Page 21 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

It had been a fun day—with all the emotion of being back at the ballet school and seeing so many friendly faces, and then the opportunity to come home and stretch out with a book, followed by a cozy Christmas movie.

Kenzie hadn’t really had downtime like that since she was a kid. Working her body and mind so hard every day in classes and rehearsals typically left her with barely enough energy to cook a healthy meal and fall into bed at night. And weekends were usually filled with performances.

She had definitely imagined needing weeks or even months of vegging out in Trinity Falls before she started feeling restless. Sadly, it wasn’t even nightfall on day two of her Trinity Falls downtime, and she was already itching to get out of the house again.

Today doesn’t even count, she thought to herself despondently. I already left the house once. And Aidan will be coming over here soon to talk about the barre and mirrors.

But she knew the real reason she was feeling on edge and looking for a distraction. Her grandmother’s offer this morning had shaken her. And it had all begun with her suggestion that even if Kenzie were able to dance professionally again, she might choose to do something different anyway.

Of course, dancing had always been Kenzie’s dream, and even after a short break, she was bored to tears without it. But that didn’t mean it had to be her whole future. Honestly, it couldn’t be. Very few dancers made it onstage past their thirties. She had always known she would need a second act, so to speak.

Her phone buzzed to alert her to a text, and she smiled, figuring it was Mal. It would be really good to ground herself by catching up with how her best friend’s day had gone.

But as soon as she glanced at the screen, she remembered that she was waiting for a visit from someone else.

Aidan Webb (Carpenter)

sorry change in plans is tomorrow ok?

Her fingers moved on the screen of their own accord.

that’s fine

c u then

She set the phone down again with a sigh, wondering why she felt so down all of a sudden. It wasn’t like a visit with the grumpy contractor telling her why it was going to cost a small fortune to do a small job was exactly supposed to be the highlight of her day.

I was looking forward to it though…

She shook her head, disappointed in herself for being so silly. Surely she was old enough to know that his handsome face wasn’t enough to make up for his searingly bad attitude. Aidan Webb had changed since she’d last known him. He wasn’t worth crushing on these days.

Kenzie was just bored. That was all. She just needed to find something positive to occupy her mind, and she’d feel better. Maybe Grandma Lee wouldn’t mind her sitting in on the last of the rehearsals for The Nutcracker. And there had to be other fun stuff going on in town at this time of year.

A happy smile made its way onto her face as she remembered one of them.

Tanner Williams, who had been working on the lights earlier, managed a small apartment building right in town. Over the years, he had amassed a large collection of Christmas lawn ornaments. In the weeks before the holidays, he always set them all up in the courtyard. Tonight was the first time they would be turned on. Apparently, this was a newer town tradition—one she had missed out on until now. Mal had mentioned it yesterday, and it was the reason she was staying a few minutes late at the bakery tonight, in case people wanted to grab a hot chocolate to bring along.

Kenzie glanced out the window again. It wasn’t raining anymore. And she could tie some plastic around her boot to make sure it didn’t get damp if there was any water left on the sidewalks.

Maybe it was a little silly to go into town again tonight when she was supposed to be resting. But she was also supposed to get exercise, and this would lift her spirits too.

She grabbed her crutches and hauled herself off the couch, feeling more excited than she had all afternoon.

The walk into town took a little longer than she’d hoped. Wrapping a garbage bag around the boot was a great idea, but she had to walk carefully if she didn’t want to rip it. Her arms were sore by the time she arrived in front of the apartment building with what looked like half the town.

At least she was sure to bump into Mal and her friends. The bakery would be closed as soon as those lights went on, and a look at her watch told her that she had barely made it in time.

She was just glancing over at the bakery to see if it was still open as she took her last step onto the perfect viewing spot on the sidewalk when she bumped into someone, hard.

“Oh,” she gasped, just managing not to fall over.

“What—oh,” a familiar voice bit out.

She looked up, already knowing exactly whose handsome face she was going to see.

“Kenzie,” Aidan said. His expression was as stormy as ever, but his voice was gentle.

“Sorry,” she muttered. “Again.”

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