Page 39 of The Wedding Toast
They sat in silence for a moment.The breeze rustled the cornflowers.
“You always talk like that?”he asked eventually.
She shrugged, lifting her shoulders all the way to her ears before letting them fall again.“Only until people don’t like it anymore.”She smiled big.“You like it, you just don’t know what to say back.”
He chuckled, not a big one – more a quiet rumble of surprised affection.Then, after a moment he nodded.“Guess I’ll keep fussing over these a while longer, then.Someone ought to.”
Zia smiled, wide and knowing.“They already know you’re their farmer.You need a name.”
He braced himself; he’d heard about this little thing going around giving everyone names.He just hoped she wouldn’t saddle him with something he couldn’t live down.
She leaned her head to the side, and he straightened his shoulders as she studied him.
“You are Sir Strongheart – Keeper of the Fields.”
And with that, she got up and wandered back toward the garage, leaving him sitting among the cornflowers – no longer feeling out of place, but like maybe the earth here did have room for him after all.
Chapter Ten
When Jacob and Bentley arrived at the hangar, Jacob checked the flight tracker app on his phone.
Bentley laughed and pointed toward the sky.“You don’t need to look at that.They’re about to land.”
“I know.It’s not them I’m checking on.I just realized that Trick and Elliott should be back soon with some of the early guests.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that.Are they far behind?”
“Not too far, but we should have plenty of time,” said Jacob.“Looks like they’re half an hour out.And besides, I don’t think anyone will mind if they arrive while your mom and Xander and Smoke are still here.”
“Who are they bringing?”asked Bentley.
Jacob smiled.“Annalise Montclair and Hannah’s friend, Delaney.”
Bentley raised his eyebrows.“I thought Annalise was already back here.”
“She’s been coming and going the last few weeks from what I understand.When I asked if she’d want to fly in with the other guests, she said she felt a little guilty about it.”He shrugged.“I was happy to include her.”
“I know Mom will be happy to see her,” said Bentley.“Even though no one liked Philip, Annalise was a different story.”
“Yeah, and you know, when Becca and I get back from our honeymoon, we should probably set up a meeting with Annalise.”
“To talk business?”asked Bentley.
Jacob nodded.“The team Philip left in charge of the estate pretty much ran the place into the ground.”
“And Annalise wants to revive it?”Bentley asked.
“That’s what she said.She doesn’t know much about the business, though, and I’m not sure that she wants to actually run the place herself.”
Bentley gave him a wry smile.“And you want to include me in this meeting?”
Jacob made a face.“I didn’t deliberately cut you out when it came to Ollie and the Stratton place.”
“I know.I’m just giving you a hard time,” said Bentley.“But yeah, if you want us to go into some kind of joint venture with Annalise, I’d be more than interested.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” said Jacob.“And when we start digging into it, we can probably find a way to run the Stratton place between us, too.I really wasn’t trying to cut you out.”
“It’s okay, I understand,” said Bentley.“Ollie’s dad had the deal with your folks back in the day anyway, so it made sense there was the avenue for Stratton Wines to run through Jacobs Estate.But I won’t lie – if you want to include me, I won’t turn you down.”
