naughton shook his head. “I’m no genius, Bradley. Just because I’ve had success here combating the drought, higher temps, and infestation from pests that we’ve never had to deal with before, doesn’t mean I can help them up north. I don’t know why they think I can.”

  “I heard it was more than that. Universities are trying to hire you.”

  “The boyfriend tell you all this?”

  Bradley nodded and looked away.

  “Don’t look away from me. Whatever you have to say, say it. Do you agree with him—that I’m refusing to help because I want them to fail?”

  Bradley turned to face him again. “No. I’d never think that.”

  “Good. That isn’t the kind of person I am.”

  “I know that, Naughton.”

  “Who’s hungry? Mind my reach.” Sadie handed Naughton a plate. “Thanks, sugar,” she said when he set it in front of Bradley, and then set the other plate in front of him. “Be right back with your toast.”

  Bradley studied the plate of food in front of her. Naughton had ordered the same for himself, but how did he know it was exactly what she wanted when she wouldn’t have known it herself? Even the eggs were just the way she liked them.

  “Everything okay?” he asked when Sadie walked away from the table.

  “It’s perfect. Thanks.”

  Naughton half-smiled and dug into his own food. “Where’s the boyfriend now?” he asked between bites.

  “I don’t know.”

  Sadie came back with their toast and set it between them. “How’s your brother these days?” she asked.

  Naughton shook his head. “Big a pain in the ass as ever.”

  “I heard he and Alex are getting married.”

  “Haven’t heard, but won’t be surprised if they do.”

  Sadie laughed. “You’re so much like Kade,” she added before she walked away.

  “Why don’t you know?” Naughton asked.

  “What?”

  “Where the boyfriend is.”

  Bradley took a deep breath, wishing she had a good reason to change the subject. “We had a fight.”

  “Good.”

  Bradley pierced her egg with a piece of toast, dipped it into the bright orange yolk, and took a bite.

  “Did he go home?”

  Bradley shrugged. “I hope so.”

  “I hope so too. He’s not at Jenson?”

  “No, he never stays there.”

  “If you’re not going to eat that last piece of bacon, I’ll take it.” Naughton’s hand was halfway to her plate when she swatted it.

  “I’m good at sharing,” she told him. “Except when it comes to bacon.”

  “Woman after my heart,” he murmured.

  Bradley knew what he meant, it was just an expression, but she liked hearing the words anyway.

  “I know you said you didn’t want to talk about the fire, but…”

  “Soon as Mad told me he’d heard arson, Calder was the first person that came to both our minds.”

  “There were other people here, when the fire started, who are also associated with the conglomerates.”

  Naughton almost dropped his fork. Instead, he squeezed the hell out of it. “Don’t go there.”

  “But—”

  “No, Bradley. Don’t put yourself in the middle of this. If they’re thinking arson this soon after the fire is contained, there’s evidence. If there’s evidence, then I believe we’ll find out who’s behind it.”

  “He asked me to gather information on the members of the collaborative.”

  Naughton raised his eyebrows. “Yeah? And what did you tell him?”

  “I told him I wouldn’t.”

  “Good girl. My guess is he didn’t let it go that easily.”

  “No. He didn’t.” Bradley looked away again.

  “What else did he say?”

  “He pushed me to try to change your mind about helping, but I told him I didn’t have any influence over you.”

  “He didn’t buy it.”

  She shook her head.

  “That’s because he’s right.”

  “Naughton, I would never.”

  He set his fork down, wiped his hands on his napkin, and put his arm around her. “Look at me.” When she did, he leaned forward and kissed her. “I know you would never; that’s not the kind of person you are.”

  “You hardly know me,” she murmured.

  “I know enough.” He kissed her again, and this time she opened her mouth to his. Naughton held her chin with his fingers, keeping her where he wanted her. Everything he couldn’t do when he had kissed her in his truck, he did now. He wanted to linger then, but he couldn’t. He wanted to capture her tongue with his and take every breath from her. When she tried to pull back, he went deeper, and she let him.

  He stopped only when they heard the diner door open and felt her tense up.

  “There hasn’t been a minute I’ve been with you that I haven’t wanted to do that,” he said, pulling back far enough to look in her eyes.

  “Me, too.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  Naughton saw something out of the corner of his eye and looked around her.

  “What is it?” she asked when he slid out of the booth.

  “I’m not sure. I’ll be right back.” He ran out the door of the diner and looked down the street. He was quick enough to catch sight of the man who went inside one of the houses.

  Bradley came out of the diner door. “Naughton? What’s wrong?”

  “My da.”

  “What about him?”

  Naughton shook his head. “It looked so much like him, but what would he be doing in Harmony?”

  9

  Naughton pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Maddox.

  “Have you seen Da?” he asked when his brother answered.

  “Not since this morning, why?”

  “Wondering if he’s home. Where are you?”

  “Walking up to the barn now.”

  “Can you see if his truck is there?”

  “Sure is. What’s goin’ on, Naught? Where are you?”

