Ray Valentine adjusted his glasses as he surveyed the faces of his children. They were worried by this cryptic meeting he’d called, and they’d probably think he was losing it once he shared his big news. A valid concern, given that his own mother had battled dementia the last several years of her life. Still, he hoped they’d see things his way in the end.
“Thank you all for coming. I know it wasn’t easy to rearrange your schedules on such short notice. But I thought it best if I told you all this in person and all at once.”
“Told us what, Dad?” Chandra gripped her younger sister’s hand as the two of them huddled together on the love seat. “Are you not feeling well?”
“I’m fine, sweetheart.” He felt guilty about the pained look on his eldest daughter’s face.
She wore her heart on her sleeve and believed it her job to take care of everyone in her life. She’d taken the abandonment by her mother, then stepmother, particularly hard. And when her fiancé had suddenly called off their wedding, it had been more than his sweet girl could take.
When Chandra had pulled away, he hadn’t tried to stop her. After she’d practically raised her siblings, he couldn’t blame her for finally putting her needs first.
“A few months before your gram passed, she said to me, ‘I love you, son. You’ve always been such a good boy. But you’re just not...him.’”
“You’re just not whom?” Sebastian furrowed his brows.
“She probably didn’t realize who you were. It’s the nature of the disease.” Nyles shifted to the edge of his seat.
“She knew exactly who I was.” Ray sank onto the broken-in leather chair. “It was the most lucid she’d been in years.”
“Then what do you think she meant?” Alonzo rubbed his chin.
“I didn’t know, but it felt important, like something that could explain the disconnect I’ve always felt between us.” He glided a hand over his thinning hair. “After she passed, I was going through her papers and found my real birth certificate and the birth and death certificates for a son I never knew my parents had.”
“You had a brother?” Sebastian asked. “What happened to him?”
“His name was Charles, and he drowned in the pond on the family estate when he was three—five years before I was born.”
“And neither of your parents ever mentioned him?” Alonzo was on the edge of his seat now, too. “There were no photos in the family albums...nothing?”
“There were two photo albums in her safe-deposit box along with the vital certificates and a few other items,” he confirmed. “Those two there.”
Ray nodded toward the albums he’d left on the table.
“That’s...wild.” Sebastian picked up one of the albums and thumbed through it so his brothers could see its contents.
Naya picked up the other and flipped through it as Chandra looked on.
“So when Nana said, ‘You’re just not him,’ she was referring to Charles. The child she lost before you were born.” Chandra’s eyes filled with tears.
“Correct.”
“That’s messed up.” Nyles handed the album to Alonzo. “Gram was comparing you to a brother you didn’t even know you had.”
“No.” The word caught in Ray’s throat. “She was comparing me to their son.”
His children, except Nolan, exchanged confused glances.
“But if Charles was their son, that would make him your brother.” Sebastian cocked his head. “Unless...”
“What did you mean when you said you found your real birth certificate?” Chandra stood. “Are you saying—”
“Eugene and Melba Valentine were not my biological parents. They adopted me when I was two months old, after my mother died.”
Chandra moved behind his chair and leaned down to wrap her arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry, Daddy.”
“It’s okay, baby girl.” He patted her arm. “Part of me was relieved to learn the truth. After that, it all finally made sense.”
“What made sense?” Nyles asked.
“Why I felt like a disappointment to her. Why it seemed as if looking at me brought her pain. It did—but not because of anything I’d done wrong. I just reminded her of the child she’d lost.”
Ray shifted in his seat, making room for Chandra to perch on the edge, her head against his shoulder.
“After I discovered the birth certificates, I went to my mother’s sister—your great-aunt Imogene. When I told her I knew the truth, she filled in the missing pieces. My mother didn’t want to adopt. She wanted to keep trying to have a child of their own. But my father was an only child and had a heart condition. He was afraid they wouldn’t have an heir to leave the company to. And he wanted the textile company to stay in the family and be run the way he’d run it.”
“You were their replacement kid.” Naya’s voice ached with sadness.
“Yes.” The truth of that statement hit him in the chest with the weight of a two-ton wrecking ball. “Which explains why my father was so desperate to teach me all there was to know about Valentine Textiles. He started taking me to the office when I was five. He wasn’t unkind, mind you, but he was laser focused on me learning the family business inside out.”
“Their family business.” Nyles frowned.
