Page 29 of The Wedding Toast (The Hamiltons #10)

Becca stood beside her dad in the kitchen, the two of them being entertained by Jacob and her mom.

Everyone else was waiting in the family room.

They were nearly ready to go out to the formal lawn behind the house for the rehearsal dinner.

They were going to do a quick run-through of the ceremony, and then the family and a bunch of their closest friends would all eat dinner in one of the big tents.

Jacob had insisted that Elena take the afternoon off so she could take her time getting ready for the evening. Becca knew that she was a little nervous about it all, even though she was thrilled that Jacob had asked her to sit at the head table with them.

She laughed when her mom elbowed Jacob out of her way. “If you insist on being useful, would you go and check on people, see if they want a drink while they wait or something?”

Jacob narrowed his eyes at her, but it was easy to tell he was holding back a laugh. “Why won’t you take it easy? I can do this. This is my kitchen, after all.”

They all laughed when her mom rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t talk silly. We all know this is Elena’s kitchen, not yours. And if anyone’s going to claim to be her second-in-command, it’d be me. Now get out of my way, would you, shoo.”

Jacob came to Becca, giving her dad a rueful smile. “I can normally negotiate with anyone, but there’s no winning with Darlene, is there?”

Her dad chuckled. “You’re not expecting me to answer that, are you?”

Becca’s mom put her hands on her hips. “Go ahead. I’d like to hear what you have to say.”

Her dad grinned. “How about this, then? I’ll tell you, Jacob, that if ever you need anyone to negotiate deals for you, you should give your new mother-in-law a call.”

Becca laughed at the way her mom nodded eagerly.

“You know what? Before I got to know all of you, I would have said that was a silly idea. But now that I know you all – you and Bentley and the rest of them,” her mom laughed, “I reckon I’d do just fine, I’d show ‘em who’s boss.”

Jacob laughed as he came to put his arm around Becca’s shoulders. “Do you know what? I might just take you up on that. I could send you in as my secret weapon whenever I have tough negotiations.” He pressed a kiss to Becca’s temple. “How about you? Are you all ready? Where’s Callie?”

“She’s in the family room with the guys.

” Becca was grateful to her friend, who had appointed herself as a kind of chaperone to her brothers and sister.

Even though Callie thought she didn't belong here, she understood this world better than Becca's siblings did, and she was doing a good job of acting as a bridge between the two groups.

Jacob raised his eyebrows. She knew he was worried about her siblings feeling at home here. Her dad caught the look and nodded. “You don’t need to worry about them. They’re fine. They’re enjoying themselves.”

Jacob nodded gratefully. “I’m glad.”

Becca felt bad. He kept trying to make an effort with them.

CJ and Danny laughed and joked around with him, but Dean and Dawn weren’t really that open to getting to know him or the others.

It was sad, but there was nothing she could do about it.

To be fair, Dean and Dawn didn’t really have that much time for her either.

It wasn’t that they didn’t love each other; they’d just never been that close.

“Has the party already ended up in the kitchen?”

They all turned to see Xander standing in the doorway with Tori at his side.

“We went to look for you outside,” he said. “People are gathering, but we wondered where you were.”

“We’re on our way,” Becca’s mom told him, slapping the back of Jacob’s head gently as she passed him. “This one was holding us all up, but we’re ready now.”

Becca and her dad laughed as Jacob sputtered.

“Do you want to go and tell your brothers and sister that we’re ready?” her dad asked her. She took a step forward, but Xander smiled.

“How about I go get them? We need to get to know each other.”

“I reckon that’s a good idea,” her dad said, nodding at Becca.

She could see his point, but…

Her dad met her gaze. “It’s up to them how much they enjoy all of this, Becs. You invited them. Jacob’s good enough to put them up. The rest is up to them. You need to focus on yourself and being happy, right?”

She gave him a quick hug. “I know. You’re right, Dad.”

She didn’t miss the grateful smile Jacob shot him.

“We’ll see you down there.”

Her mom appeared next to her dad and took hold of his hand, leading him away – leaving Becca and Jacob alone in the kitchen.

“Are you okay with everything?” he asked.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his shoulder. “I am. I’m fine. It’s a little bit stressful at the moment, but it shouldn’t be, should it?”

