Page 18 of The Wedding Toast (The Hamiltons #10)

When Jacob and Bentley arrived at the hangar, Jacob checked the flight tracker app on his phone.

Bentley laughed and pointed toward the sky. “You don’t need to look at that. They’re about to land.”

“I know. It’s not them I’m checking on. I just realized that Trick and Elliott should be back soon with some of the early guests.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize that. Are they far behind?”

“Not too far, but we should have plenty of time,” said Jacob. “Looks like they’re half an hour out. And besides, I don’t think anyone will mind if they arrive while your mom and Xander and Smoke are still here.”

“Who are they bringing?” asked Bentley.

Jacob smiled. “Annalise Montclair and Hannah’s friend, Delaney.”

Bentley raised his eyebrows. “I thought Annalise was already back here.”

“She’s been coming and going the last few weeks from what I understand. When I asked if she’d want to fly in with the other guests, she said she felt a little guilty about it.” He shrugged. “I was happy to include her.”

“I know Mom will be happy to see her,” said Bentley. “Even though no one liked Philip, Annalise was a different story.”

“Yeah, and you know, when Becca and I get back from our honeymoon, we should probably set up a meeting with Annalise.”

“To talk business?” asked Bentley.

Jacob nodded. “The team Philip left in charge of the estate pretty much ran the place into the ground.”

“And Annalise wants to revive it?” Bentley asked.

“That’s what she said. She doesn’t know much about the business, though, and I’m not sure that she wants to actually run the place herself.”

Bentley gave him a wry smile. “And you want to include me in this meeting?”

Jacob made a face. “I didn’t deliberately cut you out when it came to Ollie and the Stratton place.”

“I know. I’m just giving you a hard time,” said Bentley. “But yeah, if you want us to go into some kind of joint venture with Annalise, I’d be more than interested.”

“That’s what I’m thinking,” said Jacob. “And when we start digging into it, we can probably find a way to run the Stratton place between us, too. I really wasn’t trying to cut you out.”

“It’s okay, I understand,” said Bentley. “Ollie’s dad had the deal with your folks back in the day anyway, so it made sense there was the avenue for Stratton Wines to run through Jacobs Estate. But I won’t lie – if you want to include me, I won’t turn you down.”

Jacob grasped his shoulder. “We’ll figure something out. Maybe we could even set up some kind of partnership. This could grow beyond just Annalise’s Montclair wines and Ollie’s Stratton estate.”

Bentley laughed. “I love the idea. But I’m not sure everyone around here would.”

Jacob shrugged. “We can talk through the details.” He turned back to the runway as the plane touched down. “Do you mind if I have a word with your mom before you guys leave?”

“I don’t mind. Is everything okay?”

“It is,” said Jacob. “I just need to have a word with her.”

They watched as Smoke’s jet touched down and thundered to the end of the runway before turning around and taxiing back to them.

“It’ll be good to see him,” said Bentley, when Smoke raised his hand in a wave through the cockpit window before bringing the plane to a stop.

“It will,” said Jacob. “And Laura, too.”

Bentley narrowed his eyes at him. “Do you have something up your sleeve with Laura?”

“I do. You know the story with Becca’s engagement ring. I had wanted to ask Laura to design it for me, but with the way things went, I bought it in Kansas.” He chuckled. “But the way this whole cornflower thing has worked out, I had to ask Laura to help me with some blue stones.”

When Smoke let the steps down, Xander and Tori came out first. Tori bounded over to Bentley and hugged him while Xander came to shake Jacob’s hand. He laughed when Jacob pulled him into a hug and held him tight for a moment before stepping back with a grin.

“It’s good to see you, too.”

Jacob chuckled. “What can I say? I’ve missed you.”

Xander held his gaze for a moment. “I miss you, too, brother. But we’re here now. Are you all ready for your big day?”

“We are, everything’s under control.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less. Listen, I know you’re going to want to spend a bit of time with these guys.

” He looked over his shoulder to where Ria and Russ were now coming down the steps.

“We were thinking that we should go and check into the place we rented and get out of your hair for now. We’ll come back over this evening to meet up with you guys before everyone goes out. How does that sound?”

“It sounds good,” said Jacob. “As long as you come early enough that I’ll actually get to see you for a while.”

Xander punched his shoulder. “You can bank on it.” He turned to Tori and Bentley, shaking Bentley’s hand as he said, “I’ll catch up with you later.”

Tori stepped forward and gave Jacob a quick hug. “I’m so excited for you guys.”

“If you want to know the truth, I’m excited too.”

Tori smiled. “That’s awesome, Jacob. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that before.”

He chuckled. He liked Tori, and she was probably the only person he knew who’d point out a detail like that.

Xander took hold of her hand. “Come on, Sprite. We’ll catch up with everyone later.”

“What are you going to drive?” Jacob asked as they started to walk away.

“We’ll walk to the garage and pick up my truck,” Xander said.

Bentley laughed. “If you’re going in the garage, you’re both sworn to secrecy about anything you see in there, okay?”

“Ooh.” Tori’s eyes grew wide. “There’s a secret in there?”

