Page 45 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

We’re just going to Cassidy Farm to see the animals with Walt, she reminded herself.

Even though she was beginning to think she would like to go on a date with Aidan Webb, she also really, really liked Walt. It would be much more fun to go to the farm with him than without him.

Kenzie had never given much thought to having children. Her schedule with the ballet company kept her far too busy and physically drained to even date. She tried not to worry about it too much.

But spending time with Walt was suddenly making her want kids. And maybe because she had never made room to feel it before, the pull to be a mom was so strong it almost took her breath away whenever he leaned on her shoulder or laughed so hard that he almost fell over.

I don’t want just any kid…

But she had to stop that thought as soon as she had it. She was pretty sure nothing could put more pressure on the budding attraction she and Aidan shared than thinking she wanted to be Walt’s mom.

“You okay?” Aidan asked, glancing over at her and snapping her out of her thoughts.

His deep voice sounded a little amused and he looked relaxed, which suited him.

“I’m trying to remember how long it’s been since the last time I went to Cassidy Farm,” she said, feeling bad for lying, but also pretty sure that if she told him what she was actually thinking he would take her straight home again.

“Right,” he said. “If not for Walt it would have been forever for me too. It’s really nice though, just like you remember it. I promise.”

That made her smile.

“What?” he asked.

“You knew I wouldn’t want things to change,” she said.

“The world changes so fast,” he said, nodding. “But things here move a little more slowly.”

“Why do you think that is?” she asked.

He frowned, but she knew he was only thinking.

“I guess we’re pretty happy with what we’ve got here,” he said after a moment. “We want to make things better, of course. But we generally try and make things better without tearing down what we already have.”

“That feels right,” she said, nodding.

“It’s different compared to New York City,” he said, quirking an eyebrow. “Right?”

“Honestly, I haven’t really seen much of New York City,” she heard herself admit. “I mainly spend my time in the rehearsal hall or the theatre, working on a dance form that hasn’t changed since the fifteenth century.”

“Huh,” Aidan said, sounding surprised at the idea.

“Holding onto tradition is basically my whole job,” she said, shrugging.

“Well, you’re going to love Cassidy Farm then,” Aidan said, turning onto Route One and heading them away from the town and community college and into the rural part of Trinity Falls.

“Do they still have the best pumpkin pies?” Kenzie asked.

“Yes,” Aidan said. “You can’t even reserve them online. You have to come in person before Thanksgiving, just like when I was a little kid.”

“Do they still have pony rides?” she asked, laughing.

“They sure do,” he said. “Walt loves them as much as I did.”

“They must at least have a new sign out front,” Kenzie guessed. The old hand-painted sign always made her smile, but times were changing and surely the farm would have replaced the sweet little sign with something more impressive now that you could have just about anything you wanted printed out or produced without a lot of fuss.

“I’ll let you wait and see,” Aidan said. “They do have a BeeBop account now. I think it’s run by one of the grandkids. It’s pretty cute, the videos they post of the orchards and the visitors having fun.”

“That sounds amazing,” Kenzie said. “Just the right amount of change, then.”

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