Page 33 of A Taste of Chardonnay

“Fine. How’s it going with you?” I adjusted on the stool and placed the Kindle on the bar. I turned toward where the bottle had fallen, and the area was spotless. Even the single drop I had spotted on the cabinet had been wiped clean. He was thorough. I’d give him that.

“You almost done?” He nodded toward my Kindle.

“Um. Yup.”

“Want to read some of it out loud?”

Was he out of his damn mind? “I’m good.”

“You’re looking a little hot and bothered. Figured it must be a fascinating scene.”

“Did you get a lot of trick-or-treaters this year?” I asked, desperate to change the subject.

A rough chuckle slipped from his lips. “I live in the middle of nowhere. I had none, which is how I like it.”

Only Brady would find a plot of land that required a half a mile of dirt road between the front door and civilization.

“Don’t you like seeing the costumes? It’s the best part of the holiday.”

“Not the Reese's peanut butter cups?”

They had always been my favorite, and I still bought extra, so once the knocks stopped, I could indulge myself with a little treat. “They’re up there on the list.”

“I met up with Franc and walked with him and Quinn for a couple of blocks while Gio ran from door to door,” he said. “Then I went home.”

I had seen Gio earlier in the day when Quinn brought him by the winery. “I didn’t know you went trick-or-treating with them.”

“I’ve done it every year since Gio was born.”

How did I not know this? “That’s incredibly kind of you.”

“Gio might not be blood, but he’s still my nephew, and I will go out of my way to make sure he has people in his corner. Even if his mother abandoned him, it doesn’t define who he is. I don’t want him to think he wasn’t wanted. He’s the best damn thing to happen to Franc.”

I nodded my agreement. “I’d say he was the best damn thing to happen to our entire family. To you, too. It’s kind of hard to not smile when that kid’s around, huh?”

“He asked every person what their favorite dinosaur is then continued to give them no less than five facts about each one.”

“Of course he did. I swear I know more about dinosaurs than I ever thought I would.”

The wind howled outside, slamming against the windows and doors, reminding me there was a massive storm.

“Could you have imagined twenty years ago that Franc would be the first one with a kid and that kid would be all of our worlds?” I asked.

“No.”

“Me neither.” I let out a slow breath, the thought still baffling me after all these years, but not as much as another thought. “I couldn’t imagine that we’d hate each other, either.”

“I don’t hate you,” he said.

“Could have fooled me.”

He glared, deep and raw, and I waited for him to sayanything. Tell me what the hell happened. What changed? He once talked to me, and now he was so closed off. Maybe it was being locked in here with nowhere to go. Maybe it was the vampire sex novels that made me think if a century old vampire could bare his heart and tell his truth, Brady could, too.

I just needed him to say something.

He shook his head, and I could see him shutting down. I wanted to grab him by the shirt collar and shake him. Force him to talk.

“I’m going to check on—”

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