Page 80 of Love You Always

“You never noticed these were here, Arch?” Dash asks, looking at the label of his bottle of cabernet.

“There are sixty thousand bottles down here. I don’t look at every one of them,” I say.

“Maybe you should.”

“Maybeyoushould, since you’ll be taking over the wine-making operations.” I let the words land in the dark room and wait for my siblings to pick up on the conversation. It takes a moment for their chatter to die down, but one by one, they stop talking and look from one of us to the other.

“Hang on, did you just say—?” PJ tilts her head as though it will bring my words back for her to hear them again.

I nod. “Yes. I’m stepping down, as soon as I can get Dash trained. He’s going to run the show here, and I’m going to…I’ve been working on something else.” It feels good to say it. “Something I like.” I give them the broad strokes of the wine app, which is fully funded and almost ready to launch, and everyone seems fine with my change of direction. Happy, even.

“Well, cheers to that,” Beatrix says, holding up her bottle. We each bring ours up and clink them against hers and each other’s.

“I know I knew our dad the least, but I’m pretty sure we’re not just supposed to be looking at these bottles,” Graham says.

“Smart man,” Jax says, his arm around Ruby who is geeking out on the various vintages she never knew we had.

“If we’re opening these, we need some fat and salt. Palate cleansers. Good glasses,” she says, her voice getting higher in excitement. Jax beams at her and nods.

“Let’s do it.”

The chatter is louder as we make our way back out of the cave. The mood feels lighter, at least mine does. With the final piece of our dad’s cryptic puzzle in place, I let out a sigh of relief. “I know what my first toast is going to be,” I say, my voice booming in the cavernous space. “To no more weird charges on our balance sheet, no unexplained fires on our property…” I trail off before putting my foot in my mouth, but Graham punches my shoulder.

“It’s okay, you can say it. No new surprise family members.”

“Hey, if they’re all as great as you, I’ll take ‘em,” Jax says.

“Hear! Hear!” Dash agrees.

A few minutes later, we exit the cave, returning to the lazy afternoon sunlight filtering through the vineyards. Out of sheer excitement, Ruby practically skips down the path toward the outdoor patio next to the tasting room. She busies herself with glassware and snacks while the rest of us pull out chairs and push three tables together so we can sit together.

Colin pulls PJ onto his lap, and I revel at what a great couple my oldest friend and my sister make—and how I never saw it coming back when they were sneaking around Buttercup Hill and trying to keep their relationship under wraps.

Beatrix sits and keeps a chair open for Ren, who’s busy talking to Dash about hockey. My poor brother actually thinks that after our scrimmage with the team he might have a chance at trying out for the Otters. Ren is humoring him, but I can see a future beat-down on the ice, similar to what I endured, if Dash persists.

Polly is at Trix’s house with her daughter, Daisy. It’s nap time for both of them, and Fiona takes her job seriously as babysitter.

Graham and Jax have been locked in conversation during the entire walk out of the wine cave. I’ve caught bits and pieces, but mostly it seems like they’re strategizing how to connect the two pieces of adjacent land we each own and turn them into one large property. “We can keep yours under the Duck Feather brand and do limited-edition wines, but we should still share our labor pool and resources,” Jax says. It makes me feel better about leaving the family business when I know that he’s minding the bottom line. More than that, he likes what he does. It makes all the difference, as I’ve come to understand.

“I’m game for that, but do we want to do a big rollout in the media to announce the merger, maybe do some open house days with tastings?” Graham is the most animated I’ve ever seen him. Jax nods, rubbing a hand over his chin in that way he does when he’s thinking.

“Totally. PJ will eat that up.”

“What are you saying about me?” PJ calls from her perch on Colin’s lap.

Jax waves a hand. “Fill you in later.”

I can’t help but think that Dad would be happy about Graham and Jax joining forces. It seems like that’s what he wanted all along, but he was too afraid to connect us in person while he was able.

Ella comes over from where she’s been talking to Mallory. “Hey.” I pull her into my side and drape an arm over her shoulder. “That looked serious. You two planning to take over the world?” Mallory and Ella have really connected in the time Ella’s been spending at Buttercup Hill, and it makes me happy to see Ella at home here. Even if I’m no longer running the winery, we’re still going to live on the property for part of the year—one big family.

“Oh, yeah. She says Dash wants me to do another guacamole taste-off. He’s determined to win,” she says with the wink of a woman who knows that’s impossible.

“Of course he is.”

“Do you have some tricks up your sleeve to keep your title as reigning avocado champion?” I kiss her temple and feel her whole body melt against me. I’ll never get tired of the feeling.

“You better believe it. Gotta keep a man on his toes.”

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