Crow I lay in bed with my eyes closed, subtly aware of the sunrise coming through the open window, the cool breeze that would only last a few hours before the humidity took over. The sheets were around my waist, and my lips were slightly parted as I breathed. Then a hand pressed against my…

Pearl I pulled up to the curb, and Vanessa and Conway approached the door. And of course, they fought over who got the front seat. “You sat there last time.” Vanessa tried to squeeze through the open door to get into the seat. “So?” Conway tried to squeeze in too. “I want to ride up…

Pearl We pulled into the gravel driveway and parked our car next to the main building of the winery. In the last ten years, we’d expanded, having another winery twenty miles away where Cane had relocated with Adelina and Carter and Carmen. There were more buildings here now, more storage, more capacity for production. Once…

Pearl The kids did their homework, had dinner, and then went to their bedrooms to go to sleep so they would get plenty of rest before they had to wake up in the morning and repeat the day all over again. That was when we had our time. Crow had me on the bed with…

Crow Vanessa grabbed her backpack then gave me a hug. “Bye, Daddy.” I kissed her forehead. “Bye, Tesoro. Have a good day at school.” Conway came to me next and gave me a quick hug. “See you later, Dad.” I patted him on the back before I watched him walk out to the car. Pearl…

Crow I opened my safe and grabbed the loaded pistol. I checked the bullets before I shoved it into the back of my jeans. It’d been a long time since I held a gun—at least ten years. It was amazing how I immediately reverted back into my old ways, grabbing my jacket by the door…

Crow I dropped everything I was doing and headed to the second vineyard, the vineyard Cane operated autonomously. It was twenty miles away, on beautiful roads that showed the Italian landscape that was so breathtaking it seemed like God had molded it with his bare hands. When I arrived at the property, I found Cane…

Crow When I walked in the door that evening, dinner had just been placed on the table. I purposely took my time at the winery because I didn’t want to come home and face my wife, pretend everything was fine when it wasn’t fine at all. Button sat at the table with the kids across…

Pearl I knew my husband better than anyone. Including his brother. And I noticed he wasn’t quite himself, his mind filtering in and out of the present, thinking about something that was outside the house. Whenever I asked him about it, he always said there was something stressful happening at the winery, but my husband…

Pearl Truffle stuck her head out the window on the drive, her tongue hanging out and her ears bent in the wind. We slowed down then drove past the gate and onto our property. After we parked, we let her out, and she immediately walked around and sniffed out the entire place. The kids followed…