by J. Sterling
I was so wound up that I didn’t notice that both of my parents had joined us outside until my dad said my name in an effort to get me to stop or attempt to regain some sense of composure.
Was I shouting? I wondered.
Ignoring his pleas, I continued addressing Mr. La Bella solely, “I’m just wondering what lesson she’s supposed to be learning right now while she’s crying at her best friend’s apartment because she thinks her dad hates her. Maybe you were trying to show her that family is replaceable and that your only daughter means so little to you that you’d take everything from her the second she disobeyed you. Or that all that really matters is following decades-old rules that make no sense and don’t even apply anymore. You’re punishing her, and I don’t think you even know why.” I was definitely shouting now.
“James! That’s enough.” My dad’s voice met my ears, and I turned to face him.
It was the first time I’d seen my parents and Julia’s this close to one another without verbal taunts and assaults being launched back and forth.
“He’s right,” a soft voice spoke.
All eyes turned toward Mrs. La Bella. She placed her hands on her hips, her body still a good length away from her husband’s.
“James is right. This feud was bound to eventually blow up in all of our faces. I’ve seen the way your son looks at my daughter. He’s been doing it his whole life. It was only a matter of time before it all came crashing down around us.”
“I agree,” my mom spoke up.
And the two women turned toward one another without another word in some sort of womanly solidarity gesture that I swore only they could understand. We three men watched as they embraced in a hug like they had been lifelong friends instead of forced enemies, wondering what the hell had just happened and how in the world women could speak volumes to each other without using any words.
Mr. La Bella made a gargled sound like a wounded animal before speaking up, “So, we’re all just going to pretend like we’re okay with this? Like my daughter and your son being together doesn’t go against everything both of our families stand for and represent? Our great-grandfathers are probably turning over in their graves right now, disgusted at what we’ve allowed to happen.”
“They probably are,” my dad agreed before adding, “but that doesn’t mean we have to.”
“What are you saying, Russo?” Mr. La Bella pointedly asked my dad.
I felt myself stand a little taller, wondering the same thing.
“I’m saying that maybe everyone who came before us was wrong.” My dad blew out a breath, and I hid my surprise. It was the last thing I’d expected to hear him say. “It’s exhausting, hating you. Aren’t you tired?”
Now, that was a sentiment I could relate to.
“No,” Mr. La Bella said with confidence.
I felt myself deflating like a balloon with a pinpricked hole in it.
Sucking in a quick breath that started to taste like defeat, I raised my hand into the air to get everyone’s attention before speaking, “The hatred and the feud end with me. I’m not participating in it anymore, and I won’t raise my future kids to either.” Scanning the group, I noticed both of the moms smiling, and it gave me that little push of confidence to continue. “I mean it. And, if your daughter will have me, I plan on having those future kids with her, so you all can either get on board or live the rest of your lives without us in it.”
It was a bold move, my speaking for both Julia and myself. And hell, for all I knew, I could be way off base. Julia might restart this feud simply based on what I’d just said. But my instincts told me otherwise. They told me that this was a fight worth fighting and that Julia wanted it just as badly as I did; she was just way too scared. She felt like she had too much to lose.
When no one argued or said a single word in response, I faced Mr. La Bella one last time. “Can I ask you one more thing?”
“Why stop now?” he responded coolly.
I nodded with a slight grin because I knew somewhere deep inside of me that I’d won this round.
“Do you even know about the bet? Like, what really happened between our families? And I’m only asking because I know for a fact that Julia doesn’t. She doesn’t even know half the story. So, I’m betting that you don’t either.”
“Is that true?” my dad questioned, his tone filled with disbelief. “You really don’t know? How can you not know?”
Mr. La Bella’s hands balled into fists before he released them. “Of course I know! You think I’d hate you for no reason? Your family tried to steal our vineyard out from under us. They told lies and bribed officials to take our land and put it in your name. Is that not the story you’ve been told all these years? Wouldn’t surprise me if we were the villains in your version,” he huffed.
“You’re not wrong. That is part of it,” I said with a nod. “But that’s only part.”
“What else could there be that even matters then?” Mr. La Bella asked gruffly.
My dad and I exchanged looks, both of our heads shaking because he didn’t even know the half of it.
“Do you want to hear the whole thing or not?” my dad asked.
We all held our collective breath as we waited to hear what Mr. La Bella’s answer would be.
CHOOSE RIGHT
Julia
Jeanine walked through her front door, and I practically attacked her.
“Finally.”
I’d been home alone all day, so I’d slept more than I had in weeks, and I’d overly thought every single moment I’d ever had with James in my entire life at least three times before I decided to clean her house from top to bottom just to get my brain to shut up and stop spinning.
“Jesus, Julia.” She looked around, her eyes wide. “You should stay here more often.”
“I was bored.” I plopped down onto the couch. “And you know I don’t sit still well. I don’t know how to do nothing.”
“I can see that. Come be bored here anytime you want. It looks amazing.”
