Chapter 32
We tell them everything. Well, almost everything.
They don’t need to know all the details, all the things we’ve gotten up to. They get the censored version and the bottom line: We have feelings for each other and we’re going to keep seeing each other. We’re going to try to make this work.
Maggie tears up again, hugging Jacob tightly, then hugging me too.
My father’s still in shock, I think. He’s looking between me and Jacob like we’re an equation he can’t solve.
Jacob gets up to get another round of drinks and order us some food, and my father watches me, confused.
“So, you’re…together?”
Maggie lets out a sound of mock exasperation. “What isn’t clicking for you, Ajit? Yes, they’re together.” She shoots me a conspiratorial look, a Can you believe your father? sort of look, and it makes me laugh.
“I thought you both didn’t…I thought you didn’t like each other,” he says.
“We didn’t, then we did,” I say. “Or, maybe it was more like, we did, then we didn’t, and then we did, but I think we actually liked each other the whole way through.”
“I sure did, at least,” Jacob says. He sets the drinks down on the table and slides into the chair next to mine.
My dad’s brows are furrowed. “Does this mean he’s joining us for Thanksgiving?”
“Yes,” Jacob says, his answer firm and immediate. He pauses. “Is that something we’re doing? Thanksgiving?”
I laugh, bumping his shoulder with mine. “Yeah. Dad and Maggie are going to come to L.A. for Thanksgiving. You want to come too?”
“If I’m invited…”
“You are,” I say with a smile.
“Okay.” He smiles back, wide and uninhibited. He pulls out his phone, swiping over to his calendar. “I’ll find someone to cover my classes for me.”
“All right.”
We watch each other, goofy and grinning. My chest feels so light right now. It’s as if I could float.
And then Maggie laughs, gesturing toward Jacob and me. “Really, Ajit, you didn’t pick up on this?”
My father takes a sip of his drink, his forehead still creased. “No. I had no—I still can’t—” He mumbles into his glass, and Maggie’s laughter is contagious, all of us joining in.
The conversation moves on. Jacob says he wants to come to drop me off at the airport tomorrow too, so we’ll all be going together.
My dad asks about my pitch, and I tell them I sent all of it over to Natalie yesterday.
I’m crossing my fingers that we can work on it more when I get back.
Jacob talks about his prep for the semester, and the work he’s doing on his poetry collection, and the whole time, he holds my hand on top of the table, his thumb brushing against my skin.
After all this hiding, it feels so bold. A declaration. It warms me through and through.
We keep chatting, but when the music in the pub changes, Jacob sits up straight. He scans the room and grins when he spots the bartender, who gives him a big wave.
The music gets louder, and the instrumental section gives way to lyrics.
By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes
Maggie’s eyes shoot to Jacob. “You didn’t. You told them?”
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
My dad laughs, and Jacob stands up, bringing me with him, our hands still clasped.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
There’s a group of four men at the next table over, and they look over at us, smiling.
“Who’s the happy couple?” one of them calls.
“These two,” Jacob says, pointing at Maggie and my father.
The men at the table raise their glasses toward them, and beside me Jacob starts singing along, his voice deep in my ear.
You’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road
And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye
I snap my head toward him, confused, until I hear the folks at the next table singing too.
Jacob reaches for Maggie’s hand, and my father grabs mine, the four of us forming a circle.
And then Maggie starts singing as well, her voice high and clear.
Where me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
“You all know this song?” I ask Jacob.
He squeezes my hand. “It’s tradition. At the end of a wedding, we sing this to the bride and groom. Usually, all the guests surround the couple in a circle, but since it’s just us…” He shrugs, smiling wide.
My father joins in on the song, and I stare at him. “You know it too?”
“You’re supposed to sing it!” he says.
I laugh. “I don’t know the words!”
“Oh, you’ll learn the chorus fast,” Jacob says.
“Should we put them in the middle?” the man who called to us before asks, standing up and joining, and slowly we shift as a few others follow him.
My father and Maggie clasp hands in the center, and there are about seven of us now holding hands in a circle around them.
And Jacob was right. The chorus comes to me quickly.
You’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road
And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye
Where me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
But then the tempo increases, and Jacob looks toward me, a cheeky grin spread wide across his face.
“What is—”
And suddenly, everyone in the circle is running toward the bride and groom. I’m yanked by Jacob and the man holding my other hand, following them.
You’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road
And then we run back.
And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye
Maggie and my father laugh, their faces bright, and we rush back toward them, all of us forming a tighter circle, the strangest sort of group hug.
Where me and my true love will never meet again
And then we’re back.
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
A verse kicks in, with words I don’t know, and then the chorus returns, and we’re running. A laugh breaks out of me, and Jacob turns my way, his hair whipping around his face, his smile so wide that crinkles form near his eyes.
The cycle repeats, and I find myself out of breath from both the laughter and exertion, and slowly, after a little while, the tempo comes down.
We stop running, singing out the chorus for what I believe will be the last time, but on the second to last line, Maggie breaks away from my dad.
Where me and my true love will never meet again
She stretches her hand out, reaching for me, tugging both Jacob and me into the middle of the circle.
My dad takes my hand, and Jacob takes Maggie’s, the four of us forming a circle again.
And then, the final words.
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
As the song fades, I look at Jacob. His face is flushed, his eyes shining as he watches me in return.
I know this is the end of my time in Scotland. I know I’m going back home tomorrow, but nothing about this feels like an ending.
The circle falls away, and I watch my father and Maggie embrace just as Jacob pulls me toward him. I laugh again, falling into his arms, and he leans down. His glasses are off-center from all the dancing, and I reach for them, fixing them back in place right before he kisses me.
And as I sink farther into him, I know this isn’t an ending, but the beginning of something scary and wonderful. A life and love I never believed could be mine.