He kissed the top of her head. “I don’t want it to be, but I understand it. Your family seem fine. Callie’s doing a great job with them, and I imagine Xander will win them over too.”

She looked up into his eyes when he added, “Even if I can’t.”

“It’s not you. You know I can’t win them over either. At least, not Dawn and Dean. We’re just different kinds of people, I guess. Danny and CJ are doing okay, and I know they really like you.”

He chuckled. “It’s not a case of needing them to like me. All I want is for everything to feel good to you.”

“And it does,” she assured him. “It’s like Dad said – it’s not our responsibility to make sure that they enjoy themselves. I mean, of course I hope they will, but it’s up to them. And we have something much more important to focus on.”

He rested his forehead against hers and looked down into her eyes. “We do. We need to finally take care of making you Mrs. Jacobs.”

She cupped his cheek in her hand. “And this time tomorrow, I will be. We’d better get out there and practice.”

He pressed his lips to hers and then took her hand as they followed the others outside.

~ ~ ~

Jacob led Becca down the back steps. He wanted to make sure Elena’s car was out there. He’d thought she would come to the kitchen when she arrived and didn’t like the idea of her standing by herself outside.

He smiled when he spotted her.

“Aww, look at that,” said Becca.

He nodded happily when he saw what she was talking about. Walt was waiting, sitting on the low stone wall that divided the parking area from the lawn. He got to his feet when Elena got out of her car and went hurrying toward her.

Becca squeezed Jacob’s hand as they watched. They were too far away to hear whatever Walt said to Elena, but a rush of warmth filled Jacob’s chest at the sight of Walt offering his arm and Elena slipping hers through it.

“Oh my goodness,” breathed Becca. “I never thought about it before, but do you think the two of them…?”

He shook his head slowly. “I hate to say it, but I haven’t ever given it a thought before, either.”

“Wouldn’t it be awesome, though?” Becca insisted.

Jacob nodded his agreement. “It would. And after all these years, I love the idea that perhaps our wedding might serve as a catalyst to bring the two of them closer.”

Becca grinned. “Oh, I hope so. I know Elena was divorced a long time ago. And Walt’s wife died years ago, didn’t she?”

“She did.” Jacob watched Walt and Elena laugh together as they approached the small crowd gathered around the arch in front of the rows of seats that had been laid out, ready for tomorrow.

He, too, was now hoping that something might develop between them.

“Elena was divorced before I was even born. And Walt’s wife died more than twenty years ago. ”

“I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for them.”

“I will too. But for now, we’d better get down there. Everyone’s waiting.”

It was strange to see the whole space set up as it would be tomorrow, but without any of the decoration.

The arch was a bare wooden frame. It was incredibly intricate.

He couldn’t believe Alara had built it over the course of the last few days with no help.

It was beautiful enough that it could stand alone and be a centerpiece for someone’s wedding – but not for his and Becca’s.

He could only hope that her promise to transform it with all the cornflowers and ribbons tomorrow morning would result in the arch he was hoping for.

He let go of Becca’s hand when the girls beckoned her over. He scanned the crowd standing around, grateful that they were all here.

Bentley caught his gaze and lifted a hand from where he was standing to one side with Smoke. Jacob started to make his way to them, greeting people as he went. It seemed that everyone was here – he hadn’t known how many people he was supposed to invite to the rehearsal dinner.

He chuckled to himself when Darlene winked at him from across the way.

He adored that woman and had relied on her as his guide through much of the wedding etiquette.

It remained to be seen whether her version would match what was standard in Napa, but between Darlene and Ria, he really wasn’t worried about what anyone else’s expected conventions might be.

He smiled when he spotted Ria and Russ talking to Walt and Elena. He couldn’t help wondering what his mom would make of that. He knew his dad would love it.

Glancing around, he spotted all four of the pilots.

He wasn’t surprised to see Trick talking to Xander.

Trick had served in the military when he was younger and had followed Xander’s career closely.

It seemed to Jacob that Trick had been proud of his brother’s service, and also relieved when Xander got out.

Ollie and Elliott were talking, and Jacob frowned when he noticed the way they were looking over at Callie. Of course, it was none of his business, but he decided to check in with Becca to see how she – or more importantly, Callie – felt about any possible interest from the guys.