The Secret (Butler Ranch Book 3)

by Heather Slade

  She still couldn’t believe he entrusted her with such an important decision. Surely Naughton didn’t do it because of his romantic interest in her. He hadn’t even checked her measurements or given his opinion. Joy surged inside of her; no one had ever believed in her the way Naughton did, not even her uncle.

  When Maddox walked over to talk to Brodie, Bradley crept up behind Naughton and put her arms around his waist. She rested her head against his back. “Thank you,” she said.

  He turned in her arms. “You know what you’re doing, Bradley. You were born to do this.”

  “You really believe that?”

  “I wish you could step outside of yourself and see how good you are. You’re intuitive, like it’s in your blood. I said once before, you and I are going to make amazing wine together.” He looked over at Maddox. “I love my brother, and I’ve always loved making wine with him, but with you, it’ll be nothing short of magic.”

  “Naughton, I…”

  He waited, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. He’d think she’d lost her mind, but in reality, all she’d lost was her heart.

  “Finish what you were going to say, Bradley,” he murmured.

  “I…don’t know how to thank you for giving me this opportunity.”

  “You’re welcome. Maybe later I’ll get you to tell me what you really wanted to say.

  18

  They picked the Merlot until ten when the heat of the day got too intense, and then Naughton walked Bradley back to the winery.

  “We aren’t crushing today,” she said.

  “Maddox told me.”

  “I think I’ll go home for a little while then.”

  “I’ll drop you off on my way to Demetria.”

  Naughton and Hawks were going to Demetria to bring the horses back, but that wasn’t the only reason. There were two things Hawks had told him he wanted to talk to him about when they got there. He only elaborated on one, but Naughton could guess the other.

  Later this afternoon, Alex and Peyton, along with his two sisters, Skye and Ainsley, their parents, plus Alex’s mother, and Peyton’s parents were hosting the dinner at the Los Caballeros winery to thank everyone who came out to help after the fire.

  The Spanish-style meal would be served throughout the afternoon and evening to allow for vineyard owners, winemakers, and their employees to come when they could get away from the harvest or crush.

  “What time do you want to go to Los Cab later?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure. I want to ride over with Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jean.”

  Naughton was uncomfortable with the idea that she wouldn’t be with him or either of his brothers.

  Bradley cupped his cheek with her palm. “Stop scowling,” she teased. “Uncle Charlie is just as good a bodyguard as you and your brothers are.”

  He wouldn’t apologize for worrying about her. Now that he’d found her, the idea of losing Bradley was more than he could let himself think about.

  After he had dropped Bradley off at home, Naughton followed Hawks to Demetria, each of them towing a trailer for the horses. Since it was the easiest place to load, they pulled behind the house, where Hawks had been keeping his truck.

  From where they had parked, he could see inside through the wall of windows that looked out over the vineyards. While he didn’t like the fact that it sat so close to the main road, he loved the way it had been designed.

  It was a single story, set up with an open floor plan, like a loft. Lena Hess had lived in the house until a couple of months ago, and before that, her mother and father had lived in it.

  Maddox had told him Lena’s mother had Parkinson’s disease and her father designed the house to accommodate her as the disease progressed.

  The land Kade had deeded to them, originally belonged to Lena’s grandparents on her mother’s side, whose family name was Demetrius. When Lena told his brother and him that the estate had originally been called Demetria, they immediately knew that’s what they’d name it.

  Most people in the valley referred to it as the Hess Estate. Hess was Lena’s father’s surname, but even she didn’t know how, when, or why people started calling it that. Her father had always planned to replant the vineyards and make wine on the estate after he retired, but her mother’s illness thwarted his plans.

  It had been two years since Parkinson’s took Lena’s mother’s life and her father left the estate. When Kade first brought Naughton to see it, he hadn’t said how he came to own the four hundred acres he’d deeded to his brother and him, and Naughton hadn’t asked. He assumed Kade had somehow managed to purchase it, but with a four-million-dollar price tag, it was difficult for Naughton to comprehend how.

  Lena had also told Maddox there were another two hundred hectares that sat unused. That land had been for sale, and the Calder family had been bidders. That was how Rory Calder had discovered the Avilas had stored wine in Demetria’s caves.

  Even though the caves were on land owned by Maddox and Naughton, he’d made it his business to explore every acre that had once made up the estate.

  When Lena confronted him about it, Calder divulged that he knew she’d secretly been married to Kade years ago. If Lena hadn’t agreed to go along with Calder’s plans, he’d threatened to expose the marriage to Naughton’s family, knowing they were unaware of the union. It wasn’t until Maddox uncovered the secret on his own that Lena could escape Calder’s blackmail scheme.

  Maddox believed there were more secrets Lena held, and for a while, seemed determined to uncover them. Naughton hadn’t felt the need to, until the other day when he saw his father in Harmony, and then when Hawks told him he’d seen their father here with a woman.

  “What do you want to do first?” Hawks asked.

  “Tell me what you wanted to talk to me about, and then we’ll load up the horses.”

