Page 73 of One More Yule Log
“I think I am, yeah. I mean, I’m glad you’re here, but I want you to be safe!” Gray waved his arms, all of it tumbling out.
“I am safe.” Ben sighed and turned back to the car.
“I know you are, but what if you’d been like Mrs. Bailey and slid off the road!” Damn it, he wasn’t being unreasonable.
“Then I would have put up flares and eaten canapes in the car.”
“Ben! That’s not funny.” He felt like Liv, about to stamp his foot and cry or some shit.
“I’m sorry you were scared, babe. I was too. I needed to be here. You don’t know where the generator is. I needed to know you two were safe. This storm is going to keep us in for a couple days. I needed to be here with y’all.”
Gray took one deep breath, then another, the fact that Ben wasn’t flip anymore going a long way to calming him down. “Okay. Okay, I can see that.”
“I love you.” And that was the core of it. Ben loved him, had come home to them. “Help me unload? I want to get upstairs and in dry clothes.”
“Of course.” Lord, he felt all drained. “Did we just have our first spat?”
“We did. You know what that means?”
“Make-up sex?” Woo-hoo. “I’ve never been serious enough about anyone to fight with them before.”
“I’m serious. Also, yes. Make-up sex. I’m so in.” The entire fucking Land Rover was filled with groceries.
“You did pick up a few things. Let’s get the party stuff up first, then I’ll come back for bags. You’re shivering.”
“Yeah. Let me take the gas cans out and put them up. I didn’t want us to need the generator and not have enough.”
“That was smart. I just freaked out a little. I bet your girl is up there crying too. She was freaked.” That wasn’t an accusation. Liv was very determined to be strong for her dad, but she had some stress.
“Yeah. That was another reason to push through.” Ben unloaded three big gas cans and put them with two more.
“You up for tree decorating?” Gray grabbed all the catering boxes he could carry.
“You know it. Let me get dry and a cup of coffee with a shot of whiskey in it, and I’ll be a decorating fool.”
“You’re a star.” They headed upstairs, where Liv met Ben with his slippers and sweats and pajamas, socks, and a robe.
Gray bit back a grin, going back for groceries after dropping off the munchies.
When he got back upstairs, Ben was changed and holding his little girl, who was sobbing softly against his chest.
Poor kiddo. All that tension had to go somewhere when it released. Gray puttered in the kitchen, not sure what to do, exactly.
Coffee.
That he could do. Fancy coffee with a little booze. Also, the puff pastries needed a little warming. He popped them into the toaster oven while he made up coffee and hot chocolate.
Soon enough Liv was in the kitchen with him, eyes a little red. “How can I help? The holidays are here!”
“They are! I need some of those pretty platters we got. The plastic ones?” He looked for Ben, who was starting the fire. “And we need to get outourYule log.” Ben hadn’t seen that one.
“I know! He’s going to be so happy. Next year, we’ll make one together. All three of us.”
“We will. We’ll do a rainbow one.” She would love that.
“With edible glitter?”
“You know it.” He was the king of sparkly stuff.