  “I’m at Sadie’s, and I swear I saw him walk into a house down the street.”

  “Let me check something.”

  Naughton watched the house while he waited.

  “Shit,” he heard Maddox say. “His old truck is gone. Bradley still with you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Bring her back.”

  “But what about—”

  “Just bring her back, Naught. We’ll talk more about this when you get here.”

  Naughton walked a little farther down the block and held up his hand for Bradley to wait. “What are you thinkin’?”

  “That whatever is goin’ on, isn’t something she needs to know about.”

  “What makes you think something’s going on?”

  “Because no one drives that truck except him, and he hardly ever does.” Maddox paused and Naught waited. “There’s more.”

  “Go on.”

  “I thought I saw someone the last time I was in Harmony, too.”

  “Who?”

  “I’ll tell you when you get back.”

  Naughton disconnected the call and rubbed the back of his neck. As much as he wanted to go pound on the door of the house he had seen his father go into, what would he say if he did?

  He walked back to the diner and saw Bradley hadn’t moved since he motioned for her to wait. “Naughton, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, just seein’ things, I guess.”

  “It wasn’t your father?”

  “Nah. He’s home,” he lied, not knowing why exactly, other than his fear there was more to his father being in Harmony than met the eye.

  It didn’t look like she believed him, or maybe he was just being paranoid. When he went back inside the diner, she followed.

  “You done?” he asked when they got back to their table.
<
br />   “Sure. I’m done.”

  Naughton pulled his wallet out and threw some money on the table. “Ready?”

  “You don’t want to wait for the bill?”

  “Don’t need to, I eat here all the time.”

  “It’s a wonder you can afford it,” she mumbled.

  “Why’s that?”

  “You just left a hundred on the table for a meal that shouldn’t have cost more than twenty dollars.”

  Naughton shrugged, went outside, and handed Bradley her helmet.

  He was lying to her, but whatever was going on really wasn’t any of her business anyway. From the moment Naughton thought he saw his father, his whole demeanor changed. When she climbed on the back of his bike and put her hands on his waist, she felt his muscles tighten. She wanted to let go, but what else could she hold onto?

  They drove back in silence, not that talking would’ve been easy on the motorcycle. He took a different way back, which brought them to Adelaida Trail from the other direction. When they came to Jenson Vineyards, he pulled in.

  “My truck is at Butler Ranch,” she told him after she climbed off the bike and took the helmet off.

  “I’ll bring it over later.”

  “Is there a reason you don’t want me over there?”

  He shook his head. “Long couple of days. Take the rest of the day off.”

  That just made her mad. “I don’t work for you, remember?”

  Instead of answering, Naughton started the bike, waved, and left.

  Bradley stood with her hands on her hips and watched him drive away.

  “What’s going on?” her aunt asked, coming out the back door.

  “I have no idea.”

  “Was that Naughton?”

  “Yep.”

  Her aunt shook her head and laughed.

  “What?”

  “You two are a pair.”

  Bradley followed her back inside. “What do you mean by that? Naughton and I aren’t…aren’t…”

  “A pair?”

  “We’re not.”

  Aunt Jean rested her palm on Bradley’s cheek. “Of course you are, sweetheart.”

  “But I work for him.”

  “No, you don’t. You work for Maddox.”

  “Why does everyone keep saying that?” she mumbled as she climbed the stairs to her room.

  Maddox had been right; his father’s old truck wasn’t at the ranch, and he didn’t need to look in the barn to confirm it. He saw it when he drove by the house he thought he had seen his father go into. Worse, there was another Butler Ranch vehicle sitting in the driveway in front of it.

  “You’re back,” Maddox said when Naughton parked the bike and killed the engine. “Let’s go inside.”

  Naughton followed his brother, took off his helmet, set it on Mad’s kitchen table, and sat down.

  “Who’d you see?” Naughton asked.

  “Not wasting any time, are ya? I said I thought I saw someone.”

  Naughton really wasn’t in the mood for this shit. “Who, Maddox?”

  “Someone who looked like Kade.”

  Naughton slammed the chair against the wall when he stood up. He rubbed the back of his neck and paced Mad’s kitchen.

  “Sit back down.”

  Naughton spun around. “Are you serious, Mad?”

  “It wasn’t—”

  “When?”

  “The day before we went to talk to Lang.”

  “That was over two months ago.” Naughton willed away the rage he felt building. “Why are you only saying something now?”

  “I thought I was losing my mind. It was right after a fight with Alex, and I honestly thought I’d lost it.”

  “Why didn’t you mention it when Lang said Kade had paid him a visit?”

  “Because I thought he was crazy too.”

  “What do you think now?”

  Maddox stood up and walked to the refrigerator. “Beer?”

  “Hell, no. Something stronger.”

  Maddox took two glasses off the shelf, dropped a couple of ice cubes in each, and opened the cupboard where he stashed the booze. “What’s your poison?”

  “Bourbon. And lose the ice.”

