“Hess,” Naughton said before she could continue.
“Interesting.” Maddox studied her. “Any relation to the Hess family we know?”
Naughton opened his mouth to answer, but this time, Quinn interrupted him.
“Lena Hess is my mother.”
“I’m Bradley. I’m Naughton’s fiancée.”
Quinn shook Bradley’s hand but kept her eyes on Naughton. Evidently, she’d gotten the message he didn’t want her to say anything about Kade or her connection to his family.
“It’s nice to meet you, Quinn,” said Maddox. “We don’t know your mother that well and had no idea she had a daughter.”
“I’ve been away…until recently. First, boarding school, and then college.”
“Fall break?” Mad asked. Every so often his eyes met Naughton’s, who knew full well what his brother was up to.
“Something like that.”
“We haven’t seen your mother since…when was the last time we saw Lena, Naught?”
“Late June, early July, from what I remember.”
“That’s actually why I’m here…about my mother.” Quinn’s eyes shifted from Naughton to Bradley. “But I can see this isn’t a good time.”
“It isn’t, actually. Bradley and I have an appointment this afternoon.”
“Maybe I can help you,” Maddox offered.
“Thanks, but…I’ll, uh…be in touch.” Quinn picked her purse up from where it sat on the bar and turned to leave.
“Wait,” Maddox spoke before Naughton could. “How do we get in touch with you?”
While it was Maddox she was answering, Quinn looked at Naughton instead. “You don’t. I’ll get in touch with you.”
“What was that all about?” Bradley asked after Quinn walked out.
“I’ll explain on our way into town.” Naughton walked over and kissed Bradley’s forehead. “I need a minute with my brother first, though.”
“Of course. I’ll…wait at the house?”
“Thanks, angel.” Naughton smiled and leaned forward to kiss her lips. “I promise I won’t be too long.”
Naughton and Maddox both waited for the door to close behind her.
“Think she’s Da’s secret?”
“And Kade’s.”
Maddox raised an eyebrow.
“When she introduced herself to me, she said she’d recently discovered her birth certificate says Butler, not Hess.”
“Ho…lee…shit.”
“Right.”
“Think we shoulda just let her walk outta here?”
“Probably not, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“I hope she doesn’t wait too long to get back in touch.”
“I don’t think she will. I got the impression she needs our help, didn’t you?”
“Sort of. For me it seemed more like she needed your help.”
Naughton thought so, too. He just hadn’t wanted to say it, hoping his instincts were wrong. “Why just me, though? It doesn’t make sense.”
“No idea, brother.” Maddox shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He probably didn’t realize it, but it was one of his tells.
“You’ve got something to tell me. What is it?”
“Alex and I had dinner with Noah Ridge a couple of weeks ago. I was going to wait until after the harvest and your wedding to tell you.”
“Tell me what—that you had dinner?”
Maddox shook his head. “It appears that our big brother had a connection to Rory Calder.”
Naughton sat down when his head started spinning. “So it was personal.”
“What’s that?”
“When Calder framed me for turning the Avilas in to the tax bureau, I felt like it was personal.”
“The plot thickens with Quinn wanting to talk to you and not me.”
“Bradley’s waiting…” And with news that Calder had a connection to his family, Naughton didn’t like the idea of her being alone, ever.
“Go on, then. There’s nothing we can do about Quinn now.” Maddox laughed.
“What’s funny?” Naughton didn’t see a damn thing humorous about the situation.
“We should’ve invited her to dinner tonight. That would’ve been interesting.”
“You’re a sick sonuvabitch sometimes. You know that?”
“So Alex tells me.”
Naughton took his time, walking from the winery to his house, trying to decide what he should and shouldn’t tell Bradley. He hated hiding anything from her, but did she need to know anything about Quinn now? On the other hand, they’d promised not to keep secrets from each other and he had to honor that.
Just as he was about to put his hand on the doorknob, the door opened.
“It was her,” Bradley said, her eyes wide. “That’s who your father was talking to in the winery.”
Naughton gently pushed her back into the house and closed the door behind him. “What makes you so certain?”
“Her accent mainly, but her voice too.”
“I didn’t pick up an accent.”
“It was very faint, but if you’d ever lived in New York, you’d recognize it immediately.”
“Let’s sit down.” Naughton led her into the living room and pulled her down next to him on the couch. “Before you walked in with Maddox, Quinn told me that she has reason to believe my brother Kade was her father.”
Bradley gasped. “You had no idea?”
“That he had a daughter? Hell, no.” Naughton put his arm around Bradley’s shoulder and pulled her close to him. “There’s more.”
Bradley pulled back and looked into his eyes. “What?”
“I don’t know if you remember, but when I told you about what went down with me, Calder, and Los Cab, I said that it felt personal.”
She nodded.
“After you left just now, I was talking to Maddox, and he told me he’d recently learned that Calder and Kade had some kind of connection.”
“What?”
“The connection? Mad didn’t elaborate, but I can guess.”
“You can?”
“Sure. With Kade’s line of work, inside of the military or out, it isn’t difficult.”