“Our family business. They’re still my parents. They raised me the best they knew how and gave me a good life,” Ray said. It was a line he’d repeated to himself whenever the anger started to build in his chest, like a volcano threatening to explode. “But my father was too focused on the legacy of his company to realize I needed him to be my dad first. And my mother was struggling with the death of her child and the guilt she felt over it. Maybe that’s why she seemed incapable of bonding with me. She was never harsh, but she was distant.” He shrugged. “Maybe she was afraid to get too close to another child she could lose.”
Chandra squeezed his hand, her touch filled with warmth and comfort. She had always managed to bring him a sense of peace when he was at his lowest.
“That’s no excuse for how they treated you.” Naya’s big brown eyes filled with unshed tears.
“Maybe. But I don’t want you to think ill of your grandparents. That isn’t why I invited you here.”
“Why are we here?” Sebastian frowned more than any of his children. He wished his son would learn to relax.
“And don’t you want to know about your biological family?” Alonzo asked.
“Yes.” Ray nodded. “I spent the past couple of years trying to locate them. My birth certificate revealed the identity of my mother, but the line for my father’s name had been left blank. Now I know why. He died a few hours after my birth on a road between the hospital where I was born and his house. I believe he came to the hospital to see me or maybe he was there for the birth. I don’t know.” Ray shrugged. “But he didn’t make it back home to his family.”
“He was married?” Chandra asked.
“Yes.”
“So who was this philandering grandfather of ours?” Alonzo topped off his glass with the bottle of King’s Finest Bourbon on the table in front of him.
Ray indicated the glass in his son’s hand. “King Abbott.”
Alonzo froze, the glass perched inches from his lips. “As in the King Abbott? The founder of the distillery?”
“King didn’t start the distillery. He was a bootlegger who ran moonshine in the hollers in these mountains. It was his son Joseph who founded King’s Finest as a legitimate distillery long after his father’s death.”
“Joseph Abbott is your half brother?” Chandra’s eyes widened. “Is that why we’re here? You’re planning to...what? Confront him with this?”
“That’s part of the reason you’re here,” Ray clarified. “But there won’t be any messy confrontations. I met Joe and his family a couple weeks ago, when they opened that new restaurant of theirs. He was as stunned as I was to learn the news. It took a DNA test to convince him, and it’s something we’re both still trying to wrap our heads around. But we’ve chatted quite a bit since then.”
The room was dead silent as each of his children absorbed this new information.
“Does that mean we get free liquor?” Nyles asked. “Because their top-shelf bourbon is banging. I could definitely use a case of that.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Sebastian asked. “You are not going to embarrass us by asking for free liquor.”
“Relax, dude. I was kidding.” Nyles poured bourbon into his glass, looking like a puppy that had just gotten scolded for whizzing on the carpet.
“We’re doing just fine. We certainly don’t need any handouts.” Ray gave his youngest son a pointed look. That boy was going to be the death of him. He was sure of it. “But I would like you all to meet your uncle and cousins. They’re not just successful. They’re good people. And despite the awkwardness of the situation, they’re eager to meet you all. They’re throwing a party for the entire town this weekend and we’re the guests of honor.”
“Joseph Abbott is throwing a party to introduce the entire town to his long-lost illegitimate brother and his six brats?” Sebastian cranked up an eyebrow. “I find it hard to believe he’d want to publicize his family’s dirty laundry.”
Ray cringed at Sebastian’s reference to him as the Abbott family’s “dirty laundry.” But he understood what his son was getting at.
“It doesn’t feel like something that would benefit their company image,” Chandra agreed.
“That brings me to the other reason you’re all here.” Ray stood, retrieving his bourbon and soda from the table.
He walked to the window and regarded the rows of grapevines, already preparing themselves for the next harvest. Then he turned back toward the six faces staring at him expectantly.
“Discovering that King Abbott was my biological father gave me a renewed sense of purpose. I needed to learn everything I could about him. I hired an award-winning genealogist who was able to discover a lot, including that he’d experimented with wine-making.”
“It must’ve stunned you to learn you two have that in common,” Chandra said.
Wine-making was a hobby he and his oldest son, Nolan, shared. They worked in an old greenhouse on their family estate in Nashville and had gotten good at making small batches of wine.
“I was. King ran moonshine because there was good money in it, but he had a passion for making wine. He’d hoped to branch out into wine-making professionally. I believe that’s how he met my mother. Her family owned a small vineyard. This one.” Ray held up his palms and glanced around the space.
“We’re related to the Richardsons, too?” Nyles seemed panicked by this. Undoubtedly because he’d been flirting shamelessly with Dejah Richardson since he’d arrived.
