Page 68 of The Wedding Toast
"And a day," Callie replied.
Chapter Sixteen
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’tyoutake 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.
