Page 16 of Crazy Rich Cajuns

“Right.Because she’s able to do so much more.I’m not going to settle for cookies from someone who can make a crab and shrimp souffle or crème brûlée that’s so good it will make you wanna cry.”

Bennett felt his eyebrows rise.He’d heard them all say that Kennedy was amazing in the kitchen, but she refused to help out at Ellie’s because Ellie and Cora squabbled all the time.“No kidding.”

“If you’re in the mood for snickerdoodles, she’s your girl,” Leo said.“And if you’re in the mood for more, she’s your girl.”

He was in the mood for…everything Kennedy had to offer.

“So, you make her do more, but she likes you best,” Bennett said.“You think that’s just because you’re her grandpa?”

“It’s because I know what she’s capable of and I don’t let her half-ass stuff,” Leo said.“And I’m funnier than all those other guys,” he added.

Bennett grinned as he thought about that.“This works out well,” he said, dryly.“Rewiring kitchens and overhauling transmissions are the things she gives me shit for not knowing.”

“Yeah, because it’s easier for her to convince herself that she doesn’t need you down the road when she doesn’t, you know, need you,” Leo said with a shrug.

Ellie nodded.“You gotta give her something to need you for.Something real.”

“Like Leo does?”

Ellie smiled at her husband.“Like Leo does.Like the whole family does.People to be there when she calls but to understand what shereallyneeds.”

“What should I have done when she called me to legally defend her against an arrest that wasn’t actually happening?”he asked.

“You should have told her to handle it and that you wanted her lemon orzo shrimp for dinner,” Ellie said.

“Better yet,” Leo piped up.“Tell her that you’re craving something with rosemary in it and what can she do about that.”

“Just give her a challenge,” Bennett said.

“Exactly.Along with the assumption that she’ll rise to it,” Ellie said.

That was interesting.He was going to keep that in mind.

“I did more or less tell her that I was taking her to Savannah.Didn’t really ask.Just assumed she’d be the perfect one to come along,” Bennett said.

Ellie nodded.“That’s not bad.”

Thank God.He’d been feeling like he’d failed every Kennedy test so far.

“Now, just don’t be too sweet or romantic, don’t get wrapped around her little finger,” Leo said.

“Oh, he’s already wrapped around her finger,” Ellie said.“I mean, he’s in here talkin’ to her grandparents about how to be the right guy.”

“Good point,” Leo agreed with a nod.

Bennett sighed.He was definitely getting a headache.“I just want her,” he finally said.Blunt.That was what this family understood.“Just how she is.And this place.This town.The business.All of this.”

Ellie and Leo shared a glance.

“What?”Bennett asked.

“That’s a good start,” Ellie told him.

A goodstart?Dammit.He was kind of thinking of that as the finish line.

But he should have known better than to think that any Landry, especially Kennedy, would be easy.

He looked at Leo.“So, crème brûlée, huh?”

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