“There is,” said Jacob. “Although I think at this point Becca’s the only one who doesn’t know what it is. But it needs to stay that way.”

Xander and Tori both nodded.

“You know you’ve got no worries with us.”

“We’ll catch you later.”

Jacob shook his head at Bentley as they watched them walk away. “Who’d have thought – my brother and your little sister.”

“Honestly,” said Bentley, “I feel kind of dumb that it never occurred to me before. I mean, they couldn’t be more different, but they couldn’t be more perfect for each other either.”

“You’re right,” said Jacob. “I’ve never known Xander as happy as he’s been since they got together. I just wish they still wanted to live here.”

He turned back to the plane. When Alexandria – Ria, as he had to get used to calling her these days, since everyone else did – called, “Well, hello there.”

“Hi, Mom,” called Bentley.

Jacob just smiled and watched her and her partner, Russ, come down the steps. Russ came to shake hands with him while Ria hugged Bentley, then held his shoulders as she stepped back to look him over.

“You look wonderful, darling.”

“Thanks, Mom. You too.”

Ria turned to Jacob and held out her arms, looking a little awkward. “Am I allowed to hug?” she asked tentatively.

Jacob was happy to wrap his arms around her, and for a moment he held her tight. He had to swallow as he stepped back. She used to be such a formal woman. He honestly didn’t remember ever having hugged her before, even though they’d been close his whole life.

She gave him a bashful smile. “I’m sorry if that was too much, but …”

He shook his head rapidly. “It was wonderful. In fact, if you don’t mind, I think we should make it a new norm for us.”

Her hand came up to cover her heart. “Mind? I’d love that.” She held his gaze. “Especially considering what you’ve asked me to do this weekend.”

Jacob’s heart sank. He hoped that what he needed to talk to her about wouldn’t spoil things.

She must have sensed the change in him and frowned. “Although, of course, if you’ve changed your mind, I understand …”

“It’s not that I’ve changed my mind,” he said hurriedly. “But I would like to talk to you about it.”

Russ grasped his shoulder. “How about the two of you have a chat while Bentley and I catch up?”

Jacob gave him a grateful nod.

Ria glanced back at the plane. “Smoke said he wants to do something or other before he takes off again. Honestly, I think he was just giving us time to say hello before he and Laura come down.”

“That’s fine. I don’t need long,” said Jacob. “And if you don’t like the idea, feel free to say so. I just … I had to ask.”

He was surprised when she slipped her arm through his and started to walk away from Bentley and Russ.

“I won’t mind anything, darling. I was honored that you asked me to be there with you. But if you’ve changed your mind …”

“It’s not that I’ve changed my mind,” he said hurriedly. “It’s just …” For a moment he felt terrible. What was he even thinking? How could he expect Alexandria DuPont to be happy about sharing what she considered to be an honor with his cook?

She gave his arm a squeeze. “Spit it out, then,” she said with a smile, making him laugh.

“Okay, I’ll tell you straight. I do still want you to fill the role of a kind of stand-in mother of the groom. However … how would you feel about sharing it?”

She frowned. “Sharing it? With whom?”

He made a face. “This is the part … you know Elena?”

Her reaction couldn’t have surprised him more. She clasped both hands together and held them to her chest. “Oh my goodness, Jacob, you must ask Elena. I feel terrible that it didn’t occur to me before. She’s wonderful; she’s been part of your family forever. Of course you must.”

It was his turn to give her arm a squeeze. “Slow down, please. I do want to ask her, and you’re right, she has been part of the family – for longer than I have, if we’re honest. But I don’t want her instead of you. I want both of you. I just didn’t know how that would feel.”

Ria beamed at him. “Do you know what? I think it’s the absolutely perfect solution. I was about to insist that I should step down. But I think if the two of us sit up there together at the front for all the world to see, that’ll make more of a statement, won’t it?”

Jacob’s lips curved up into a smile.

“You know I’m right, dear. If you ask Elena, there will be some murmurings among the folk around here who think they’re better than they are.

We both know that I have some pull with those people even now.

If Elena and I are together, they’ll get the message that the dragon DuPont not only approves …

” She frowned. “She endorses it. Although – what do you think? Does any of that even matter to you?”

Jacob nodded happily. “It does. I don’t think it would have occurred to me. But now that you’ve brought it up, I have to say that you can’t refuse. I need you to do this for me.”

She smiled. “And I’ll do it happily.” Her smile faded. “How does Elena feel about it?”

Jacob pursed his lips. “I haven’t actually asked her yet. I wanted to make sure that you …”

Ria nodded. “In that case, may I come with you to talk to her? Things used to be different. She may say no because of how she thinks I might feel. I need to make her understand that it would be my honor.”

“Then yes. I’d love you to come with me.”

She glanced back at the plane. “I’ll ask Bentley to take us up to the house while you … oh no, wait, I’m sure he’ll want to see Smoke and Laura as well.”

She looked up the long driveway to where Xander and Tori had almost reached the garage. “I think Russ and I should take a leaf from their book. We can walk; we’ll see you at the house.”

“Are you sure?”

She laughed as she nodded. “In fact, since I’m wearing my sneakers, I might challenge him to a race.”