“First of all, I want to thank you for sharing that story. I’ve never heard it before, and I feel like an idiot for only learning about it now, after all this time. I’ve been so angry for so long.”

My dad actually sounded vulnerable, and I realized that I’d never seen him that way in my entire life. He’d always been my dad, this mountain of a man who rarely showed any emotion and was tough as nails. He seemed like anything but in this moment. It was humbling and unnerving to see a parent’s human side.

“I want to apologize to both my daughter and your son.” He winced a little before continuing, and I knew swallowing his pride wasn’t something that came naturally to him. “I knew you had feelings for her. I’ve always known. And I knew she had feelings for you back,” he confessed.

I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment. It was true, but being put on the spot like that in front of everyone was more than a little uncomfortable. The night was already overwhelming enough without adding this to the mix.

“That is why I behaved the way I did when it came to the two of you. It never occurred to me that I didn’t know what had really happened between our two families. I always assumed I knew enough.”

I moved to say something, but my dad stopped me, his gray eyes meeting mine. “Let me finish, Julia, please, or I’ll never get it out.”

I couldn’t argue with that logic, so I stayed quiet and let him continue, “I’m not going to be perfect because hating you is as ingrained in my blood as this wine we’re drinking.” Everyone laughed a little in response. “I was raised to do it my whole life. But James was right earlier when he said it was time to stop, so I promise to do my best.”

The part about James piqued my interest, and I wondered exactly what he meant. I’d make sure to ask him about it later.

“So, I’d like to make a toast. To new beginnings. To burying the old hatchet we should have never been asked to carry in the first place. And to our kids. Who are either going to burn our respective wineries to the ground or make them better than we ever could.”

I frowned a little until everyone shouted, “Cheers!” in unison, and our six wine glasses clanked against one another.

I forcefully squeezed James’s hand, and when he squeezed back so hard in return that it actually hurt, I was thankful for the pain. It meant that I was awake, and this crazy scene playing out in front of me was real and not a dream.