Page 71 of Cognac & Cornflowers

“I do, too. So, you can pester me as much as you like – and you’ll soon see. Whatever you want will always be okay – if it makes you happy, it’ll make me happy. Not because I’m humoring you, but because I love you and I want you to be happy.”

“Aww.” She reached up and gave him a quick peck.

“Uncle Jacob!” Ava came running to them with a big smile on her face. “Uncle Jacob!” she shouted again, so loud that everyone turned to look at her.

“You just did the mistletoe thing with Miss Taylor – but there’s no mistletoe, and it’s not even Christmas. Does that mean you’re going to marry her?”

Becca’s cheeks turned pink when every pair of eyes in the room turned to them. No way did Jacob want her to feel embarrassed in front of all his friends a second time. He tightened his arm around her shoulders and smiled down at Ava before looking up and smiling around at his friends. Then he looked into Becca’s eyes and said, “I hope so, Ava. That’s what I’m working toward if Miss Taylor wants me.”

He knew that his friends were smiling and nodding at each other, but it wasn’t their reaction he was interested in. Becca put her hand in the middle of his chest and looked up at him.

She pressed a kiss to his lips and said quietly, “Miss Taylor wants you.”

He chuckled and whispered, “Miss Taylor’s got me. Now I just have to work on turning you into Mrs. Jacobs.”

Chapter Eighteen

Becca was exhausted by the time she got home from school on Thursday. January was her least favorite month. It was the coldest and dreariest month. Christmas already seemed a long time ago and there was a long haul ahead until spring break. The kids seemed to feel the same way she did, too. All the happy, smiling little faces that had been so eager for Christmas were gone. January seemed to be more about bickering and drudgery.

When she parked out back of the house, close to the kitchen door, she patted Grover’s steering wheel before she got out. “Thank you,” she told him with a smile.

She couldn’t help looking over to the big garage where Fred still sat. She felt guilty that she hadn’t done anything about him yet. She didn’t want to scrap him, but she knew that it was silly to just leave him sitting out there, taking up space.

She ran up the steps to the kitchen door and felt her shoulders relax when she stepped inside. Whatever Elena had made for dinner smelled wonderful. She’d been worried at first that she wouldn’t feel right having someone else do all the cooking – that she wouldn’t be able to relax and feel at home if she wasn’t making her own dinner and pottering in the kitchen. She’d been wrong about that. She was surprised at how quickly she’d not just gotten used to, but grown to love, coming home and being able to spend her evenings doing other things. She usually managed to get her schoolwork done before Jacob came home, then they ate together and had the rest of the evening to enjoy each other’s company.

Elena and Slade greeted her with a smile when she entered the kitchen.

“Hi.” She’d been surprised the first time she saw Slade on the gate. After he’d come to Oakland with Jacob to get her, she’d thought – because they’d told her – that they were friends. So, she hadn’t expected to see Slade sitting in the little gatehouse, working. But she’d come to understand it. Just like Elena, Slade had a very different relationship with Jacob than what Becca thought of as an employer-employee relationship – they really were friends.

Slade greeted her with a grin and held up a Tupperware container. “Hey, Becca. I was just collecting my dinner. I’ll get out of your way.”

“You’re not in the way! Stick around if you like; I talked to Jacob a few minutes ago. He said that he’ll be home soon. Why don’t you stay and have dinner with us?”

Slade laughed. “I’d love to, but I’m on the gate tonight. John’s waiting for me to get out there so that he can go home.”

“Oh, okay.” She didn’t know John as well, but she’d waved to him just now when she came through the gate. She decided that she should stop and chat with him tomorrow. She wanted to get to know everyone who worked here.

Elena came and touched her arm. “I’m off home, too, if that’s all right with you?”

“Of course, it is.” Becca smiled at her. “Something smells wonderful, thank you.”

Elena waggled her eyebrows. “It’s in the crockpot. You can look for yourself. Veggies are all in the warming drawer; I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Elena. See you in the morning.”

They’d both left before Becca was even out of her coat. She went to peek in the crockpot and grinned when she saw a roast. She would never make one herself during the week, but she loved coming home to it on a cold January evening.

She decided to go upstairs and change. Then she’d come back down and set up the trays so that they could eat in the study when Jacob got home.

She’d just pulled on a pair of sweatpants and one of her favorite cozy sweaters when she heard her phone ringing.

She ran back down the stairs and managed to get it before it stopped. She grinned when she sawHomeon the screen.

“Hey!”

“Hi, Becca. It’s Mom.”

“Hey, Mom. Is everything okay?”

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