“So, I take it, my dad didn’t fire you since you were gone all day?” I practically whined.
She dropped her purse and keys on top of the kitchen counter before hopping up on it as well, putting her dirty shoes on top of the very surface I’d just scrubbed to a sparkle. I pretended not to care that she was defiling all my hard work.
“Nope. Not fired,” she said with a sly smile.
I stopped thinking about the dirty surface and focused on the fact that she was up to something. The look on her face gave her away.
“What did you do?”
She feigned innocence. “Whatever do you mean?”
I managed a laugh as she fanned herself with her hand, pretending to be a Southern lady. But true Southern ladies would never put their dirty shoes on a countertop.
“Jeanine, tell me what you did.” I leaned forward on the couch, tucking my legs up under me.
“I hate that I can’t keep anything from you,” she groaned. “Don’t hate me, but I might have told James that your dad kicked you out,” she admitted before wincing.
I squeezed my eyes shut for only a second or two. “Might have or did?”
“Definitely did.”
“What did he say?”
“Mostly, he asked if you were okay. He was worried. It was really sweet. He really cares about you, you know,” she said as if she were telling me something I didn’t already know.
“I know he does.” I did know. Or at least, I thought I did. I always thought I understood just how much I’d been denying my feelings for him my whole life, but I truly had no idea until the night I’d let myself fall into bed with him. Self-realization was a funny thing when you thought you were already pretty self-aware.
She hopped off the counter, and I wanted to shout in celebration while simultaneously wiping down where she’d just been perched. Instead, I stayed put as she made her way over to me, kicked off her shoes, and sat down.
Oh, sure, now, she took her shoes of
f.
“So”—she paused as she adjusted to get comfortable, causing my body to bounce on the cushions—“have you changed your mind yet?”
I gave her a confused look. “About what?”
“About James, dummy,” she said like I was the stupidest person on the planet.
“What about him?” I needed her to clarify what she meant exactly.
“About giving up on him. Walking away from him. Have you decided to fight for the right thing yet?”
The right thing. Her accusation stung.
“I wish it were that easy.”
She tsked me, her disappointment apparent. “It is that easy. You choose him over your brain-dead dad. You choose the guy who would stand beside you instead of the one who kicked you to the curb. You make a choice, Julia. And you choose James the same way he’s so obviously chosen you.”
To be honest, it was one of the topics I’d been thinking about all day. I’d been trying to figure out how to keep my family winery and be with James, too. Was it even possible? If I gave my dad an ultimatum, would he really disown me? And, if he did, would James’s family even accept me, or would we both be ostracized from those we loved because we wanted to be together? How far would our families go to punish the two of us for having feelings for each other and wanting to see where this led?
“I don’t know how to choose him. At least, not yet.”
A small smile curved her lips as she asked, “But you want to?”
My heart kicked up a notch as I finally said the words out loud for the first time, “I do.”
Three hard knocks at the front door made us both jump before our eyes locked on each other.
“Who is it?” I whisper-shouted.
Jeanine shrugged her shoulders. “How would I know?” she whisper-shouted back and moved to get up from the couch.
I tried to stop her, reaching for her arms but missing as she scooted away from my failing grasp. What if it was my dad? Or my mom? Neither one of them had called all day to check on me, and the realization caused my heart to ache. I had never felt more alone and abandoned than I did today.
“Don’t answer it!” I demanded but had no real idea why.
“Why not, weirdo? It’s my house.” She shook her head and opened the front door with a laugh. “Well, well, well, speak of the devil.”
I knew instantly that James had come. Jeanine pulled the door wide, allowing him to walk through before closing it behind him.
“As much as I want to stay here and witness this, I’ll give you two some privacy,” she said before walking into her bedroom and shutting the door loud enough for us both to hear.
Glancing down at my yoga pants and oversize T-shirt, I wished that I had dressed a little cuter. I wasn’t even wearing a bra, not that I was sure James would mind that particular fact. Touching the messy bun on top of my head, I pulled a few strands loose so that they framed my face, making it look more like a cute, intentional hairstyle instead of a practical one for housecleaning.
“Stop fussing. You look perfect,” James said, pulling my hand away from my hair.
I adjusted my head upward to look at him. I mean, really look at him. His blue eyes looked hopeful instead of sad, and that surprised me. I’d assumed that James would be feeling just as helpless as I felt, but he obviously wasn’t, and for whatever reason, that pissed me off.
“What are you doing here?” I hadn’t meant to bite his head off, but it’d definitely come out that way.
His body reacted as if I’d physically struck him, and I knew I should apologize, but I didn’t.
“I came to take you home.”
“Take me home? Are you insane? I can’t go back there.”
“You can,” he said calmly as I sat there, feeling anything but calm.
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“Jesus, James, I just said, I can’t. I know you know that my dad kicked me out. So, what game are you playing?”
“Can you stop arguing and listen to me for once in your damn life?” His voice rose, his cool facade now gone.
He was irritated, and it was because of me. But I was irritated now, and it was because of him. So, I guessed we were even.
