“She was just on a fix-up date too,” he scoffed. “What was the point? We weren’t going to see each other again either way. No one has any respect for the fact that not everyone wants to pair up and fall in love.”
Kenzie shook her head, feeling the frustration that a lot of women her age said they felt about men and their refusal to settle down.
“What?” he asked. “I guess you’re just offended on principle?”
“You really hurt her feelings,” she heard herself say firmly. “No one is asking you to fall in love with her, or even take her out again, but you should apologize for being a jerk. And you should definitely tell her what happened.”
He glared at her, his jaw set.
“The way you treat people matters,” she said, meeting his gaze bravely. “What kind of example are you setting for your little boy?”
That last part seemed to hit home a little.
“Fine,” he said at last, making a little huffing sound that was almost like a chuckle. “You win.”
“Do I still get my discount?” she asked.
That earned her a real laugh, and she was surprised to find her own face melting into a smile as she watched his eyes twinkling and his cheeks lifting with a deliciously deep chuckle.
Now he looks like Walt, she thought to herself with satisfaction.
“Sure,” he told her, shaking his head. “You can have your discount. I’ll swing by tomorrow morning to do some prep.”
“Dad,” Walt yelled out from behind them as he wove his way back through the crowd to his father. “Look what I got.”
He had gotten close enough now that Kenzie could see he was wielding a full-sized candy cane like it was Excalibur. Behind him, the town Santa Claus was moving through the line, handing them out to everyone.
“Oh, wow, bud,” Aidan said. “That’s a really nice candy cane.”
“Help me get it open,” Walt said, his little fingers scrabbling on the plastic wrapper.
“It does look yummy,” Aidan told him. “But that’s way too much sugar right before bed. We can have it tomorrow for snack.”
“No,” Walt howled, frantically trying to get the candy open. “I’m hungry. I want it now.”
“It’s been a little while since dinner,” Aidan muttered to Kenzie as Walt began to cry.
He bent as if he were planning to scoop the boy up and carry him away screaming.
“Hey, Walt,” Kenzie said quickly, bending down as much as she could. “I know how you feel. I’m hungry too. But guess what I have?”
He looked up at her suspiciously, his tears on hold for the moment.
As quickly as she could manage with the crutches, she rummaged around in her bag and triumphantly pulled out two granola bars. By some miracle, her favorite brand had Santa Claus on the packaging this time of year.
“That’s just a bar,” he said, unimpressed.
“That’s two granola bars,” she said. “So we can each have one. And guess what? They’re special Christmas granola bars. Everyone here has a candy cane, but no one else has one of these.”
“Ho, ho, ho,” a deep voice said from beside them. “Is that my picture on your granola bars?”
Walt lifted his tearstained face to see Santa, his despair melting into wonder.
“Yes,” he said excitedly as Kenzie handed him a granola bar so he could show it to Santa. “Yes, look.”
“That’s a very healthy decision, young man,” Santa told Walt, nodding to him in approval.
“I’m saving my candy for a snack tomorrow,” Walt said, waving the candy cane in his other hand at Santa.