Page 24 of The Wedding Toast
He shook his head.“Anyway, that’s not the point.I feel like I shouldn’t have asked Alexandria to step into that role – I should have asked Elena.”
Becca patted his shoulder.“There are no shoulds.And Alexandria has definitely been a big part of your life, a big part of helping you with the business.I totally understand why you asked her.It’s just, I hate to think of Elena sitting somewhere in the middle of the crowd when she should be right there up front with us – with the rest of the family.”
“I love you for asking,” Jacob said eventually, “but she needs to be on my side, with the Jacobs family.”He nodded to himself.“In fact, it makes sense – you’ll have all your family on your side, and I’ll have Hannah and Grady, Xander and Tori, Alexandria and Russ, and Elena on my side.”
Becca let out a short laugh.“Do you really think it matters how many people are on which side?”
Jacob made a face.“I don’t know.But people seem to care about that kind of thing.So, I’ll try to do it right.”
She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips.“Aww, I love that about you, Jacob; you do right by people.”
He chuckled and curled his fingers around the nape of her neck.“I’ll do right by you… tonight… when we finally get to be alone again.”
Becca shivered as electric currents ran down her spine.“I’ll hold you to that, Mr.Jacobs.”
He chuckled and rocked his hips underneath her.“And I’ll hold you to this – my soon-to-be Mrs.Jacobs.”
~ ~ ~
Reaves glanced over at the case of wine sitting on the passenger seat of his SUV and shook his head.His dad had asked him to bring it over to Jacob and Becca today because he didn’t want it to be overlooked among all the other wedding gifts.Reaves just hoped that Jacob would understand.He was fairly sure that he would – everyone knew what his dad was like.
Charles St.James was pretty much a Napa institution in his own right.The family winery – the House of St.James – had been one of the earliest brands in the valley and had helped put Napa on the map back in the day.
Even though Reaves sometimes got frustrated with his dad – that he wasn’t great at keeping up with the times – he had to remember that people around here loved and respected him for who he was.
As he approached the gate at the Jacobs estate, Reaves decided that he was going to make a conscious effort over the course of the wedding weekend to be more supportive of his dad.
Reaves had never been interested in going into the business – he’d fallen in love with flying when he was still in high school.He loved his career as a pilot.But seeing the way his dad was starting to struggle lately made Reaves want to get at least a little more involved.It wasn’t fair of him to judge his dad for getting behind the times when he wasn’t prepared to put in any effort to help him keep up with them.
He came to a stop when he reached the gate, and Slade came out to greet him.
“Hey, Reaves, I didn’t think we’d see you here today.I thought you were flying.”Slade frowned.“Wait, aren’t you supposed to be picking up Becca’s friend, Callie, this afternoon?”
Reaves shook his head.“No.Ollie’s gone by himself.Since it’s a smaller airport, we didn’t need to take the jet.”
“Oh, that’s right,” said Slade.“I remember now.Sorry, I just had a moment of panic there.”
Reaves chuckled.“I would imagine you’ll have a few of those over the next couple of days, making sure that everyone’s where they’re supposed to be, and all the logistics are taken care of.”
“It’s not as though I’m in charge of anything,” said Slade.“I’m just trying to keep tabs on things to make sure it all goes smoothly for these guys.”He pressed the button and the gate slid open.“So, who are you here to see?Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I’m just dropping off a gift from my dad,” said Reaves with a rueful smile.“He was concerned that his wine might get lost in the mix if he brought it over on the day.”
Slade grinned.“Now that’s a wise move.If he were to gift me a bottle, I’d make sure it was well taken care of.”
Reaves pursed his lips.
“I’m not kidding,” said Slade.“There are a lot of good wines around here, but House of St.James?”He shrugged.“Nothing else can compare, can it?It’s old school class – the gold standard – nothing new can match it.”
Reaves’ shoulders relaxed at that.“I need to remember that.”He chuckled.“And as a thank you, I’ll drop you a bottle off next time I’m here.”
“That’d be great,” said Slade.“And it’ll earn you some brownie points with Willow, too.”
Reaves gave him a puzzled smile.“Are you just blowing smoke, or are you seriously trying to tell me that Jacob – who runs Jacobs Estate – and Willow, the COO of DuPont Wineries, two of the biggest labels in the country, would be excited about a bottle from my dad?”
Slade nodded solemnly.“You know I’m not much of a wine guy, but even I know that much.It’s like I said: House of St.James is the gold standard.I don’t know how else to describe it, but I promise I’m not bullshitting you.”He frowned.“Do you seriously not know that?”
Reaves shook his head slowly.“No.But I should probably get it through my thick skull, shouldn’t I?”
