The weekend before Halloween consisted of getting River’s Bend ready for its Halloween festivities. The vineyard hadn’t done much in the way of celebrating in the last few years, but with the good harvest this year, Adam had decided they should celebrate as much as possible. When Gavin entered the vineyard’s main building, the entire front room was decorated with pumpkins and gourds, bats and skeletons, and he had to wave away fake cobwebs to get to Adam’s office in the back.
“He’s not in yet!” Kerry, the front desk woman and Adam’s assistant, called to him. “But he should be back in the next half hour.”
Gavin grunted and sat down on one of the chairs to wait for his brother. He only wanted to pick up his paycheck; he wondered if he could just get it from Adam’s office and tell his brother later that he’d been in a hurry. Then again, after all the financial troubles River’s Bend had gone through, including one of the interns embezzling funds, taking a paycheck was probably not in Gavin’s best interests.
The vineyard bustled with activity. Jaime was planning some extravagant Halloween menu, and they were debuting a new type of wine as well. Gavin was glad that things were turning around for the business, but he’d never wanted to be a part of the frenzy the vineyard tended to create in his family. When Gavin was a kid, Carl Danvers had considered River’s Bend his fourth child, and oftentimes neglected his own family to tend to it. While Adam had worked to take it over, Gavin had done his best to avoid having to deal with the vineyard whatsoever. He’d never wanted to be in Carl’s shadow, unlike his brother.
“Gavin, are you looking for me?” Adam walked up to him. “Sorry if I made you wait.”
Gavin shrugged as he got up. “I just need my paycheck.”
“Sure thing.” Adam waved at him to follow, and Gavin went back into Adam’s office, which had also been decorated with various Halloween items. He had a feeling Adam hadn’t been the one to hang bats overhead or place a full-size skeleton on one of the chairs opposite his desk.
Gavin poked the skeleton. “Joy do this?”
“Yes, and if you mess up that skeleton, she’ll kill us both and turn us into skeletons to put on display.” Adam rifled through the documents on his desk to pull out a check. Gavin wasn’t entirely sure why the vineyard didn’t allow employees direct deposit, but more than likely, it was one of Adam’s random rules that kept them in the Stone Age in terms of payment systems.
As Gavin turned to go, Adam asked, “How are you, by the way?”
He did not want to have this conversation. He shrugged, looking everywhere but at his brother. “Same as always.”
“Which means what, exactly?” When Gavin didn’t reply, Adam sighed. “I know that something happened with you and Kat. Grace was pissed at you and told me she’d ‘kick you in the kneecap’ the next time she saw you. Considering our sister isn’t prone to violence, that makes me think something is up.”
Did his entire family have to get involved in his love life? He and Kat had slept together—twice—but now it was over. Couldn’t everyone just leave it alone?
“We had a misunderstanding,” Gavin ground out, “but it’s over. Now, if you’re done interrogating me, I need to get back to work.”
“I know you don’t like talking about how you feel. Hell, neither do I, but I know you haven’t been the same since everything with Teagan.” Adam lowered his voice. “You can’t keep it all locked inside. I tried it with Carolyn, and I almost lost Joy because of it.”
Old resentments surfaced with surprising force: how Adam hadn’t been there when Gavin’s marriage was falling apart. How he’d felt like his brother had never been interested in anything but this stupid vineyard. He knew very well he was being petty and selfish, but that knowledge wasn’t enough to keep him from saying, “It’s none of your business. Don’t try to act like you care now.”
Adam reared back, before his eyes darkened with anger. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means that you weren’t exactly interested when Teagan was losing her damn mind, when she almost killed herself. Where were you then? I don’t remember you giving me advice then.”
Adam just stared at Gavin, the blood draining from his face. A twinge of guilt pricked at Gavin’s gut, but he ignored it. “That’s what I thought. Now, like I said, I have work to do.”
“I know I wasn’t there,” Adam said quietly. “I didn’t know what to say. I was still so broken up about Carolyn that I didn’t know how I could help. But I did call, Gavin. I was worried about you, and still am.” He swallowed. “You’re my brother—for better or for worse.”
For some reason, Adam’s quiet only enraged Gavin further. His anger about Teagan, about Kat, about Emma, about his entire family, exploded inside of his chest like a bomb that had been ticking for years. “Don’t act like you really tried,” he hissed. “I needed you, and you weren’t there.” His breathing became ragged, and he wished he could just punch a wall. “I watched my wife almost die and you didn’t care!”
“My own wife died!” Adam yelled. “She died and I had to figure out how to live without her. I had to watch as they lowered her into the ground in that casket, knowing I would never hear her voice or touch
