Jacob sends me a curious glance, then turns off the flame.
He grabs a couple plates from a cabinet, and I clear my throat. “So, you’re planning to reschedule the wedding, then?”
“Oh, well, nothing’s planned. But we want to do it sometime soon. Before you go back. Something smaller, this time. Though I know we don’t have enough time to really plan it, so maybe we won’t be able to make it work. All the vendors are in Aberdeen, and we’re still here, so—”
I look over at Jacob. “We could do it,” I say.
His brows rise.
“We?” Maggie asks.
“Uhh, Jacob and I. Since we’re both here. In Aberdeen. I’d have to ask him, of course.”
Jacob’s face flickers with amusement.
“But I’ve planned weddings on tighter timelines than this. We’ve thrown together all kinds of things on the show. How small are you thinking?”
“Small,” she says. “Really small. We don’t really want to invite anyone this time, or redo the whole thing. We talked about eloping while we’re here in Skye, but we wanted both of you to be there. You and Jacob.”
“Are you sure? I can handle a larger guest list. And do you want to do it at the same church again or do you have another venue you want?”
“No. Nothing like that. We’ll use the same officiant. I can call and tell him, but I want to do it somewhere close this time. Something relaxed, like a park. And maybe the four of us can go get dinner afterward.”
“Yeah,” I say. Jacob smiles, his head dipping in a nod. “We can make it happen,” I continue. “Don’t worry about a thing.”
I hear my father in the background, his voice low.
“One second,” Maggie says. “Your dad wants to talk to you.”
The line’s quiet as the phone changes hands.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Neelu.” A beat. “I’m…I’m glad you’re spending more time in Aberdeen.” Another pause. “It’ll be nice to see you when we get back. Maggie and I were thinking, after we all meet for the interview, maybe we could all have dinner. Before the wedding.”
“Yeah,” I say. “That would be nice.”
I talked to both of them a couple days ago, explaining that I waspostponing my trip back so I could do some research for some work stuff. I asked them if they’d be willing to be interviewed as part of my research for a new show. They were both excited about it, asking questions, but I kept it simple. I just told them that my time in Scotland had provided a lot of inspiration, and their love story had helped me come up with the premise.
Maggie continued chattering, but my father went quiet at that. I wasn’t sure if he was upset about that, about me pulling something from his life, but he sent me a text message later. Short and simple, stating,Looking forward to the interviewandSee you soon.It was the kind of nondescript message I’d received from him before, the kind I used to only acknowledge with a passive-aggressive thumbs-up, but this time I replied with aMe too, and he surprised me by hearting the message.
I didn’t even know he knew how to do that.
“Jacob will be there too,” my dad says, and I look over at Jacob across the kitchen. He’s sliding the eggs onto a plate, his brows raised.
“I haven’t asked him yet,” my dad continues, “but I’m sure he’ll be there.” My dad pauses. “If that’s all right with you.”
“Yeah,” I say. “I’m okay with that.”
Jacob grins.
After we hang up, he walks over to me, taking the knife out of my hand and laying it on the cutting board.
“You’re okay with that?” he asks. “Justokay?”
“I mean,” I say as his arms come around me, as he pulls me to his chest, “I guess I don’tmindspending time in your company.”
He growls, leaning down to kiss me, and a laugh bubbles out of my mouth.
