Like Maddox, if Naughton had his own land, could make his own decisions about what he grew, what would he do? Kade knew it would be nothing short of fantastic.
He’d been waiting until they were ready before he revealed the surprise he’d been sitting on for the last fifteen years. They weren’t quite there, but when they were, he’d blow their minds.
There were things his brothers could never know, though, like how he came to own what he planned to bequeath to them. Those secrets needed to stay buried deep—much deeper than those of his parents.
Of course there was also the matter of who currently lived on the property, but thinking about that would take him down a path of the worst kind of memories—ones he had no interest in thinking about today.
Kade turned off the main highway onto Adelaida Trail. The meandering road, lined with oak and eucalyptus trees, weaved its way through endless rows of vineyards and wineries.
He rounded a bend and the land where he’d grown up, cut his teeth, became the man he was today, sat in front of him.
He veered off the road, threw the truck into park, and rested his head against the seat. Was Butler Ranch the place where he became the person he was now? Or, was it his years of service that molded him into the man he saw in the mirror every morning?
He loved the ranch, particularly growing up on it, but he’d never wanted to inherit it. Did his parents think he was turning his back on his legacy?
He could never see himself returning here to live. He had a home two hours south in Montecito, and if it weren’t for one very beautiful, very intriguing woman, that’s where he’d be right now.
He put the truck back in gear, approached the ranch’s gate, and waited for it to open. Once he drove through, it closed so quickly it almost hit his back bumper. Kade smiled. More of his dad’s handiwork.
The drive led him along the vineyards that were planted mostly with Cabernet Sauvignon and up to the main house.
It was built in the style of a historic Scottish Highland farmhouse with a dressed granite facade under a slate roof. The four front dormers were embellished with black shutters, which repeated on the windows of the main level.
After inheriting the ranch from Kade’s grandparents, his father added a porch, which wrapped around three sides of the abode so, regardless of the season, he and Sorcha could sit in the sunlight. In the center of the u-shape the porch formed, sat a courtyard with a small pond and an archway that led to a path to the original barn, which had been converted into part of the winery.
His father added two Scottish-style stone cottages, both two-storied replications of the main house. Like the original barn, many of the other outbuildings had been re-purposed for the winery. What had once been a hayloft was now an apartment with a barrel room below. When he slept at the ranch, which wasn’t often, that’s where he stayed.
He parked near the front steps and was halfway up when his mother came flying out the heavy wooden door. “Thanks, Blessed Father, my boy is home.” Sorcha put her hands together and looked up at the sky.
His mother might be little but she had the force of a hurricane.
“Hi, Ma,” he said, picking her up and twirling her in a circle. “Gráim thú.”
She smiled and pinched his cheek. “I love you too, my Kade.”
“Did I hear Kade?” asked his father, joining them on the porch.
“Hello, Da.” The two men embraced.
Both his parents knew he’d flown in last night, but neither would call him out on it. They understood his need to decompress better than anyone in their family.
“Have you eaten?” his mother asked, putting her arm through his as they walked inside.
“I stopped by the Ollalieberry Diner.”
“And?” She held out her hands.
“Next time, Ma.”
She raised a brow.
He leaned in close. “I shared the muffins George gave me with the second most beautiful woman in the world.”
“Peyton?” his mother whispered.
Kade put his index finger in front of his lips and she looked over to his father. They’d both known Peyton since she was a “wee lass,” as his mother would say.
He accepted her offer of tea and followed his father out to the back porch.
“How did the new gear work?” he asked.
“Fine. No problems.”
His father tapped his pipe on the stone post and dumped his tobacco in the garden bed below. He pulled out a pouch from his pocket, refilled it, and brought it to his lips. The smell of his da’s favorite blend brought back so many memories.
“Are you sure it was him?” his father asked.
“DNA will tell us for sure but, yes, I am confident we took out Yasin.”
His father slowly nodded. “Good. Any casualties?”
“Negative.”
“Even better.”
“How are things here?”
“Fine.”
“What?” Kade asked when his father smiled and shook his head.
“Your mother is anxious for more grandchildren.”
The only one of the six siblings who’d had a child was his sister Skye. Kade had been the one who introduced her to her husband, MacLayne Campbell, and now they had a baby girl, Spencer, who was a year old.
“How is Skye?”
“Well. Collecting strays.”
Kade closed his eyes and pictured the oldest of his two sisters. Both had fiery red hair, but there was a softness Skye possessed where as Ainsley, the youngest of the six, could be a little imp.
Since Skye was a little girl, she’d collected strays, as his father had put it. No matter how many times their mother shrieked at the sight of the latest rodent or reptile Skye brought into the house, it never stopped her. As she got older, she collected more cats and dogs than snakes, but it still drove their ma crazy.
“Spencer is walking now, which keeps your sister busy.”
“I need to see them.”
“Aye, you do. I believe your mother has taken care of that on your behalf.”
Kade should’ve known; his ma
