Gramps and Dad appeared from the study where they’d been lounging, then Reba came out in a flour-dusted jean dress. She also wore rouge and some lipstick. Everyone was clearly showing their best, as much for him as it was for Hannah.
“Well now.” Reba clapped her hands. “Let’s get this party started.”
“We brought a couple of little gifts,” Hannah said hesitantly, holding the gift bag out to Grams.
A gift? She’d never needed to bring something store-bought. A pie or side was fine, sure, but not this… “You aren’t a guest,” he bit out. “There was no need?—”
“A gift is always welcome,” Grams said, squeezing his hand before stepping forward and taking it. When she looked inside, she gasped. “Oh, Hannah, you sweetheart you. Donald, come and see what this little traveler brought us.”
He strolled over in a Sunday dress shirt, black pants, and silver-plated belt buckle, his boots scraping on the hardwood floor. “Oh, Cora! She brought the MacAlister plaid.”
Ben’s throat knotted up. She had?
“All the way from Scotland too,” Gramps mused, fingering the red tartan with a blue overcheck. “You remembered a few of our ancestors bringing a tartan back from Scotland when they’d visited times past?”
“I did.” Hannah smiled as Cooper wiggled closer to see the cloth. “Of course, they spell your last name a little differently, and this is a modern pattern I didn’t remember you having.”
“We don’t.” Grams kissed her cheek, then pinched it. “You always were as sweet as you were smart. Thank you.”
“Like I said, it’s only something little,” she said shyly.
Ben was sure that if the entryway light was better, he’d see a flush spreading up her chest.
Neil thrust out his own black gift bag. “Another treasure from Scotland.”
Gramps laughed as he lifted out a bottle of single malt. “I don’t know this brand. Glen Tostaich. Did I pronounce that right?”
“Pretty close, and you’ll notice we spell it ‘whisky’ and not ‘whiskey,’ like the differences with your last name,” Neilanswered, his obvious pride making his chest puff up like a rooster. “It’s from my mother’s family—the Ross family—in Speyside.”
Dad took the bottle from Gramps, testing the weight. “We like whiskey in this house, so thank you.”
“Does Tostaich mean anything particular?” Will asked.
“Aye. It’s Gaelic for the Valley of Silence. My mother likes to say it also means to make quiet, because that’s the best way to make whisky. The grain likes peace while it rests. But she’s a little fae.”
“What does that mean?” Cooper asked with a puzzled look.
Neil gave a hearty laugh. “Well, laddie, in brief, I’d say she’s in touch with the magic of nature.”
“Oh good! So am I. Hey, Dad, I’m fae. And a laddie.”
Ben shook his head in amusement as his son giggled. “What you are is hungry. I can hear your stomach all the way over here. Reba, are you ready to feed us?”
The pointed look she shot him made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. “I see we’re in a hurry to eat like usual. I’ll have Charlie carry in the last of the serving plates. Why don’t you all get along to the dining room?”
He didn’t stir from the doorway, because suddenly, he didn’t know his moves. What was he supposed to say to Hannah exactly? Welcome? With Neil at her side, he had no clue, so he simply crossed and shook his hand and thanked him for the scotch. The giant only gave him an amused smile.
How the hell am I supposed to act nice and show her the good stuff with her beau in waiting at the table?
“It was nice of Hannah and Neil to think of us, wasn’t it, Benjamin?”
Grams was putting him in his place and reminding him of his manners. “Yes, ma’am. It surely was.”
He caught Hannah’s muffled laughter. No one called him Benjamin anymore except Grams when she was feeling testywith him. He couldn’t help but smile and look over. Hannah was watching him. He sent her a wink to test things out and watched as her brow rose. Only moments later, her mouth curved, which had him feeling both relieved and eager for more.
Reba must have been in the mood for matchmaking because she seated him next to Hannah with Neil on her other side. Cooper was almost in his lap, smiling over at her. He started to rise from his chair to change places with his son, but Reba smacked mashed potatoes on his plate. Hard. He sat the hell back down.
The faint smell of summer was on her skin from being outside along with a hint of something spicy he didn’t recognize. Another new item for him to ask about later. She sat a little stiffly beside him as Grams asked about her time in Scotland and all the healing she’d been doing, Dylan Prentice notwithstanding. He listened eagerly, pushing his chair back a couple of inches so Cooper could better see.