“Dejah isn’t a relative—relax, son.” Ray chuckled and so did Nolan and Alonzo. “The property has been sold three times since my biological mother’s death. First to an Italian family who bought a neighboring property and built this incredible house and the outlying villas. They even had much of the material imported from Italy. When the family decided to move back to Italy, they sold the property to the Richardsons, who expanded the vineyard to its current size. They produced a phenomenal product, but they weren’t the best businesspeople.” He lowered his voice. “And, as you can see, they haven’t invested much money into keeping up the place.”
“So we’re here to meet the Abbotts and to connect with our grandmother’s history?” Alonzo set his glass down.
“Wait... You said that the property has been sold three times since your mother’s death.” Sebastian held up three fingers. “Who owns the property now?”
“We’re the new owners.”
“What?” five of his children said simultaneously. There was a brief moment of silence followed by the chaos of everyone speaking at once.
“Dad, please tell me you didn’t impulse buy this vineyard,” Chandra pleaded.
“When you say we own it...who exactly do you mean by we?” Alonzo frowned.
“How could you make a decision like this without consulting any of us?” Sebastian demanded.
“I don’t know that none of us were consulted.” Naya folded her arms and nodded toward Nolan. “Because Dad’s wine-making buddy over there is suspiciously quiet, and he doesn’t seem nearly as shocked by this revelation as the rest of us.”
Every head in the room swiveled toward Nolan. His oldest son adjusted his smudged glasses and shifted in his seat. He shrugged. “I’m the CFO of Valentine Textiles.”
“What has that got to do with Dad purchasing this place?” Chandra cocked her head. Then everyone’s attention shifted back to Ray.
He downed the rest of his bourbon and soda and set his glass down. He stood tall, tipped his chin and spoke with conviction. “Because I’m selling Valentine Textiles.”
He ignored the audible gasps in the room and continued.
“We received an offer from a California conglomerate that’s been trying to buy the place for years. I was going to turn them down again, but then I realized that I’ve always resented the firm. It’s never been my passion. My parents acquired me for the purpose of taking over the business. That’s why it’s always felt like an albatross around my neck. I don’t want any part of it anymore. I want to build something I’m passionate about. Create my own legacy...like Joseph has.”
“Dad, I understand how you must feel.” Chandra’s eyes were filled with concern. “But buying this old vineyard on a nostalgic whim with the hopes of turning it into something comparable to what the Abbotts have built... Dad, that’s unreasonable. It’s taken them fifty-plus years and three generations to build their empire.”
“That’s why I said we own this place.” He gestured around the room with a soft smile. “I want this to be our legacy. Something we can build together. Something we can all be truly passionate about.”
Sebastian stood, his eyes filled with hurt and anger. “So just like that, you’re selling the textile firm? Without consulting anyone except Nole?” Sebastian gestured toward his brother. “You made this decision with zero consideration for the fact that I’ve dedicated my entire career to running and growing the firm. Maybe that doesn’t matter to Nolan. But did you even, for a second, consider how that would make me feel?”
Except for the twins, all of his children had worked for Valentine Textiles—though Alonzo and Chandra had eventually ventured elsewhere. But Nolan and Sebastian had spent their entire careers with the family firm, serving as the CFO and VP of operations, respectively. He regretted that they’d followed his example and made Valentine Textiles their lives. And like him, they both had brief, failed marriages because of it.
Ray drew in a pained breath. He’d known that Sebastian would be most upset by his sale of the firm. But he couldn’t regret finally making a choice that felt right for him. He just wished Sebastian hadn’t been hurt by his decision.
“Of course I did, son. And I’m sorry to disappoint you. I appreciate everything you and your brother have done to increase the value of Valentine Textiles. That’s why I insisted that you and Nolan be kept on by the new owners, if you choose to stay. I’ve already talked to Nolan about it. He’s all in with building this new business. But there will always be a place at the textile firm for you, if you want it. They’d be thrilled to keep a Valentine as the face of the company. Even asked if I thought you’d make a good fit for the role of CEO.”
Sebastian seemed stunned. “You recommended me as CEO?”
“Why not? You’re passionate. Knowledgeable. Qualified. And you’re ready, if that’s what you really want.” Ray placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “But I’d prefer to have you here with me. Building our own legacy on land once owned by my mother’s people. Doing the work my father once hoped to do. Not because I feel obligated to, but because it’s my passion, too. I’ve never felt as at peace or at home as I’ve felt since the day I walked onto this property.”
