“James Russo, is it true that you and Julia La Bella are officially a couple? Did you come out to the whole town during breakfast at the diner? Make some declaration of your love before stringing Todd Lestare up by his balls? Gosh, I wish I could have seen that,” Ginny talked a mile a minute, her eyes as wild as her hair. “Never did like that boy much. Why couldn’t you have made this declaration at my restaurant? Would have been good for business.”

“Sorry, Ginny. We’ll make sure our first family meal is at your place, okay?” Julia answered for us both.

“You mean, the Russos and the La Bellas at one table? Together, without killing each other?” She clasped her hands together in delight.

“Yep.”

“Oh, that will be just perfect! I forgive you both.” She gave us each a squeeze before remembering why she’d come over in the first place. “Wait! You didn’t answer me. Are you together? I need to hear it for myself.”

“We most definitely are,” I answered before pulling Julia into my arms.

“Yes!” Ginny thrust her fist in the air. “I won! I won the bet and all the money! I knew I’d win! I knew you two wouldn’t let me down!”

“Glad we could be of service,” Julia said with a laugh.

Ginny walked away, singing, “I won, I won, I won.”

But I knew what the real truth was; I was the winner in this scenario.

I got the girl.

After all this time, I’d finally gotten the girl. And nothing and no one would ever change that.

EPILOGUE

Julia

James proposed less than a year later, claiming that we’d wasted so many days being apart that he didn’t want to waste any more. I refused to argue with his logic, especially when I wholeheartedly agreed with it. People always said that when you found the right one, you just knew. And James and I both knew.

Once we’d mended the feud between our families, it was full steam ahead—in life, in our careers, and in love. Everything we’d been denying our entire lives went up in flames, and a new passion ignited in its wake. The town practically threw a party in our honor—not only for the war ending, but also for James and me finally “doing the damn thing.” Ginny made sure that everyone knew she’d won the bet.

The proposal was romantic, sweet, and so very James. He set the whole thing up to look like it had that night back in high school when he apparently confessed his feelings for me, and I allegedly broke his heart. Since I had very little recollection of the entire evening, I didn’t take full responsibility for it, torturing him every time he brought it up.