“You humble me, Miss Emma.”
“Every one of you have either helped practically or emotionally and it’s that combination that made this happen,” Emma said.
“Mama B . . . you know this wouldn’t have happened without you.” Gio winked.
“Are you going to smash that bottle against the building so we can drink, or what?” Nicole asked.
Laughter erupted.
“We just love you all so much and want to thank you.”
“We love you, too,” Franny yelled.
Emma glanced at Gio. “I guess we should do this.”
“No . . . just you.”
Emma shook her head. “If there is one person above everyone else here that I couldn’t have done this without, it’s you. We’re in this together.”
“Okay, cara.”
Emma grasped the bottle by the neck and Gio placed his hand over hers.
“Don’t cut yourself,” Ryan yelled.
“And give the vampires a day off? They need the work,” Emma teased.
Gio whispered in her ear. “Ready?”
“On three?”
He nodded.
“One . . . two . . . three!” They pulled back together and hit the corner of the building hard.
The bottle broke within the cloth and champagne dripped everywhere.
Emma and Gio both jumped back, laughing.
Those watching clapped.
Gio moved around her to a table where napkins were waiting for them to use to clean up the mess. He handed her one and then put the broken bottle into a bucket and turned. He stared at his hand.
Emma’s smile fell. “Did you hurt yourself?”
“No . . . I found something.”
“What is it?”
Gio didn’t answer, instead he bent down to one knee and lifted up something he was holding between his fingertips.
For a split second, Emma had no idea what he was showing her.
But when every person standing there stopped shuffling and talking, and only the sound of a photographer could be heard above her breathing, Emma clued in.
“Emma, amore. From the moment you handed me that silly department store bag instead of a suitcase to put on our tour bus . . . and I heard the sass come out of your mouth . . . I knew I was in for a ride.”
Emma started to shake, and tears started to flow.
“I was lost from your first kiss. And even when you got in my face and told me that this wasn’t the beginning of forever . . . I knew you were wrong. I want to spend every moment of my forever with you at my side. I love you, Emma. With every fiber of my being. Will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
She was crying too hard to speak. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes! Yes!”
Whistles and cheers went up all around them.
Emma placed a sticky hand on Gio’s face as he stood and met his kiss halfway.
Her knees wobbled.
Gio caught her so she didn’t fall.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I’m going to make you the happiest woman in the world.”
“You’ve already done that.”
He placed what looked like a two-carat solitaire on her finger. The exact setting she and Nicole had talked about on their girls’ night.
“Did everyone know this was happening tonight?” Emma asked.
Gio nodded. “Pretty much.”
Franny walked over to a tripod easel that had a massive piece of paper on it with a sign saying, “Casa de Emma Welcomes You.” She moved the sign, and under it, written in giant letters, were the words “Then What?” Under that was an unchecked box that said, “Make Emma Say Yes.”
Franny picked up the marker and made a big check inside the box.
Mari took the pen from Franny and wrote on the paper . . . Babies.
“And so it begins,” Dante said.
Gio glanced up and stilled.
Emma tried to turn.
He stopped her. “Months ago, I went to Napa to ask your father for his blessing.”
His statement shocked her. “You did?”
“I gave it.”
Emma froze and turned around.
Her father, who she hadn’t seen since the awful night that the truth came out, stood there.
“But first I told him he wasn’t good enough for you.” Robert looked around at the building and the people. “Then I realized I was the one that wasn’t good enough.”
“Dad?”
“I’ve been a complete shit. I just hope it’s not too late to be a part of your life.”
Emma offered a puppy-dog look Gio’s way, her eyes filled with tears, then back to her father. “It’s not too late.”
Robert opened his arms, ever so slightly, and she slid into them.
When she stepped away, most of the women, and a few of the men, were wiping moisture from their eyes.
“You’re ruining my mascara, Emma!” Nicole broke the crying and turned it to laughing.
Emma and Gio walked through their family and friends and accepted their congratulations.
She caught Ryan standing at their father’s side, shaking his hand.
A strange sight if she were being honest.
It wasn’t long before her dad made his way back to her. “Can I have a private moment?” he asked.
Emma smiled up at Gio and nodded to her father before walking away from the crowd and into the winery.
A few feet in, the sound from outside started to fade.
“I owe you an apology,” he said on an exhale.
Instead of taking away his discomfort, Emma stayed silent and waited as they walked.
Robert caught her eyes. “You’re not going to make this easy on me.”
She paused, tilted her head.
“And you shouldn’t.” A deep breath later, “I’m sorry, Emma. I’ve been so wrapped up in what I wanted for your life, I didn’t care to see what you wanted.”
“I tried telling you.”
“I didn’t listen. I didn’t want to hear it.”
“You wanted me married and pregnant and far away from the executive room.”
Robert studied his shoes. “I did.”
It was nice to hear what she’d always known. “Why?”
“My mother didn’t work. Your mother didn’t work. I put you in the same category. When you called me out for being a misogynistic bastard, I had to take a closer look.”
“I never called you a bastard.” She’d thought about it repeatedly, however.
He smiled. “That would be your mother. And she’d be right. I have very few women working at R&R and none in management. I’m surprised no one has called me out on it . . . except you.”
Emma smiled. “I’m pretty strong-willed. It’s how I was raised.”
“I should have done things differently.”
They made eye contact. “You won’t hear me correct you.”
He smirked, nodded a couple of times, and glanced at the doorway. “I had to be a bystander when you were conceived. But that doesn’t make you less of a daughter. I thought I was doing my part by making sure you and your brothers were financially taken care of, but I know that isn’t enough.”
“I needed my father, not a bank.” Emotion started to fill the back of her throat. “I wanted you to believe in me.”