After having lunch with her father, Ashton spent the afternoon working in the tasting room of the winery. Working there was something she did whenever she was home visiting and something she enjoyed. Both she and her brother shared their father's love of winemaking and although Ashton had chosen an unrelated career, she knew the wines produced at the vineyard better than almost anyone.
Towards the end of the day, three older women came in followed a few moments later by a bachelorette party. From the looks of things, the younger group had already been to a few wineries in the area. Wanting to end the day on a quieter note, Ashton quickly greeted the elder group leaving another tasting room worker to the larger party.
At closing time, Matt and Ashton walked to his office after he locked the door. She had called him to carry a box of wine for the women out to their car. While she retrieved her purse, he once again tried to convince her to work in the tasting room permanently. It was an offer extended by all members of his family when she was visiting. She laughed and shot back her usual retort that he couldn't afford her expertise.
"If the cake is bad, are you gonna blame me?" he asked half serious.
"Blame you? No. I just won't let you forget it," Ashton told him and then blurted out, "This is going to be the most depressing party ever isn't it?"
"It'll be fine. Everyone is going to enjoy themselves and have a good time – even you."
She shook her head not quite believing Matt's words. As Ashton's eyes began to fill with tears, he pulled her close and consoled her. A knock sounded on the doorframe followed by a subtle cough.
"I hope I'm not interrupting."
"Not at all," Ashton said as she pulled away to look at Bull. She did her best to dry the tears with a fingertip and hoped her makeup wasn't smudged.
"A whole lot of angry makes a whole lot more sense now," Matt said quietly.
She turned to face him, her eyes glassy. "Don't. You know better."
"Pretty sure he'd say I did interrupt something," Bull said as he watched the other man leave the room.
"How was the drive?"
"Not bad. I'm sorry I couldn't get out here sooner, with the trial I guess I forgot about a few things I committed to."
"I'm glad you could fit us in your schedule," she said acerbically.
"Ash, we need to talk about this."
"I know that, but there's a room of people out there who aren't going to be thrilled to wait while we try to work through stuff," Ashton told him.
Anything Bull might have said was silenced when Alex knocked and leaned into the office. "Hey, Jason. Ash, Cameron said to tell you he's starving so hurry up."
They had rearranged the seating in the winery's restaurant and made one long table for the guests. Ashton sat down on one side of her father who was seated at the head of the table and motioned for Bull to sit next to her. Directly opposite sat Frank Wagner and his wife; followed by a few other of her father's friends. Cameron had decided he wanted to sit at the middle of the table so Alex, Izzie and their kids were there with Benny followed by Matt Wagner, his brother and kids.
After greeting Bull, Jack Catazarro reached over and gently pulled Ashton closer to him. "Is everything okay?" he whispered. He knew his daughter was more than a bit annoyed that Bull hadn't arrived when he first promised.
"Everything's fine," Ashton whispered back.
The evening proceeded with all the guests enjoying good food, wine, and idle talk just as Matt had predicted. As pieces of cake were being served, Ashton's niece, Emme, began to fuss. Ashton caught Alex's attention and gestured for him to send the little girl over to her.
Ashton gathered her niece in her arms when she reached her chair and began rocking her gently while quietly speaking to the child. The child settled for a moment but then began fussing again. Ashton stood up holding the child and took her out onto the patio closely watched by Bull. His eyes remained trained on her, as she stood with the little girl outside. Jack engaged his former son-in-law in some small talk trying to ascertain that everything truly was okay between Bull and Ashton. Bull replied in short sentences and kept glancing out the patio doors.
"She's really angry with me – not that I blame her," Bull finally said.
"I don't think she's that angry. Ashton's got a lot on her mind right now and you're the easy mark."
"I didn't expect the trial to go on for as long as it did…and then everything else. Might as well have painted a target on myself."
"No one's perfect – not even you. My daughter knows that," Jack said. When Bull snorted in return the older man continued, "She didn't tell you to stay home, did she?"
"No."
"Jason, I've never gotten involved in my children's relationships but I'm making an exception. Apologize. Sincerely. Be honest. Tell Ashton you screwed up royally."
"I think she knows that already," Bull said and pushed his glasses up on his head.
"She needs to hear it from you. Trust me, I have a fair share of experience in this," Jack said.
"One more thing, Jason. I'm sick. Dying. Ashton's going to need you to lean on and not just in between trials. If you can't be that person, walk away now."
Bull put his glasses back on and looked out at the patio again. He grabbed Ashton's wrap off the back of her chair and walked towards the doors without a word. Ashton turned her head when she heard footsteps approaching.
"You're probably close to hypothermia by now," Bull told her and placed the shawl around her shoulders while doing his best to cover the young girl in Ashton's arms as well.
"Thank you," Ashton said sincerely. "Emme and I agreed on five more minutes."
The girl warily looked up at Bull with her eyes wide and gave him a quick smile before hiding her head in Ashton's shoulder. The psychologist tried to coax the child to pick up her head again to no avail which caused Ashton to chuckle. Before she could tease him about it, Cameron came bursting outside and tugged on Ashton hoping to get some of his aunt's attention.
Bull tapped Cameron on the shoulder and easily picked the boy up. Now that he was on even level with his sister, Cameron proceeded to poke his sister's arm which caused a shrill protest. Ashton took a small step sideways and tried to admonish her nephew without smiling. Bull took the opportunity to apologize for arriving late again and asked if she was willing to talk things over with him.
They walked inside and found that people were saying goodbye and leaving for the night. Alex got up from his seat and convinced Cameron to let go of Bull. Ashton passed off Emme to her sister-in-law and left Bull talking to Benny and her father while she went to thank the Wagners for closing the restaurant for the night as well as all their help and support.
Out of the corner of his eye, Bull watched Matt Wagner join the conversation between Ashton and his parents. After giving a hug to each of the older couple, Ashton remained speaking to Matt. To the psychologist it appeared to be an easy conversation and any tension from earlier in the night was gone. Ashton also ended this conversation with an embrace much to Bull's surprise.
"Are you ready?" Ashton asked Bull when she rejoined the group.
Before they left, Jack pulled Bull aside. "Remember what I told you and remind my daughter I'll be perfectly fine on my own."
