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He was so tempted to tell her that he loved her. But he held back. Not because he was scared, but because he wanted to find the perfect moment, one where it was just the two of them. Instead, he waggled his eyebrows at her. “I’m glad you do because I have some thoughts about what we can do once Ava goes to bed.”
She laughed. “I’ll look forward to hearing all about them, but you’ll have to save them for now; they’re coming.”
Jacob and Ava were indeed coming their way, even if Jacob did keep glancing back over his shoulder at Becca.
“You guys were awesome!” Grady said when they reached them.
Ava came to him, and he picked her up and kissed her cheek. “You did great, Pixie.” He grinned at Jacob. “And you, you did great, too. Thank you.”
Jacob held his gaze. “Thank you, for letting Ava do that with me. It was … special.”
Grady nodded. “It was.”
Chapter Seventeen
Ava held onto Hannah’s hand as she skipped along beside her. “Do you think it will snow for Christmas? This is my first real Christmas and I really, really hope that it snows.”
“It might.” Hannah didn’t want to dash her hopes outright, but she didn’t want her to build them up either. “I don’t think it’s very likely, though. We don’t get a lot of snow here.”
Ava sighed. “I know. I just wish. But it’s okay. Because I have a lot more Christmas wishes, too. And I’m not greedy. It’s okay if I don’t get snow because some of my other wishes are way more important.”
“Oh, yeah? What else are you wishing for?”
Ava smiled. “You already know some of them. I wished for a puppy, but I can’t have one. But that’s okay because you have Scooter.”
Hannah nodded. “And you know that I’m happy to share him with you.”
Scooter was trotting ahead of them, sniffing his way along the edge of the driveway, and peeing on every single one of the trees. They were walking back to the cottage after visiting Jacob at the big house.
Ava nodded. “I can’t tell you my most important wish.”
“Why not?” Hannah was hoping to get ideas for a Christmas present. Grady had ordered the camera that she’d suggested. Hannah wanted to get her something else as well, something different. She knew it was probably silly, but she didn’t want to feel – or for anyone else to think – that she was trying to force her own love of photography onto her.
Ava grinned up at her. “I can’t tell you because it’s about you.”
“Oh.”
“It’s about you and Uncle Grady and me.”
“I see.”
Ava had already said that she wished that Grady could be her dad and Hannah could be her mom. Hannah wished for the same. But she wasn’t sure that she should be encouraging Ava about it. That wouldn’t be fair to any of them. They didn’t need any kind of pressure. Things were going amazingly well. Grady and Ava had pretty much moved into the cottage with her – and she loved it! They did, too.
She and Grady had settled into a very comfortable routine. She took care of Ava when he had to work, and he took care of both of them when he didn’t. He did most of the cooking, which was fine by her. There was nothing routine about their night times, though.
Her smile faded. She hoped that Mel’s dad was doing okay, but she wasn’t looking forward to her coming back. She couldn’t imagine things changing back. She didn’t want to think about waking up alone in the cottage. Well, she’d still have Scooter, but if Grady and Ava went back to his townhouse? She shuddered at the thought. They’d only been together for a short time, but she couldn’t imagine her life without them in it anymore. She hated the thought of Mel taking Ava to school instead of her. And no, Grady couldn’t go back to picking Ava up from Mel’s late at night and waking her up to take her home. That wouldn’t make sense. Ava had settled into her routine here. On the nights Grady had to work late, Hannah got her to bed at a decent hour – not always right on time, but not too late. Grady went in to give her a kiss when he got home. All she did was open her eyes for a moment and smile when she knew he was back. She didn’t have to get up and go out to the car in the cold and …
“Are you okay?” Ava was giving her a puzzled look.
She smiled at her, realizing that she’d been so caught up in her thoughts that she’d forgotten to be right here in the moment. She didn’t know what was going to happen in the future, but she did know that she had today. She and Ava were going to bake Christmas cookies. When Grady got home, which should be a little after four, they were going to decorate the cottage and put up the tree.
“Sorry, sweetie. I was just thinking about how great this Christmas is going to be.”
Ava wrapped her arms around her waist. “It’s going to be the best Christmas ever! I already got the best presents.”
“You did?”
“Yes. I got you and Uncle Jacob and Scooter!”
