“You will be grooms or groomsmen,” Tessa said. “Jonah will make a handsome young husband-to-be and Eli, Akari really wants to emphasize the ‘seasoned’ bridal party.”
He shot both brows up. “Meaning…old?”
She shrugged. “Apparently lots of people of acertain ageare getting married down here in Destin, and she’s catering to the market.”
Eli exchanged a look with Jonah, who groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know about this.”
“Well, I do,” Tessa said cheerfully. “We need good-looking warm bodies, so that means everyone in this room and a few who are not. Is that Crista’s husband on the phone? Come on down and watch your daughter be the one and only featured Flower Girl. I’m sure you’d make a very nice groomsman, too.”
“Come, Daddy!” Nolie squealed and danced over to the phone.
While they talked and Vivien peppered them with questions, Jonah leaned closer to Eli.
“Kate should be here, Dad,” he said under his breath.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “It’d be great if she could come. But she’s busy with work and her kids.”
“Even for a long weekend?” Jonah pressed. “She could bring them down.”
“But her mother…”
“If you want to keep that woman in your life, show her you care by calling her every single day and sharing your life.” Jonah lifted a brow. “Or so a wise man once told me five minutes ago.”
“A very wise man,” Eli joked. “Who would probably get turned down if he asked.”
“Only one way to find out.” Jonah reached for his phone, flipping it playfully in the air. “So sayeth this wise man.”
On a sigh, Eli nodded. “I’ll call her.”
“We’llcall her,” Jonah said. “’Cause one of us isn’t going to take no for an answer. Come on, old—er, I mean,seasonedman. To the deck.”
As the chatter died down, Eli followed his son back out to the deck, aware of the strange mix of nerves and anticipation that he always felt when he called Kate. But today, they were stronger than usual because he really wanted her to come down for a visit.
Jonah walked to the sitting area, sat down, and placed his feet on the firepit table. Then he gestured for Eli to come closer so they could both talk.
The phone rang a few times before Kate answered.
“Jonah? What’s up?”
Jonah grinned. “Surprise, it’s your favorite father-son duo. You’ve got both of us.”
Kate laughed, the sound of her voice warm and delighted. “Eli! Hi! What’s going on?”
Just hearing her voice made him feel better. “Hey, Kate. How’s brutally cold and not very sunny Ithaca?”
She laughed. “We had an unseasonably high warm spell of forty-seven today. Everyone wore shorts. But there’s snow on the way later this week. How are things down there? I hear that apartment is coming along.”
“We’re doing drywall,” Jonah said. “Which sounds worse than it is—we’ve actually been having a lot of fun.”
Eli’s heart soared just thinking about how this boy who’d been so distant for years could now pronounce drywalling to be fun. Kate deserved so much credit for encouraging him.
“How’s life in the lab?” Jonah asked.
Locking his hands behind his head, Eli closed his eyes and listened to her chat about her latest experiment—still working on capacitors and….something else he honestly didn’t understand—and the goings-on at Cornell’s science departments.
“It’s all pretty dull,” she added. “Tell me about the house. How’s it going with Crista? And Tessa? Is everything okay?”
“Why don’t you come and see for yourself?” Eli asked.
