Page 49 of One More Yule Log

“We do!” he called. “A chicken skillet and a small deep fryer that plugs in.”

“I love that your dad is a kitchen snob,” he told Liv in a stage whisper.

“It’s cool, huh? He likes his toys.” Liv stuck her tongue to the side of her mouth, working hard to dry a bowl.

“It is. Since I love kitchens, it makes me happy.” Most everything about Ben made him happy.

“Do you really love my daddy? Like for real?”

“I do, kiddo. I love you too. You stole my heart.” He grinned when she beamed at him. “But your daddy makes me a little nuts how much I love him.”

“Weird. Cool, but weird.”

“That’s what happens sometimes. You’ll see when you grow up.” He handed her another dish to dry. They were almost done with the handwashing.

“Uh-huh. When I grow up, I’m going to marry Ariana Grande. Or maybe Shawn Mendes.”

“I like that you keep your options open,” he praised. “Always good.”

“Right? Love is love!”

Oh, Ben had done a good job raising this one. He was sure Dale had been a fine guy too. Really. But Ben was so obviously great with her.

“Yes, ma’am. You can love whoever you wish, so long as they’re good to you. If they aren’t, I will smite them.” Ben’s words were light, but the look in those eyes wasn’t.

Gray nodded. Smiting worked. Anyone who could be evil to Liv would deserve just that. “Okay. That was the last one. Off to play Sorry!”

“What color do you want, Gray?” From the question, he knew that Liv had a favorite color, but someone had told her she had to share. Some Texas daddy, he imagined.

“Oh, I’m not picky. I like blue or green or anything.” There. Surely that was a safe enough answer.

“Yeah? Cool. Daddy takes yellow ’cause nobody likes it.” She came over to the coffee table, sitting next to the red section of the board.

Bingo.

Ben rolled his eyes. “Yellow is like sunshine. Pick your poison, Gray.”

“I’ll take blue then.”

“Good deal. Let’s do this.” Ben waggled his eyebrows, playing with him.

“I’m vicious.” He wasn’t really, and he’d played enough with Alice’s daughter to know how to balance playing with kids.

And talk about vicious, that little girl was a beast, just evil with sending them back every chance she got, and crowing, “Sorry!”

“Ahhh you’re killing me,” Gray said, clutching his heart.

“The point is to win, right?” she asked, and Ben shook his head.

“No, Dale Jr. The point is to have fun.”

“Winning is fun.”

“Yeah, for you.” He winked, but he could totally follow Ben’s lead. “It’s all fun, kiddo, if you’re with people you like, spending time.”

“Exactly. I love watching how smart you are, how fast. I love spending time as a family, joking together.”

“Me too!” Liv bounced. “Okay. I won’t be so mean.”