Page 65 of The Wedding Toast
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?"
