Page 28 of The Wedding Toast (The Hamiltons #10)

“Our first flight isn’t for a little while yet, but I wanted to check on Zia.” Reaves glanced over at Alara, who was watching them while she fussed with the arch.

“Did you know that his daddy lives in a castle?” Slade asked Zia.

Jacob bit back a laugh at the way the little girl’s eyes widened.

She looked up at Reaves. “A real castle?”

He squatted down beside her. “It looks like a real castle.”

“It does,” Bentley agreed. “It’s a very cool castle.”

Jacob glanced at Xander, who added, “It’s the coolest castle around here. You need to go see it.”

Zia nodded once before turning and running back toward her mother.

Jacob looked at Xander. “You’ve gone and done it now.”

Rather than looking contrite, Xander shrugged happily and turned to Reaves.

“Are you telling me that you hate the idea of her and her mom coming over to your place?”

Reaves pursed his lips, then glanced over his shoulder at Alara and Zia before turning back to them. “I think Zia’s great, but I don’t know her mom.”

Xander chuckled. “And you’re telling me that you wouldn’t like to?”

Reaves rolled his eyes. “No, but… And it’s Dad’s place, not mine; I live in town now and …” His words trailed off as Zia approached, towing her mom by the hand behind her. Alara’s gaze flitted from Reaves to Jacob and back again.

“Mom says you won’t want me to see your castle, but you do, don’t you?”

Jacob shot Reaves an apologetic look but was relieved to see that he didn’t seem too upset about it as he turned to Alara.

“As a matter of fact, I was going to offer to hang out with Zia tomorrow morning, since you’ll be busy finishing the arch and there’ll be a lot of people around here.

” He looked down at the little girl who was staring up at him adoringly.

“If it’s okay with you,” he addressed Alara again, “Zia could come with me to see my dad. I want to check in with him before the day gets started.”

Jacob frowned. “Your dad is coming, isn’t he?”

“Of course,” said Reaves. “He wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Alara looked flustered, wringing her hands together.

“I promise I’ll be good, if you let me go,” Zia told her.

Alara looked around at them all, and Jacob felt bad for her.

“I can vouch for both Reaves and his father,” he said. “And by the same token, if you’d rather she stays here on the estate, we’ll get someone to keep a close eye on her.”

“I can do that,” said Reaves. “I’m happy to keep an eye on her wherever you want her.”

“We’ll see,” Alara said eventually.

Zia did a little dance as she came back to Reaves. “That means it’ll be a yes. She just needs to think about it a bit first,” she explained.

Alara shot Jacob a rueful smile. “We’ll figure it out,” she said. “I don’t want to hold you up. Are you going into the garage?”

“We are.”

“I’m not allowed in there,” Zia said loudly. “You’re not going, are you?” she asked Reaves.

Before he could answer, she slipped her hand into his and tugged. “We’re playing in the trees,” she told Jacob. “We’ll see you later.”

Reaves glanced back at them over his shoulder as the little girl led him away.

Bentley chuckled beside Jacob. “It looks like he’s in over his head.”

“And he’s loving every minute of it,” added Xander.

~ ~ ~

Callie leaned back in her chair, smiling as she watched Ava and Zia run around with Hannah's Dalmatian, Scooter.

She enjoyed hanging out with Hannah and loved seeing how close Becca was with her. Becca had just gone inside, and Hannah leaned in close. "How are you feeling about tomorrow?" she asked. "Are you nervous at all?"

"No, I'm not. I'm looking forward to it. I don't know if Becca’s told you, but we promised each other when we were seven that if we ever got married, we'd be each other's bridesmaids."

"Oh, I love that," said Hannah. "So, you were best friends when you were small?"

"That's right, we were close all the way through high school, but..." She paused as she thought about it. "It's not that we lost touch or anything, not that we weren't as close, just..." She shrugged. "For the last few years, we've both been busy living our own lives."

Hannah nodded. "I know how that goes. I feel the same way with Delaney. Not that I knew her when we were kids or anything, but we were close when I was in LA."

Callie pursed her lips.

Hannah laughed when she saw her expression.

"Don't worry, I'm not talking about work or anything.

It's entirely up to you what you do or don't do.

And even though Delaney might come across as a bit.

.. assertive, I promise you if you tell her that you're not interested, she'll never mention it again. "

"Good," said Callie.

Hannah raised her eyebrows.

"I haven't decided yet," said Callie. "It might not be a bad idea. But I don't even want to think about it this weekend. This weekend isn't about me; it's about Becca and Jacob."

"Mom, Mom!" Ava called as she came running toward them. "Uncle Walt's here."

Callie was surprised to hear Ava call him that. She'd already had a few chats with Walt. She really liked the guy. But she hadn't expected Ava to call him Uncle. Then again, maybe that was just her being a bit judgy about them.