“You think yelling at me will get me to listen to you?”
“I think yelling is the only way to get you to be quiet for ten seconds.” He fought back, and I snapped my jaw shut in response. “See?”
“Why are you here?”
“I told you already. I came to get you. I came to bring you home.”
Why was he doing this?
“I can’t go with you, James. I’m not ready to face them. I need more time to figure out a plan.”
He moved next to me on the couch. His hand reached for my thigh, his thumb drawing lazy circles on it. “Julia, I want to be with you. And not just for a week or a month or a year. I’m in this with you for the long haul. The forever kind if we’re as good together as a couple as I think we will be. With that being said, I’m here to hold your hand. To stand by your side and go either force your dad to listen to reason or to help you walk away from him and decide what your next move is. It’s entirely up to you, but whatever you decide, I’m doing it with you.”
“You’d do all that for me?”
My eyes started to tear up, and James pressed his forehead against mine.
“I’d do anything for you,” he breathed out, and I knew he meant it.
“My dad will probably shoot us both on the spot,” I said, trying to be funny, but even I wasn’t sure how untrue that statement was.
“He won’t,” James tried to reassure me.
He sounded so convincing, so sure of himself, but I couldn’t believe it.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
James pulled back, his hand now on my cheek as his blue eyes stared a hole right through me. He moved slowly forward, his lips pressing against mine, and I didn’t fall into the kiss. I dived in, headfirst, with every part of me. His tongue brushed my lip before touching my own, and chills raced through my body. I forgot who I was, who James was, and what we were supposed to be as our mouths opened and closed in unison, the heat between us growing like a wildfire. When James broke the kiss, a small whimper escaped me, and I looked at him, half-mortified at my desire for him, but he smiled, his face completely flushed.
“Do you trust me, babe?” It was a loaded question, and he knew it. It was also the first time he’d called me any endearing name, and my heart danced inside my chest in response to hearing it. It liked the nickname.
The answer came to me without thinking. It wasn’t something I needed to contemplate even though, if he had asked me a month ago, I would have said the exact opposite, convinced that trusting him would be something I could never do.
“Yes,” I said.
And his face lit up like I’d just promised him all of my future wine recipes and the south side vines.
THAT DAMN BET
James
“Then, let’s go.” I pushed up from the couch and extended my hand, waiting for Julia to take it. I knew she would. I just knew.
And, when she finally did, interlacing her fingers with mine, all the pieces of my cracked heart pulled themselves back together.
I glanced back, noticing Jeanine peeking out from her bedroom door, and gave her a reassuring wink. She gave me a thumbs-up. I pulled Julia outside, down the stairs, and toward my waiting car. We’d come back for her things later. Julia wouldn’t be staying here anymore, and I knew it. She was the only one who didn’t.
The drive back to her place was quiet, much like our first date. I waited for her to ask me a million questions, but when they never came, I stayed silent and gave her space. But I never pulled my hand from hers. And, each time I glanced over at her sitting in my passenger seat, she was already watching me with those big doe hazel eyes that I loved.
We belonged together. I’d always known it, but nothing solidified it more than seeing her sitting next to me in my car. She coul
dn’t hide the way she felt about me either. Not anymore. Not even if she tried. My girl was the walking heart-eyed emoji come to life. Of course, I’d never tell her that because I didn’t want it to stop, and purely out of spite, Julia would definitely try to be another emoji if she knew.
When we pulled onto our properties and I maneuvered my car toward her side instead of mine, her breathing escalated.
“What are you doing?” she asked nervously as she tried to yank her hand from my grasp, but I only gripped it tighter.
“Calm down. It’s okay,” I said before releasing her, so we could both get out of the car.
I hopped out as quickly as I could and made my way toward her side of the car, but she had already gotten out. I trapped her there, pressing her body against the cold metal as I stood in front of her, blocking her path.
My hands snaked down the curves of her waist before landing on her hips and holding on tight. She opened her mouth to say something, and I took the words from her, my lips pressing against hers as my tongue moved inside, making her moan. Her body simultaneously relaxed and tightened as her hips started softly grinding against me. I didn’t think she even realized she was doing it, but I noticed every single way her body reacted to my touch.
Breaking the kiss, I took her hand in mine once more in a show of solidarity. We were walking into the La Bella home the same way we’d be leaving it—together.
“Do you think this might make it worse?” She nodded toward our hands as her eyes nervously started to well up with tears.
I stopped walking to wipe them away before tilting her head up by the chin. “I would never do anything to hurt you. Now, don’t let go,” I said as I gave her a reassuring squeeze. I moved to open her front door without knocking. “Damn, this thing’s heavy.”
Her lips quirked upward but didn’t fully form a smile before her entire expression changed into a mixture of confusion and shock and surprise. “What …” she stumbled over her words as her eyes fixated on her kitchen table and all four of our parents sitting around it.
Instead of killing one another or shouting like usual, they were laughing and drinking our respective wines.