Page 65 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

“I understand,” she told him.

“And, uh, tonight probably won’t work,” he said. “They told me not to bring him back after today. I’m going to have to deal with that.”

“Oh, Aidan,” she said. “That’s terrible. He couldn’t have done anything so wrong. He’s just a sweet little boy with a big heart.”

He felt his own heart squeeze at her kind words. She understood Walt, even though they had known her for such a short time.

“They’re just a bunch of camp counselors,” he heard himself say. “Just kids themselves, not real teachers. I get it. The place isn’t equipped. Anyway, I know he’ll feel rotten about it, and I don’t want to leave him with Aunt Leticia tonight.”

“Of course not,” Kenzie said immediately. “And I have an idea, but only if you and Walt want to do it. I was planning a Christmas movie marathon for tonight, and I seem to have enough snacks for an army now. If you two wanted to come by, I’d love to have you. He can pick the movie.”

“I’ll ask him,” Aidan said, feeling himself smile against all odds.

“Do that,” she told him. “But you’d better hurry. The faster you get him out of there, the sooner he’ll feel better.”

Aidan headed out to get his son, too many emotions swirling around in his head to make sense of them. But the one thing that rose above it all was that he’d finally told Kenzie how he felt.

Now he just needed to show her.

19

KENZIE

Afew hours later, Kenzie was curled up in a chair in her own living room, watching Aidan and Walt put up a Christmas tree by the bay window.

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” played on the radio, and she had a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. She couldn’t ask for much more.

Aidan had come back with Walt, who was bursting with excitement because they had a surprise for Kenzie. He waited with her, with the front door propped open, as Aidan went back to the truck and came back with a fragrant tree.

“I got it from the firehouse sale,” he told her.

Kenzie had forgotten all about how Cassidy Farm donated trees to the firehouse, which they sold in town each year to support the station.

“It’s not too big,” Walt told her. “They didn’t have many left.”

“It’s just right for me,” Kenzie told him, not saying out loud that she literally would have had no tree at all if they hadn’t brought her this one.

And suddenly, the idea of a tree didn’t make her feel lonely at all.

“We’re gonna watch a movie,” Walt told her, leaning against her knee as they both watched Aidan place some of the smaller ornaments toward the top of the tree. Walt had already done the ones closer to the bottom.

“Should we watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas?” Kenzie asked him.

“Daddy brought A…A…A,” Walt struggled.

“A Christmas Carol,” Aidan said. “It’s rated G, and Walt liked the description when we read it.”

“Oh, that’s a good story,” Kenzie said.

“It’s a movie,” Walt told her.

“But it’s based on a book,” she told him. “So are a lot of ballets, like The Nutcracker.”

“Is there a movie of The Nutcracker?” Walt asked hopefully.

“There are some movies of it,” Kenzie said. “But you just reminded me that I have three tickets to go see it at the ballet theatre tomorrow afternoon.”

She glanced up at Aidan and he nodded to her, a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

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