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Slade cocked an eyebrow at her. He probably had a point; Jacob was more the unapproachable CEO type than the warm and cuddly uncle type, but if that’s what Ava needed him to be then … Hannah could only hope that he’d play along.
“Maybe.”
“I’ll let you get going then. See you tomorrow, Miss Ava.”
“Maybe.”
Hannah glanced over at her as they pulled away again. “Is this okay with you – me picking you up and coming back here?”
Ava nodded, but her chin started to wobble.
Hannah felt awful. “You can say if you don’t like it, you know. I’m only trying to help, but if I upset you. I don’t …”
“No!” Tears were streaming down the little girl’s face now. “I love it! I love you and I love Scooter and I love your cottage and I want … I want …” She stopped and sniffed.
Hannah pulled the car over and turned to face her. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”
Ava hung her head. Hannah unfastened her seatbelt and reached for her. The second she did that, Ava unfastened her belt and flung herself into Hannah’s arms. All Hannah could do was try not to cry herself. She held her as close as she could and stroked her back while she cried. When it seemed like she was done, Hannah pulled a packet of tissues from her purse and gave her one.
Ava dried her eyes and blew her nose. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Do you want to tell me?”
Ava nodded slowly. “I told Jenna Williams that we stayed with you and that you were coming to get me today.”
Hannah waited, wondering what the problem with that might be.
Ava sniffed again. “She didn’t believe me. She told Madison. And Madison said that Mr. Jacob will sell us.”
Hannah didn’t know what to make of that. “What do you think she meant?”
Ava looked up at her, her big blue eyes shimmering with fresh tears. “She said that her mommy said that Mr. Jacob is the richest man in all of Napa. And that he could buy and sell all of us. I know Uncle Grady doesn’t have much money. We only live in a small house, and he has to work a lot. But I don’t want Mr. Jacob to sell me.”
“Oh, sweetie. He’s not going to sell you. He wants to be your friend. And I think Madison got things a bit mixed up. It’s an expression that people use when someone has a lot of money. They say that he could buy and sell the rest of us. It doesn’t mean that they’re going to.”
Ava looked at her. “No? Madison said he’s a bad man.”
“Why does she think that?” Her instincts wanted to defend him. She’d heard her brother called a lot of names over the years. Perhaps some of them held some truth. But she knew with all her heart that he was no threat to Ava in any way.
“Because he’s rich.”
Hannah frowned. “Does that make him bad?”
“Madison said that rich people are mean and greedy and selfish and that they make money by taking it away from poor people.” Her eyes grew bigger. “She says Uncle Grady’s poor.”
Hannah forced herself to smile, though what she really wanted to do was give Madison’s parents a piece of her mind. That had to be where the girl had gotten her warped ideas from. “Well, Madison’s wrong, sweetie. Uncle Grady has a good job and a lovely house. You never go without, do you?”
Ava shook her head.
“Then I think we can say that’s definitely not poor. Do you agree?”
“Yes.”
“And while some rich people are mean, not all of them are that way. Jacob’s my brother; I know him pretty well. I know that he’s kind and generous.” She smiled. “He can be a bit grumpy sometimes, but I think that’s a boy thing.”
Ava gave her a small smile. “Uncle Grady can be a bit grumpy sometimes, too. But only when he’s tired. He works a lot.”
“I know.” Hannah blew out a sigh. “I’m sorry that your friends upset you with the things they said. But I think it’s very important that we should go and see Jacob now. You’ll see that he’s not the kind of person they said. I think you’ll like him.”