  They walked over to the picnic table by the creek, and Hawks told him what he’d learned about the fire. Johnny Vatos, the man Hawks had grown up with, was, in fact, the person in custody accused of arson, and not a migrant farm worker as the sheriff had told the Butler family.

  “I still don’t understand why the sheriff thought he was a migrant worker.”

  “He gave them his given name, Juan, and pretended he didn’t speak English. Once they fingerprinted him though, it wasn’t long before they knew exactly who he was.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “I don’t either, and he’s not confessing anything other than he was the one that set the fire.”

  “Did he say why?”

  “He says he wanted assurance that his family would be taken care of.”

  “By starting the fire? That doesn’t make sense. He’s telling you why he’s going down for it, but not the reason he started it,” said Naughton, and Hawks nodded.

  “Johnny has aged twenty years to the five since I’ve seen him. I doubt I would’ve recognized him if I passed him on the street.”

  “Think he’ll change his mind?”

  “No way. Johnny will go to his grave with the name of whoever paid him to do this.”

  Barring any other evidence, Johnny’s refusal to confess more than his involvement would leave law enforcement with nothing else to go on. Vatos would spend the rest of his life in jail, and whoever had paid him off would walk free and have every opportunity to do more damage.

  “Did you hear about Jenson?” Naughton asked.

  Hawks nodded. “Heard it was bad.”

  “They lost every vintage back ten years.”

  “Damn.”

  “Yep, and it was the good stuff,” Naughton told him.

  “Does insurance cover somethin’ like that?”

  “It does, but it’ll be years before they can build their stock back up, which means years before they can release anything but the young varietals.”

  Hawks shook his head. “What’s happening to our valley, Naught? It’s like it’s cursed.”

  Not a curse as much as a few greedy bastar
ds who’d stop at nothing to get their hands on land that would otherwise never be offered for sale. If the wine conglomerates were behind this, the way Naughton thought they were, they’d soon learn that the owners of the wineries in the collaborative would rather turn their operations into dairy farms than sell.

  “Naught?”

  “Yeah.”

  “There’s somethin’ else.”

  He nodded.

  “Your father was back, with the woman.”

  “When?”

  “Early this morning. I almost ran into them when I walked outside on my way back to the ranch, but I stopped when I heard voices.”

  “Could you hear what they were talking about?”

  “Only part of it. The woman kept insisting she see ‘him’.”

  “Who?”

  “Neither said. But your father did say that she knew she couldn’t. He told her to stop asking.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Yeah. They saw the lights on in the house. Your father told her it was too risky for them to meet here again.”

  “Anything else?”

  “He told her it would be best for now if she stayed with her other grandfather. Your father said he’d already made the arrangements.”

  Naughton leaned forward and put his head in his hands. “Did you see her?”

  Hawks nodded. “It was dark, so I didn’t get a good look.”

  Naughton got up from the table and took the path into the woods that would lead him to where the horses were. What he needed now was a long ride on Huck. Time to think, and time not to think.

  “How are you coping?” her aunt asked.

  “Me? I’m worried about how you and Uncle Charlie are doing.”

  “I’m not sure it’s hit us fully yet. Charlie has been on the phone most of the day again today. Earlier this morning the alcohol tax bureau rep called to say he’d be here tomorrow.”

  “I didn’t think about that.” The inventory Jenson had lost was worth a significant amount of money. Her aunt and uncle would be getting a substantial refund on their tax bond. “Word travels fast, doesn’t it?”

  “We live in a tight community, so yes, it does. We’ve had so many offers of help already.”

  “What kind of help?”

  “Grapes, juice, wine to blend. Help with the harvest in case it becomes too much for us to manage.”

  “Just like everyone helped after the fire.”

  Her aunt nodded. “Tell me what’s going on with you and Naughton.”

  Where did she start? “We’re getting to know each other.”

  “And?”

  Bradley shook her head. “It’s crazy.”

  Her aunt didn’t ask what she meant right away, Bradley thought she could leave it at that.

  “Are you in love with him?”

  “I hardly know him.”

  Her aunt opened her arms, and Bradley stepped into her embrace. “You know him, sweetheart, better than you know most anyone else.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “Yes, you do. Let it happen, Bradley. Go with it. Let yourself love him, and let him love you back.”

  “What if he never does?”

  “Love you?”

  Bradley nodded.

  “That ship has sailed, my darling girl.”

  “How could that be? We don’t know each other, Aunt Jean,” Bradley insisted.

  “It’s a terrible segue, I know, but your father is coming for a visit.”

  “He is?” Bradley reached for her phone, but it wasn’t in her pocket. “I haven’t talked to him in a couple weeks. Not since I told him about the job offer from Butler Ranch.”

  “He spoke with your uncle.”

  “When?”

  “When did he speak with your uncle, or when is he coming?”

  “Both.”

  “Your uncle called and told him about the fire at Butler Ranch.”

  “When will he be here?”

  “Tomorrow morning.”

  “What about my saying Naughton and I don’t know each other reminded you to tell me my father was coming?”

