Page 57 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

“Hey there, lovebirds,” the elf said, sticking his head in. “I hope you had fun. If you want, you can have a free photo with Santa.”

“No, thanks,” Aidan said, frustrated about the interruption.

“Yes,” Kenzie sang out at the same time.

“Okay, then,” the elf said with a big smile, offering her his hand.

Aidan felt an unexpected wave of jealousy hit him and he blinked in surprise. Surely Kenzie wasn’t about to fall in love with a middle-aged man in an elf suit.

“I’d better let Aidan help me,” she said, glancing back at him.

He scrambled out quickly and then held his hand out to her, feeling more like himself the moment she took it. When she had gotten herself to the opening, he swept her up in his arms and lowered her gently to the ground. She laughed a little breathlessly and waited as he knelt to slip her shoe back on her good foot for her.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

An image of him on his knees before her with a ring flashed through his mind and he got to his feet quickly, wondering where that had come from.

Kenzie took her crutches and headed over to see Santa Claus. Aidan was relieved to see that he was a sweet old man who had no ulterior motives in offering a pretty young girl a free photo.

Kenzie smiled at Aidan and he felt like his heart would burst.

She whispered something in Santa’s ear, and he chuckled. Then the elf counted down and took the photo.

A moment later she was making her way back to Aidan, two wallet sized photos in hand.

“He gave me two,” she said excitedly.

“One of those is for me,” Aidan said, swiping it from her before she could argue.

“Did he ask you what you wanted for Christmas?” he asked her.

“Of course,” she said.

“What did you tell him?” he asked, a strange feeling in his chest like it was filled with tiny bubbles.

“If I tell you, it won’t come true,” she said firmly, her eyes moving away from his for the first time since they had sat down to eat lunch.

“If you say so,” he said gruffly.

“Whoa, an arcade,” she said, her voice bubbling with excitement.

“Do you want to go in?” he asked, but he already knew the answer.

She nodded, heading that way. The loud music assaulted his ears, but he followed. One day, he would be spending plenty of time in these things with Walt.

“Hang on,” he told her, slipping a ten into the change machine.

It spit out a pile of tokens, and he scooped them up, then turned back to a smiling Kenzie.

“Awesome,” she said.

“What do you want to play?” he asked her.

She pointed to the Whack-a-Mole game in the corner.

“Really?” he asked.

“I’ve always wanted to try,” she said, shrugging as best she could with her crutches.

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