Page 20 of Wedding Whitney
“Shall we go down to say hello to everyone?”
“Sure.”
I’m not sure what caused yet another shift in his attitude, but I like this Jake much better than the one from the last few days. This Jake is the man I love, my fiancé, and I’m so glad he’s back. I’m curious why he asked me to trust him, but I know well enough that I’ll find out soon enough.
We walk into the formal dining room hand in hand, and Gran looks up from where she’s sitting with a smile. Delilah is on her right, and Brett’s wife, Taira, is on her left. Gran always sits at the head of the table, and usually, Dad and Brett flank her, but tonight she’s opted to have the women in the family in those places.
She’s also put Jake at the head of the table on the other end, with me on his right and Aaron—who’s been invited despite not being family—on his left. As the best man, he’s an honorary family member.
Some random cousins and great-grandchildren fill in the rest of the spots, and I realize that while I know who everyone is, I barely have a relationship with any of them. I also notice that my father and brother are missing and look around as I lean down to kiss my grandmother’s cheek.
“Where’s your father?” Gran whispers to me.
“I have no idea.”
Gran gazes up at Jake suspiciously. “Did you kill my son and grandson, Mr. Carruthers?”
Jake laughs. “No, ma’am. I’ve wanted to more than once the last few days, but I truly don’t want to spend my honeymoon in jail.”
“There they are.” I motion with my head to where my father and brother are walking in.
“Shall we get started?” Gran asks.
“I suppose we should.” I pause. “Are you going to make some kind of announcement?”
“Of course.” Gran smiles and gets to her feet, lightly clinking her spoon on a glass to get everyone’s attention.
“What did you do?” I whisper in Jake’s ear as we walk around to our seats. “You’re up to something.”
“I didn’t do anything. Your father and brother, on the other hand…” He shrugs. “Well, you’ll see. I told you I was going to have a little fun tonight.”
“Jake?”
“You said you trust me, right?” His eyes meet mine.
“Always.”
“Then don’t worry.” He takes a sip of water and starts talking to Aaron.
Gran hired help for tonight, and several waiters start bringing out bottles of wine and champagne. I keep one hand on Jake’s thigh, watching the tension in the room grow exponentially with each passing minute. Despite my trust in him, I feel the need to touch him and keep him by my side because my gut is screaming that something big is going to happen tonight.
“Welcome, dear family and Aaron.” Grand smiles at the handsome blond goalie sitting next to Jake and walks slowly across the room to stand between Jake and me. “I thought tonight would be a nice, casual setting for family to spend a little time together since Whitney and Jake are so far away in Anchorage most of the year. I also wanted to use this evening’s private gathering to give them their wedding gift since it would be a bit ostentatious to do it in front of strangers.”
“Jesus Christ, Mom, does everything have to be an ordeal?” Canyon mutters.
She fixes him with an icy stare. “If I want it to be, yes, it does.”
He sighs, leaning back in his chair. “Fine.”
“Great-grandma, may I have a sip of wine?” Brett and Taira’s six-year-old daughter, Sierra pipes up.
“Shush,” Taira says to her.
Gran just smiles, though. “You may not. However, Hildie will bring you the special sparkling juice I keep for you.”
“Yay!” Sierra bounces happily in her seat.
“What’s the gift, Mom?” Canyon is clearly uncomfortable.
