5
When Peyton arrived at Stave after having an impromptu breakfast with Kade, Alex was already there. It appeared she got most of the work done she’d planned to do.
“Is it my birthday?” she asked, looking at the food that was already prepped, the wood that was stacked in the fire pit, and the tasting sheets that were printed and on the bar.
“Better. It’s Peyton-is-having-sex day.”
Both of them jumped when the back door opened and Addy walked in. “What are you two doing here?”
Peyton cocked her head. “I can see you asking the princess here that question, but I’m always here when you arrive on Saturday.”
“Yeah, but Kade’s in town.”
Peyton put her hand on her hip. “That makes no difference.”
“We can always hope.”
Alex laughed out loud and high-fived Addy.
“Shut up,” Peyton mumbled, walking into the office. She groaned when Alex followed and closed the door behind her. Peyton put her head in her hands.
Alex put her feet up on the desk across from where Peyton sat. “What’s wrong?”
“I saw him this morning.”
“Kade?”
“Santa Claus.”
“Those jokes are only funny when I do them.”
“They aren’t funny then either.”
Alex put her feet down and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk and her head in her hands. “Why does seeing Kade make you unhappy?”
“Not unhappy. Just frustrated.”
“Again, why?”
“He’s here for two months and then he’s gone again. Not exactly great boyfriend material.”
“On the other hand, it’s great fuck-buddy material.”
“You talk big, Alex, but I know you don’t believe that any more than I do.”
Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. Sounds good to me. Except for the two months he’s gone. Where does he go for all that time?”
“I’m not really sure. Something with the military.”
Alex’s eyes opened wide. “He’s still in the military?”
“I don’t really know.”
“You don’t talk about it?”
“No, Alex, we don’t. He’s made it clear that he can’t, so I don’t ask.”
“Wow. That would never work for me.”
“No kidding.”
“Well…how do you feel about him?”
Could Peyton admit to Alex what she could barely admit to herself? “I like him.”
“What are you? Fourteen?”Alex rolled her eyes.
“Last night you said I was thirty.”
“Except when it comes to Kade.”
“That’s who we were talking about when you said it.”
“Peyton, just tell him.”
“Tell him what?”
“That you want him. When he comes in tonight, bite the bullet and be honest.”
“We’ll see.”
6
When his conversation ended with his father, Kade took a walk in the vineyards. He looked up and saw the man he’d been searching for, headed in his direction on an ATV.
“You’re back,” said Naughton, after he’d stopped and climbed off.
“That I am.” He embraced the brother that was most like him. Naughton was six years younger than Kade, and the epitome of a middle child.
Kade worried about him more than any of his other siblings. Not that talking to Naught would doing any good. His brother was the most reticent person he’d ever known. Add in surliness and it wasn’t a surprise that the guy was still single.
“How are you?” Kade gripped his brother’s shoulder and looked in to his eyes. Naughton tried to shrug him off, but Kade wouldn’t relent. “How are you, Naughton?”
“I’m fine, Kade. What the fuck?”
“As if you’d tell me if you weren’t.”
Naughton turned his back. “Why do you always have to go straight there.”
“Time. Lack of it. Especially getting you alone.”
“Thought you were a physician’s assistant, not a psychiatrist’s.”
Kade laughed and changed the subject to the vineyards. “Much pruning to do this year?”
“Not yet.” Naughton kicked the dirt. “Wanna ride?”
“Thought you’d never ask.”
Kade met Naughton back at the stables where he found his brother saddling two horses. Huck was a nine-year-old American Cream Gelding draft horse—an his brother’s baby.
The other was Shazam, a purebred bay Leopard Appaloosa gelding with a bald face, four white socks, a black mane, and a salt and pepper tail. Standing next to Huck, the horse looked small but at sixteen hands, he was big enough for Kade to ride.
They rode for a couple of hours, all over the ranch, even stopping by the wine caves Maddox had invested a small fortune in.
The first wine cave on Butler Ranch was only about a thousand square feet, at the most. A few years ago, Maddox had hired an outfit out of the Burgundy region of France who specialized in subterranean caves to come and survey the site for expansion.
The project took five years to complete, two years longer than the original schedule, and then it had taken another six months to organize the various barrel storage rooms and move furniture into the private areas.
Kade had only been in them a handful of times and thought about asking Naughton if he’d mind walking in with him, but the caves were Mad’s baby. Later he’d ask his brother later to show him the latest additions.
They ended their ride along the northernmost edge of Butler Ranch, where it bordered Los Caballeros, land that belonged to the Avila family.
A feud began between the Avilas and Butlers the year Laird Butler bested Alfonso Avila with his first release of Zinfandel.
Alfonso couldn’t accept Laird’s gold medal win at the annual wine festival, when his own Zin hadn’t medaled at all. He accused Laird of paying off the judges. Kade’s father had been furious, and the two men came close to blows before several other winemakers stepped in and separated them.
From that day on, the Avila name became unmentionable in the Butler house. It wasn’t easy for the two families to avoid one another, given their land was adjacent, but they managed.
“He still sees her,” Naughton muttered right before they turned to head back to the stables.
His brother’s news didn’t surprise him. Maddox had been seeing Alex Avila in secret since they were teenagers. One day soon, Kade hoped Mad and Alex would figure out that no one cared about the feud anymore and even if they did,
