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“I do.”
“And are you thinking about saying those two words to her?”
“I am. I’ll come and ask you first, though.”
“There’s no need. My answer will be yes. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think you need to wait too long. I’m not trying to rush you into it. All I’m saying is, don’t put it off if you don’t want to.”
“Okay.”
The girls had reached them now. Hannah was smiling. and Becca looked about as nervous as Jacob. Grady was looking forward to seeing how this would shake out.
“Jacob, do you remember Becca – Miss Taylor – Ava’s teacher?”
“How could I forget?”
Grady exchanged a glance with Hannah as they watched. Becca’s cheeks turned bright red as she shook hands with Jacob, and he seemed to transform before their eyes. His nerves were gone as he held onto her hand and drew Becca closer. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again.”
When he gave her a thousand-megawatt smile, he looked very muchtheJacob Jacobs that the press portrayed. And Grady started to hope that he was going to be good to Becca. He felt kind of responsible for her.
Hannah touched his arm and spoke in a low voice, “Don’t worry. They’ll be fine. I just couldn’t resist.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and started walking down the aisle between the rows of chairs, hoping that Jacob would take the hint and follow. “I get why you did it.” He glanced back. “But it makes me nervous.”
Hannah laughed. “He’ll be good. I know he will. For starters, she’s Ava’s teacher and he wouldn’t do anything that would affect Ava.” She glanced back at them, too. “And for another thing, he knows damned well that I’ll kick his ass for him if he messes up. He dated one of my friends once when we were teenagers. And that’s the reason he doesn’t get involved with anyone locally anymore.”
Grady raised his eyebrows. “You kicked his ass?”
“Metaphorically speaking.”
Grady laughed. “I’m impressed.”
Hannah stopped when they were as close to the front as they were going to get. “Will this be okay?”
“Sure.”
She went in first and Grady followed. A few moments later, Becca came and sat beside him, and Jacob took the aisle seat.
“Are you okay?” Grady asked quietly.
Becca’s cheeks tinged with pink, but she nodded. Then she made big eyes at him as if to askwhat the…?
Grady chuckled. “You’ll be fine, but let me know if you’re not, okay?”
She nodded before turning back to Jacob when he spoke on her other side.
Chapter Nineteen
Grady watched Jacob’s big ass SUV pull through the gate when they got back to the estate. Then he stopped the car and put his window down when Slade came out.
“Are you guys going up to the big house?”
“Yeah.” They’d followed Jacob back after the carol concert. Ava was excited to go up to the house for hot chocolate and Christmas cookies. Grady was eager to get there, too. But that was more about not leaving Becca alone with Jacob for too long. She’d agreed to come back with them, and she seemed to be into Jacob, but Grady didn’t want her to feel that she was all on her own with no backup – especially since she’d accepted a ride with Jacob and left her own car at the school.
“Why do you ask?” All of a sudden, he worried if Slade thought they needed to look out for Becca, too.
He grinned at Hannah. “Because there’s a surprise up there for you.”
“What kind of surprise?” she asked.
