Love Under Two Honchos Read Online Free

father, Caleb, said.
    Alex could only grin back at his parents. He wasn’t about to let a temporary aberration, and surely that’s all this reaction he was having to Penelope Primrose could be, get in the way of his enjoying this unexpected family celebration. Good company, good food, and his Grandma Kate back in the bosom of their family, at least for the next few weeks, made for a very good evening, probably even better than the one he and Josh might have with luscious Lola. It was a comfort to think so, in any event.
    Alex surveyed all the familiar people jammed into Kelsey’s restaurant. It didn’t take much to get the combined Benedict, Jessop, and Kendall families in the party mood, but nothing worked better than having their globe-trotting Grandma Kate back home.
    The guest of honor was busy making the rounds, of course, moving from table to table, chatting, hugging, laughing. He didn’t know where she got her energy. “Isn’t she something?” He couldn’t keep the admiration out of his voice.
    “You’d never know she was ninety,” his mother agreed. “I hope I’m half as active at her age.”
    Grandma Kate was clearly on a course that would bring her their way. She stopped at the table occupied by the rest of his siblings. He grinned when Colt and Ryder practically jumped to their feet. He guessed tales of his grandmother had preceded her, courtesy of his sister Susan, their future wife.

    Love Under Two Honchos
    15
    It was always such fun watching people and their first encounter with his grandmother. Anyone who thought to treat her like the proverbial “little old lady” was always in for a surprise.
    Katherine Wesley Benedict was nobody’s little old lady.
    The door to Lusty Appetites opened, and Alex caught the flash of two uniforms, one a sheriff’s brown and the other an Air Force captain’s blue.
    “My, my, I love a man—or two—in uniform!” Grandma Kate said.
    Adam Kendall, Lusty’s sheriff, and his brother Morgan both broke into wide grins.
    “Kate!” Morgan made it over to her first. He scooped her up into his arms and spun her in a big circle. Alex winced, but his grandmother laughed like a young girl.
    Morgan set her down and gave her a big, smacking kiss on the cheek. “It’s about time my favorite girl came home to me.”
    “Oh, you. The two of you should be finding your own woman,”
    she said, including Adam in that appraisal.
    “Working on it,” Adam said, just loud enough so that those close by could hear.
    Alex grinned. That was the perfect answer to give Grandma Kate!
    Alex immediately adopted the stance as his own. As long as she had some indication that he was on the road to doing what she wanted him to do, she’d leave him be. She wouldn’t even necessarily pester him for the details.
    Alex turned to look at his brother.
    “Adam’s smart,” Josh said quietly. “He headed her right off.”
    “I was just thinking that very thing myself. We’ll keep that response on the ready for when she gets around to us.”
    Alex didn’t think it would be a question of if, but when, she got around to them. Many of the nation’s seniors adopted a cause in their December years. Grandma Kate’s cause was marrying off as many of 16
    Cara Covington
    her grandchildren—both actual and associate—as possible, and as soon as possible.
    “Morgan, come and sit down here. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you.” Grandma Kate grabbed the big man’s hand and pulled him over to their table. Alex and Josh shifted to make room for them both.
    “What have you been doing?” Grandma Kate lowered her voice to a loud whisper. “Or can you say?”
    “Sorry, Kate. I really can’t say.” Morgan was a captain in the Air Force. Though he was a pilot, his current assignment was Special Tactics and Combat Control—or what was sometimes referred to as black ops. “But I’ve put in for a transfer to finish up this tour. I’ll be doing something different soon. I’ll be working on