  Mad tossed the ice in the sink and poured a couple of fingers in the glass.

  “More.”

  Mad shook his head, poured as much again, and handed the glass to Naughton.

  “Answer me. What do you think now?”

  “It wasn’t Kade. Let’s start there. Kade is dead.”

  “Who was it?”

  “You remember what Alex said when all that went down with Lang? She said she didn’t mean any offense, but all those guys look alike. She was right, to a certain extent. From that distance, it could’ve been anyone.”

  “There was someone else from Butler Ranch there today.”

  “Who?”

  “Don’t know, but it wasn’t just Da’s truck I saw. The old Silverado was there too.”

  “Which house was it?”

  “Third one down, same side of the street as Sadie’s, tan siding. Is that where you thought you saw Kade?”

  Maddox nodded. “Not Kade, someone who looked like him.”

  “Why is Da at the same house, and who else was there with him?”

  “No idea.”

  “Do you think he was the one who drove my truck to Demetria that night?”

  Maddox didn’t answer right away. He stood, dumped his ice in the sink, poured himself more bourbon, but didn’t turn around. “I had some time to think while I waited for you to get back.”

  “And?”

  “There’s a lot going on that doesn’t add up, Naught.”

  When Maddox turned to face him, Naughton saw Mad was fighting against the tears just as much as he was. They may have gotten word Kade had been killed over a year and a half ago, but that didn’t mean the pain of losing him was any less raw.

  “Talk to me, Mad.”

  “I can’t get the day out of my head, when Da gave me Kade’s letter.” Maddox gripped the back of his neck with his hand. It was something all of his brothers did when they were stressed.

  “It didn’t make sense then, and it still doesn’t. Why did the attorney ask our parents to come to the office instead of me? You’re the one who told me Peter Wendt didn’t know anything about us owning the property before that. How did you know?”

  “Because Kade told me where the deeds were.”

  “What else, Naughton? It’s time you told me all of it. Every single thing you’ve been keeping from me. Now!”

  Naughton understood Mad’s frustration, but there wasn’t all that much he knew, except about the deeds and how Kade had wanted Maddox given the news. “I’m the one who asked Wendt to call Da. I’m the one who gave him the envelopes that he passed on to our parents, who gave them to you.”

  The glass Maddox held in his hand shattered in his grip. “And you’re telling me this now? What the fuck, Naughton?”

  “I told you then, it was the way Kade had wanted it.”

  “You goddamn hypocrite. Not five minutes ago you railed at me for not telling you I thought I saw Kade in Harmony.” Maddox went out the door of his cottage, letting it slam behind him. Instead of following, Naughton poured himself another couple of shots of bourbon and cleaned up the glass scattered on the floor.

  He stood with his back to the door but didn’t flinch when Mad came back through it a few minutes later, slamming it behind him again.

  “What else?” he demanded.

  “That’s it.”

  “It was up to you, and you alone, to decide when to tell me Kade left us the land?”

  Naughton nodded.

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why you?”

  “Because I was the one who knew about you and Alex. For years, I was the only one.”

  “This is bullshit.” Maddox slammed his fist on the counter.

  “You’re getting sidetracked with things that don’t matte
r!” Naughton yelled.

  “How can you say they don’t matter?”

  “Because that’s in the past.”

  Naughton sat back down and finished the bourbon in his glass. “Because you know about the land. Because you and Alex are together and happy. And that’s what Kade wanted for you. For you and Alex to be happy.”

  Naughton’s eyes filled with tears he couldn’t hold back any longer. He silently cursed both of his brothers. The one who stood before him, and the one who had left them both behind.

  Maddox grabbed the bottle from the kitchen counter and sat down too. “What did he want for you, Naught?”

  Naughton put his head in his hands. “I wish I knew.”

  “I wish I knew too. I wish I could understand why all this shit is happening—why Da was in Harmony, who was with him, who I saw that day when I was at Sadie’s, and who the fuck set the fire. Because I gotta tell you, I feel like there’s someone out there who wants to take us down.”

  Naughton agreed. It felt like there was more to it than Calder and his cronies from up north wanting more land on the Central Coast. If there was anyone who would be able to get to the bottom of all that was happening around them, it was Kade, and he was gone.

  “I miss him so much,” he murmured.

  Maddox nodded. “Me, too.”

  They sat at the table in the kitchen until after the sun went down. When one emptied their glass, the other filled it, and neither spoke.

  “What the hell?” Alex said, walking into the kitchen and finding them sitting in the dark. When she hit the light switch, both he and Mad covered their eyes. She picked up the bottle that sat empty on the table.

  “Are you drunk?” She looked back and forth between the two of them until Maddox finally nodded.

  “Pretty sure.”

  “Oh, Lord.” She tossed the bottle in the trash, filled the pot with water, and scooped coffee into the filter. While she waited for it to brew, she washed out their glasses and put them in the dishwasher, and then picked up the phone Mad had left near the sink. “Just as I thought. Ringer’s off.”