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“I didn’t know they were in town.”
“Yeah, they’re here for the holidays.” Molly grinned. “They’re spending a lot more time here now that we have Luca. Any excuse to spend time with their grandson.”
“Aww,” Hannah smiled, “that’s lovely.”
“It is. What time’s the latest we can get there? I know it starts at seven but how close can we cut it?” Molly asked Grady, but Hannah answered.
“Becca said that they want everyone seated by quarter to seven.”
“Okay.” Molly raised an eyebrow at her, but she just shrugged. There was no reason that she shouldn’t be the one to know all the details of what was going on with Ava.
Grady dropped a kiss on the back of her neck. “Yeah, Molly, anything you want to know about our schedule now, you need to ask the mama bear.”
“So I noticed.”
Hannah shrugged again. She wasn’t going to deny – or admit – how much she loved it. “Come on, let’s go and get those calendars.”
~ ~ ~
The parking lot at the school was already starting to fill up when they arrived. When they got out of the car, Ava came to take hold of Grady’s hand and then reached for Hannah’s too. He caught Hannah’s gaze, and she smiled. He hoped that she loved this feeling as much as he did.
He looked around at the other families that were making their way toward the doors of the gymnasium where the kids who were singing were supposed to assemble. He’d never imagined himself being one of the dads at school. He’d adjusted to the role since Ava had come to live with him. He sure as hell hadn’t seen himself with a wife, but that was what he was hoping Hannah would one day be. His life hadn’t been conventional to this point and there was no reason that he needed to start his family in a conventional way. He had guardianship of his niece and the plan was that he’d adopt her. And now, he knew that he’d met the woman he wanted to be his wife. She came from a different world than he did, but if that didn’t bother Hannah, there was no way he was going to let it bother him.
“Look!” Ava shouted. “There’s Mrs. Rivers. Come on!”
Grady gave her a puzzled look. “Aren’t we looking for Miss Taylor?”
“No! Miss Taylor doesn’t do choir. Mrs. Rivers does. Miss Taylor’s meeting you guys inside, isn’t she Hannah?”
“She is.”
“She is?” Grady raised his eyebrows at her. “I thought we were meeting Jacob inside.”
Hannah gave him a sly smile. “We are.”
Ava tugged on Grady’s hand. “I have to go, Uncle Grady. I don’t want to be late.”
“You won’t be.”
They hustled over to Mrs. Rivers, who was marking kids’ names off on a sheet as they arrived. The older woman smiled at Grady. “I’m glad you could make it.”
“We wouldn’t miss it.”
Mrs. Rivers looked at Hannah. “Oh! Miss Jacobs! How nice to see you.” She looked back at Grady and then at Hannah again, her eyes wide.
Ava tugged on Grady’s hand. “Charlotte’s over there. I’m going in. I’ll meet you afterwards, okay?”
“Okay.” Grady bent down to kiss her cheek, and then Ava went to Hannah and kissed her, too. “See you later.”
“Bye, Ava. Have fun.”
Grady and Hannah moved out of the way to let the next kids check in, but he could still feel Mrs. Rivers’ eyes on them as they headed toward the main doors. “How do you know her?”
Hannah laughed. “Don’t let this town fool you. It might punch above its weight in the wine world, but it’s a still small town in many ways. Mrs. Rivers has been here forever.”
Grady nodded. “And I forgot. I guess it was a dumb question. Everyone knows the Jacobs family, right?”
“Yeah. Is that a problem for you?”