  “It’s one of the reasons for his visit. Your dad wants to meet him.”

  “Why?”

  “Ready to head over?” her uncle asked, coming into the kitchen.

  “I was just telling Bradley that her father will be arriving tomorrow.”

  “Yes. He is,” Uncle Charlie sighed.

  It was no secret that her father and uncle had never seen eye to eye—particularly since her mother died. Bradley knew that Uncle Charlie had argued several times on her behalf, advocating for her to spend summers with them. Her uncle had also argued with her dad about her pursuit of a field of study he was adamantly opposed to.

  “Where is he staying?”

  “With us,” Aunt Jean answered. “Where else would he stay?”

  She didn’t know. This would be the first time he visited ever, as far as Bradley knew. Later, she’d try to remember to ask her aunt why she’d said her father wanted to meet Naughton.

  “Let’s go,” her uncle said, holding the door open for them. “We’ll drive over.”

  Bradley reached again for her phone, remembering it wasn’t in her pocket. “I’ll just grab my phone,” she told them, and ran upstairs to get it. She checked her bedroom and bathroom, looked all around, but didn’t see it. The last time she remembered having it was when she was at Butler Ranch. She’d probably left it there.

  “Can we swing in to the ranch?” she asked when she got in her uncle’s car. “I think I left my phone there.”

  When Uncle Charlie pulled up to the gates and stopped, Bradley climbed out. “I’ll grab it and meet you over there,” she told him.

  He nodded and her aunt waved. “See you shortly.”

  Bradley was glad for a few minutes alone so she could process her father’s impending visit. Fortunately, it was harvest season, and she wouldn’t have to come up with an excuse as to why she couldn’t spend much time with him. It had been awkward between them since she was a teenager. Other than her attending Cornell, his alma mater, they’d never found another shared interest.

  She wished she could remember more about her mother. Aunt Jean was willing to tell her stories about their antics as children and teenagers, but her aunt had few stories to tell after her mother and father were married. Not even about their wedding.

  “They eloped,” Jean had told her. “Your grandparents didn’t even know they were engaged.”

  “Why not?” she remembered asking.

  “We didn’t know much about your dad. I’d only met him once before your mom announced they were married.”

  Bradley opened the winery door and slipped inside to look for her phone. She was almost to the locker room, where she assumed she’d left it, when she heard voices.

  “I have to see Naughton. You can’t keep me away from him,” she overheard a woman’s voice say. She couldn’t hear the man’s voice well enough to know what he said in response.

  “I don’t care.” The woman’s voice got louder. “It’s time he knew, and I refuse to leave until I see him.”

  Bradley heard footsteps heading in her direction, and ducked behind the door. When she heard the footfalls pass, she waited until the winery door closed before she went to her locker, found her phone, and was ready to leave. She stayed in the locker room a few more minutes, just to be sure the people she’d heard talking were gone.

  What had the woman meant when she said she wouldn’t leave without telling him? Was she someone Naughton had been involved with?

  19

  Naughton saw Jean and Charlie Jenson walk over to where Alex and Peyton’s mothers were chatting. Why wasn’t Bradley with them?

  Charlie looked up and walked over to Naughton.

  “I thought Bradley was coming with you,” Naughton said.

  “She left her phone at your winery, but she should be here shortly.”

  “Huh.” He’d been specific. Either he’d pick her u
p, or she could ride over with her aunt and uncle. Those were the only two options. Why didn’t Bradley simply do as he asked?

  Charlie put his hand on Naughton’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Naught. You can wait another five minutes.”

  He couldn’t, actually. Every minute she wasn’t with him was sixty seconds too long. He walked away from Charlie and called her cell. When she didn’t answer, his irritation turned into concern.

  Where are you? he texted.

  Again, no response, so he took the dirt trail that went from Los Cab to Butler Ranch to look for her.

  She was coming out of the winery door when he walked up.

  “Hey, you,” he said.

  She put her hand on her heart. “You startled me.”

  “I was worried about you.”

  “I left my phone.” She held it up.

  “That’s what your uncle said.”

  Bradley looked away and folded her arms.

  “What else happened?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Naughton put his hand on her nape and squeezed. “Something’s bothering you.”

  When she tried to move away from his grasp, he slid his hand to her arm. “Stop,” he said. “Tell me what’s going on?”

  “I overheard something…” she began.

  Naughton cupped her cheek with his palm. “Tell me what you heard, Bradley.”

  “I heard two people talking. A man and a woman.”

  “Who?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Can you describe them?”

  “I didn’t see them; I just heard them.”

  “What did they say?”

  “The woman said she needed to talk to you. She told the man he couldn’t keep her away from you any longer.”

  Interesting. Hawks said the woman kept insisting she see “him.” Was he the person she wanted to see?

  “Did you hear anything else?”

  “She said it was time you knew, and that she wasn’t leaving until she saw you.”

  Naughton had no idea what that meant.

  “Naughton, do you…did you…”

  “What are you trying to ask me, Bradley?”

  “Is there someone?”