“Good exercise?”
That got him one more cocked brow. “I’m eighty-three years old. Good exercise is a successful trip to the bathroom.”
“Grandpa!” Benny tried to sound calm. “It’s just…you’d look awesome out there. You already have the beard and everything. And peopleloveGrumpy Santa.”
Red just looked down and picked up his pencil. “Well, what do you know? Sometimes you just see the word after staring at it for an hour.” He started to scribble. “‘One pulling rank is…rank odor, I bet. Like something that stinks. Sort of like all these pathetic ploys to get me to say yes.”
Benny had nothing left but the nuclear option—a big, fat dose of honesty.
“Well, Grandpa, I, uh, I may have made a deal.”
Red froze. “Adeal?”
“With Mrs. Locke,” Benny admitted. “She’s in charge of the festival.”
Red sighed and put down the pencil. “What kind of deal, Benedict?”
“The kind that involves awin-win situation,” Benny said quickly. “See, she wanted you as Santa for the ice show. And I wanted something, too.”
He leaned forward. “What did you want?”
“Well…” Benny scratched the back of his neck. “Olivia told her that if she let Mom and Marshall Hampton work together on a gingerbread house for their block, I’d get you to do the ice show.”
Red frowned. “Why would she do that?”
“Well…for the good of?—”
“Do not give me a load of hooey about this town, royalty, or peace on Earth. Why did you two do that?”
Actually, it was Olivia but somehow, he was in the mix. “Because everyone wins.”
“Wins what?” Red demanded. “I’ll break my hip, and your mother could break…” He didn’t finish but cleared his throat. “Why would you—no, why wouldanyone—think your mother wants to work with the kale-loving competition across the street?”
“Because Olivia thinks it’s their…destiny.”
“Ohhh.” He dragged out the word. “So this isn’t for your mother or me or the lady in town. This is so you can gain points with a girl.”
He felt his cheeks flame. “Grandpa! Come on! You know me better than that. It’s for Mom! Olivia’s dad is awesome. He’s funny, he’s smart, and he makes these protein muffins that don’t even taste like cardboard. And Mom—she’s awesome, too. So if they work together, they’ll fall in love and get married, and then we’ll all be one big happy family!”
Red’s mouth hung open. “You’re serious.”
“It made sense at the time,” he admitted. “And it was Olivia’s idea, although, technically, I made the deal because I’m like your agent.”
“Well, then, you’re fired.”
Benny sighed. “Don’t you see that it could be a good idea?”
Red pinched the bridge of his nose. “Boy, you can’t just arrange people’s lives like chess pieces.”
“I’m not arranging. I’mnudging.Gently.” He leaned forward. “Grandpa, Mom shouldn’t be alone! There’s a perfectly nice former NFL player across the street and he’s not married and she’s not married and they each have a kid and it always works out in the dumb movies! All we’re trying to do is…you know. Get me a dad and Olivia a mom.”
Red stared at him, all the edges in his face softening. And, oh, no. Were those tears in his eyes? Had Benny made him cry? He hated?—
“Excuse me? What did you just say, Benedict?”
Benny whipped around and stared at his mother, who stood in the doorway, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised, her cheeks pink from the cold—and, he suspected, from fury.
“Hi, Mom,” he said weakly. “You’re home early.”