“Dad, I appreciate why you bought this place. I can even understand why you’d take the deal to sell the firm. But we all have lives of our own,” Chandra said. “I’m in San Diego. Naya is in LA. Alonzo is in New York. Nyles is in Atlanta. You don’t honestly expect us to drop the careers we’ve been building because you’ve suddenly decided to try your hand at creating an empire as a vintner,” Chandra continued. “This dream of yours...what if you change your mind in a few months? Or what if it just doesn’t work?”
“The textile company might not be exciting, but the market is steady and so is the income it produces,” Alonzo added. “What you’re asking, Dad...we’d be taking one hell of a risk.”
Alonzo wasn’t wrong. Each of his children owned stock in the textile firm. Shares gifted to them at birth and then on their twenty-first birthdays. Shares that helped fund their current lifestyles. Nyles, in particular. Asking them to leave their high-paying careers and lose their quarterly stock payouts was a huge gamble. But he had a plan to make it worth the risk.
“I’m not asking any of you to step out on a wing and a prayer. If you decide to join Valentine Vineyards—” his soul surged just saying the words aloud to his children for the first time “—it will be in a generously paid role—comparable to your current salaries.”
Now I’ve got their attention.
“And if you’ll give me three years here at the vineyard, helping me turn this into the empire I believe it can be, you’ll receive one-seventh of the sale price of the textile firm plus the interest that will have accrued during that time.”
“It’s a generous offer, Dad,” Chandra said after a few minutes. “But this is a lot to take in. Mind if we take some time to think about it?”
Ray hadn’t expected this to come easily. And he still expected a fight from Sebastian and Alonzo. They’d probably try to convince their siblings that he needed a conservatorship.
“Fair enough, sweetheart.” He gripped Chandra’s left hand and was startled when she yelped. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“I had a run-in with a bear and got into an accident on my way into town.” Chandra cradled her wrist.
The room was in commotion as everyone inquired about what had happened. Ray wrapped ice in a cloth napkin and placed it on Chandra’s wrist as she told them about the man she’d met on the plane who’d apparently saved his daughter’s life.
“So this dude steals your seat on the plane, comes off all knight in shining armor during your flight, then just happens to be the guy who comes to your rescue when your car ends up in a ditch?” Sebastian rubbed his chin suspiciously and shook his head. “That’s too much of a coincidence. I don’t like it.”
“Which part is it exactly that you don’t like, Sebastian?” Chandra narrowed her gaze at her always cynical brother. “The part where JB kept me from having a panic attack on the plane or the part where he saved me from dying alone in a ditch?”
Nyles chuckled and put a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “Trust me, bro. You’re not gonna win this one. I suggest you let it go.”
“And I suggest you be grateful to this JB.” Naya folded her arms. “Otherwise, we’d be sitting here wondering where Chandra was right now.”
“You’re right. We should be grateful to this guy,” Sebastian conceded with a nod. “I’m really glad you’re okay, sis.”
“Thank you, Sebastian.” Chandra gave her wrist a reprieve from the ice.
“The fact that the guy is a tall, dark and handsome drink of water that sis is totally into...” Naya shrugged with a grin. “That’s just a happy bonus.”
His youngest daughter’s comment drew various responses from her older brothers and a whispered “Snitch” from her sister. Ray chuckled. He missed having all of his children together like this. Even missed their petty bickering. Because they only did it because they loved each other.
Ray draped an arm around Chandra and lowered his voice. “So you really like this fella, hmm?”
“He was nice. Sweet even. And yes, he was handsome. So yeah, I guess I do like him a little in a passing fancy sort of way.” Chandra shrugged.
“You do realize that no one says ‘passing fancy’ anymore, right?” Naya leaned over the seat, poking her head of pink hair between his and Chandra’s, just like when she was a little girl and would eavesdrop on their conversations.
“And you do realize this was a private conversation?” Chandra shot back.
Naya shrugged, then sauntered off.
Ray shook his head and laughed.
“As I was saying, yeah, maybe I have a crush on the guy. But it’s nothing serious. Besides, he lives here, and I don’t.” Chandra shrugged her shoulders. “End of story.” She dropped the ice wrap on the table and stood. “I’m starving. I’m gonna grab something to eat.” She indicated the platters of sandwich fixings her brothers were already attacking. Dejah had just set them on the sideboard. “Want anything?”
Ray waved a hand and sighed quietly. He topped off his drink and took a sip.
Maybe this town could deliver the two things he wanted most. To build a legacy of his own for his family and to see his children find the happily-ever-after that had always eluded him.