“What do you want to do, Naughton?”
“I’m not sure what you’re asking. Do you mean right now? What we’d planned to do. Go into town and get our marriage license.”
“Do you think we should delay the wedding?”
It was Naughton’s turn to gasp, but he held it inside. “Why would we do that?”
“I don’t know…everything that’s happening.”
“Not on your life, Bradley.” As soon as he said the words, he regretted them. He wouldn’t bet on the life of the woman he loved, literally or metaphorically. “If anything, I want to marry you sooner.”
“Why?”
“Because I want you with me, by my side, forever and ever.”
“I’m by your side now, Naughton.”
He cupped her face and lowered his mouth to her lips. Part of him was afraid she’d turn away, but she didn’t. Bradley held still while Naughton brushed a line of kisses from her lips to her cheek, and then her brow, and back down again.
She stood and held her hand out to him. “Come with me, Naughton.”
He followed her up the stairs and into his bedroom, their bedroom now. His hand slid to her shoulders as she reached for the waist of his shirt that was tucked into his jeans.
Naughton was impatient. He moved her hand away, unfastened his jeans, and let them slide off until they were half-hitched on his legs before he kicked them off.
Her clothes were next. They both pulled and pushed until she was as naked as he was. He twisted his body so she landed on the bed beneath him.
Once the heat had been ignited, Naughton couldn’t wait another minute to be inside her. It was frenzied, fast, and hard, but Bradley seemed to need it that way as much as he did. He stopped moving and brushed her hair away from her face, so he could look into her eyes.
“Don’t make me wait, Naughton,” she pleaded, arching into him.
“Shh, now,” he said to her. “There’s no need to hurry, angel. We have the rest of our lives.”
She flicked her tongue against his lips and started moving again, enough that Naughton lost his resolve and pounded into her, hearing his own raw groan as her warmth pulsed around him.
“I love you, Bradley,” he whispered before an intense explosion ricocheted through his body and mind. She made a humming sound that vibrated through her body into his, and Naughton knew her climax had been as powerful as his was.
He bent his head and caught her lower lip, biting it gently, and then sucking it into his mouth. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as her hips began to rock again. When she tried to kiss him, he wrapped his fingers in her hair.
“I want to watch this time,” he told her, rolling his hips with hers. He felt her tighten around him a second time as he fought to hold himself back until her tremors subsided. Blood roared in his ears as he once again lost his resolve and thrust into her over and over, until he could no longer move.
He must’ve fallen asleep, but woke up when Bradley pulled him out of bed and into a hot shower. “What time is it?” he asked, his voice heavier than he’d expected it to sound.
“A little after three. We can still make it downtown,” she said as she drizzled shampoo into her hair. “Unless you’d rather wait.”
He moved her hands away and massaged her scalp. “Turn around.” With her back to him, he trailed the suds from the shampoo down the front of her body.
“I guess you’d rather wait,” she murmured.
“Nah, I’m just gettin’ you clean before I make you my wife.”
“Naughton, we’re not getting married until Friday. I hope you know I plan to shower again between now and then.”
“Yeah, well, I have somethin’ else in mind.”
7
Instead of stopping at the courthouse first, they stopped at the jeweler that had been in business in downtown Paso Robles for generations. It wasn’t hard for them to agree on wedding bands. They both preferred the first ones Bradley picked out.
And then, instead of just getting the marriage license, they got married, with the Justice of the Peace and his secretary as their witnesses.
They still planned to have a ceremony on Friday, with the same Justice of the Peace who’d married them today.
When he’d told her what he was thinking, earlier, she’d agreed with no hesitation.
“I want to be your wife today,” she’d told him, and now she was, glowing like the angel he always called her.
There was something about being married, and no one else knowing they were, that turned Naughton on so much, he thought about taking Bradley home and ravaging her all over again. If his family and hers weren’t waiting for them to arrive at Jenson Vineyards, he would’ve.
“Are you going to be able to keep our secret,” he asked before they opened the door to Charlie and Jean’s house.
“I will. What about you?”
Naughton pulled her back, away from the door, until her body was molded into his. “Feel that?” he asked, rubbing against her.
She nodded.
“That’s what keeping it a secret is doing to me.”
Bradley reached up and wound her fingers into his hair, pulling him down closer to her. “It’s doing the same thing to me,” she whispered. “I can’t wait until we’re done with this dinner and you can take me home.”
“For the rest of the night, whenever our eyes meet, I want you to think about what I’m going to do to you when we get there.”
She hummed, like she had earlier, and ground her bottom into him. “And you think about what I’m going to do to you.”
A car pulled up, then, forcing them to stop their dance. Naughton moved Bradley in front of him when his sister Ainsley got out of the car and bounded up the front steps.
“You must be Bradley,” she said, pulling her into a hug. “I’m Ainsley and I’m so happy to finally meet you.”
“Hey, Naught, you ol’ devil.” Ainsley released Bradley and put her arms around him. “I can’t believe you’re the first Butler boy to get married. Friday should be declared a national holiday or something.”