Zia and Scooter arrived back at the patio just behind Ava. Zia looked around for Becca, then came to Callie.

"Are you okay, missy?" Callie asked. "Would you like a drink or anything?"

Zia shook her head. "No thank you. Did Ava tell you that Wally Boots is here?"

Callie had to laugh. "Wally Boots? I thought you'd named him Growly Green."

Zia shrugged. "Only when he's grumpy."

Hannah got to her feet when Walt appeared around the side of the house. "Come on in," she greeted him with a smile. "Can I get you a drink or anything? What do you need?"

"I'm good, thanks, Hannah Bean. I just wanted to see if the little girl" – he jerked his chin toward Zia – "was here with you. There are all kinds of people wandering around right now and I didn't know where she was."

Zia went to him and looked up into his eyes. "I'm here. I'm safe."

He chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Good to know. We need to keep our little princess safe while there are strangers in the land, right?"

Callie loved the way he interacted with the girl and was surprised to see Zia frown. "I'm safe," she said again, glancing over at Ava, "but I'm not the princess of the land." Walt frowned and Zia pointed. "Ava is the true princess."

Callie's heart felt as though it melted a little bit.

The way she named people showed just how insightful Zia was.

But pointing out that Ava was the true princess, that was something else.

It seemed to Callie that Zia wasn't just noting that Ava lived here while she didn't. She was deferring to her new friend, giving her the title that she could tell Ava wouldn't claim for herself.

Ava went to stand beside Zia. "You can be a princess too."

Zia nodded matter-of-factly. "I will be one day when I live in a castle."

Callie exchanged a look with Walt and they both laughed. "I reckon if you say you're going to live in a castle one day, little miss, then you will."

"I will," said Zia. "It's true." She patted Scooter, who’d come to sniff at her pockets. "And when I live in a castle, I'll have a cool doggo, too."

She smiled at Ava. "You have Sir Spots-a-Lot, true friend to the true princess."

"What kind of dog do you think you'd like?" Hannah asked her.

Callie really felt for the girl when she shrugged and said simply, "One who loves me."

After Walt had gone, Callie was a little surprised to find herself left sitting outside with Zia, while Becca and Hannah went inside to figure out some detail with Ava's dress. She didn't mind; she was developing a real soft spot for the kid.

She watched her run around with Sir Spots-a-Lot for a while, then smiled, realizing that she needed to stop calling him that. His real name was Scooter. Zia stopped and came back to her when she heard her laugh.

"Are you okay?"

"I am," said Callie. "Are you?"

"I'm fine." She tilted her head to the side. "You don't mind me, do you?"

Callie frowned. "Of course not, I think you're awesome. Why would you ask that?"

Zia shrugged. "Some people think I'm weird, you know."

Callie leaned in closer. "Some people think I'm weird too. Do you want to know what I say?"

Zia came right up to her and rested her little hands on Callie's knees. "Yes, what do you say?"

Callie had to think for a moment. She could hardly tell the kid to say screw ‘em . Instead, she went with, "I say it doesn't matter what people think of you." She tapped Zia's nose. "You know who you are. You know you're awesome. And your mom knows. And that's all that matters."

The kid didn't look convinced.

"I know you're awesome, too," Callie added.

That made Zia smile. "I think you're awesome." She took hold of Callie's hand, running her fingers over the rough skin and bits of glaze that still stuck around her nails. "You're a maker, aren't you?"

"I guess I am," said Callie.

The little girl reached out and touched the medallion that hung around Callie's neck. It was the head of a dandelion, carefully pressed in clay and glazed. "You’re like my mom. You make flowers do things they weren't meant to."

Callie had to laugh at that. "I guess I do, but I don't make them do anything they don't want to."

Zia's eyes lit up. "That's good."

"I think so."

"Do you think I'm weird?"

Callie couldn't help it. She held her arms out, and when Zia climbed up onto her lap, she wrapped them around her. "I don't think you're weird, no.”

“But I'm not like other people."

Callie thought for a moment. "Do you think the moon's weird?"

Zia frowned up at her. "No. Why would I?"

"Because when everything else is dark, the moon shines bright. It's not like everything else, but that doesn't make it weird."

Zia shook her head slowly, as if giving the point serious consideration. "The moon doesn't do what everyone else does," she said eventually.

Callie shook her head. "It does not. But you don't think it's weird for shining at nighttime, do you?"

Zia held her gaze as she whispered, "That's the whole point of the moon."

Callie tapped the tip of her nose. "Exactly, my little friend. Exactly." She closed her eyes when Zia wrapped her wiry arms around her neck and hugged her tight.

"Will you be my friend, Lady Sunshine?"

Callie held her a little closer. "I already am."

"Forever?"

"And a day," Callie replied.