Naughton stiffened, his eyes meeting Bradley’s. Ainsley had no idea that Kade had beat him to the punch years ago.
“What’s wrong?” Ainsley asked, turning Naughton so she could see his face.
“Not a thing.”
“You’re lying, but as long as you’re still getting married on Friday, I don’t care.”
She looked back and forth between Naughton and Bradley until he finally shouted that they were.
“Let’s get inside and celebrate, then.” Ainsley went to open the door but stepped aside and tugged Naughton’s sleeve when he walked past.
“Hey, Naught?” she whispered. “Do you know if any of Alex’s brothers are gonna be here tonight?”
“I don’t think so, why?”
“No reason. I was just wondering.”
“You’re lying, but as long as Bradley and I are still getting married on Friday, I don’t care.”
Ainsley laughed and swatted at him as he walked in the front door.
“I hope I’m half as calm as you are when Peyton and I do this in a couple weeks,” said Brodie a few days later.
He and Bradley had done a good job keeping the fact that they were already married a secret. He wondered, though, if Alex had wheedled it out of her today. It didn’t matter; in less than an hour, they’d be double-married. Not that it worked that way.
“What are you thinking about?” Brodie asked.
“Nothing. Why?”
“You should see the expression on your face right now, bro. You’re in la la land.”
“Isn’t that where I’m supposed to be?”
Brodie shook his head. “Of course you are, but, man, it’s like I don’t even know you. Maddox slip something into your coffee this morning? A little Xanax maybe?”
“It’s called love, brother.” Maddox walked into the living room of his house with three cigars. “These are for after,” he told them. “Don’t wanna go stinkin’ ya up before you kiss your bride.”
“I don’t know either one of you.”
“Just wait until a couple weeks from now. You’ll be worse.”
Brodie held up his phone. “We should be on our way, boys. It’s showtime! Let’s get this ol’ boy married.”
“Zero to married faster than a speeding bullet.” Maddox slapped Naughton on the back. “I’m happy for you, and I’m also really proud of you. You found the right woman, and she found the right man. And you know what? I’d bet a million bucks that Kade is lookin’ down on you right now, just as proud of you as I am.”
“What are you doin’ to me?” Naughton had been fine until Maddox started running off at the mouth. He’d spent a lot of time thinking about Kade earlier in the day, getting his emotions in check, so when the big moment came, he didn’t miss him like he’d miss part of his own body.
What he hadn’t prepared himself for, and couldn’t have even if he’d tried, was the overpowering emotion he felt when he saw Bradley walking toward him.
The dress she wore left her shoulders bare and fell to just below her knees. It looked as though it was made of hundreds of tiny white flowers. In her hair, she had on what looked like a crown made of grape vines, roses, and honeysuckle. As she walked toward him, the sun came out from behind a cloud, and when it shone on her, she truly looked heaven-sent.
Her eyes never left his as she walked toward him, and when she got close enough, he held out his hand, pulled her close, and kissed her bare shoulder.
Naughton heard the Justice of the Peace clear his throat, and he could hear his brothers laugh, but otherwise, it was as though everything was muted except the soft, sweet sounds she made as she breathed in and out.
He listened as the man who’d secretly married them just a
couple of days ago repeated the words he’d said before. And then, he heard the sweetest words of all, when Bradley spoke to him.
“I’ll love you until the end of all time, Naughton, because forever is for quitters, and I’ll never, ever quit on you. You’re my air, my water, and most importantly, my fire, and I love you with every fiber of my being.”
The words he’d written to say to her seemed so inadequate compared to hers, but he said them anyway.
“I promise to be the man that I see now in your eyes—today, tomorrow, and for always.” He took a deep breath and looked into her bright green eyes with the golden flecks that had captivated him from the moment he saw her standing in the winery, waiting for him.
“You are the first person I want to see at dawn and the last person I want to see before I close my eyes to sleep. I look forward to loving the smallest moments, like the way your fingers trail along the vines as we walk together, hand in hand, for eternity because—like you said—forever is for quitters.”
When he heard the words, “I now pronounce you man and wife,” it didn’t matter that they already were. He could hear those words every day of his life and never stop celebrating his every wish come true.
“I love you, Bradley Butler,” he said before he kissed her sweet lips.
The rest of the night was a blur of music, laughter, wine, and food. They danced with their families until Naughton pulled her onto his lap when he had to sit for a minute.
He saw Maddox walk over to the band and take the microphone. Brodie stood next to him.
“Ladies and gentlemen, a toast to our brother and his exquisitely beautiful bride,” Maddox said, and then handed the mic to Brodie.
“In honor of our mother, a Scottish toast.” Brodie raised his glass and cleared his throat. “May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow. May the soft winds freshen your spirit. May the sunshine brighten your heart. May the burdens of the day lightly rest upon you. And may God enfold you always in the mantle of his love. Slàinte.”
They drank, and when his mother and father stood and walked over to them, Naughton’s eyes filled with tears.
“This is from your ma and me, as well as your brothers and sisters. Everyone, Naughton. Do you understand?”
The Gift Page 5