Page 34 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

He headed over to the pump, really just trying to escape the conversation.

Of course handsome Brody Webb with his movie-star looks could just put his heart out there and risk it. He’d find another girl at the drop of a hat. And besides, the girl he had fallen for already wanted to settle down in Trinity Falls.

Aidan was too beat up to risk someone hurting his son again. And while he put Walt first in his mind, his own heart was still healing from Sharon, too. After all, if he’d been enough, would she have left in the first place?

The guys finished the break and got back to it, laughing and joking as they grabbed their tools.

Aidan jogged back, eager to get to work, his heart lightening with every step. This was what he was supposed to be doing during his time in Trinity Falls—working and spending time with family, just like when he was a kid.

Why couldn’t life always be like this? How did things get so complicated?

Or was there really a simple solution tugging at his mind that he just wasn’t ready to listen to?

11

KENZIE

Kenzie sat on the sofa feeling like a child on Christmas morning as her best friend handed her a stack of library books, the volumes crinkling in their protective coverings as she took them in her hands.

“All romances?” she asked hopefully.

“All romances,” Mal confirmed. “And nice ones—nothing you’d be ashamed for your grandma to catch you reading.”

Kenzie laughed at that idea as she looked through the books, smiling at the pretty covers.

“I saw your carpenter while I was at the library,” Mal said. She was using the light, indifferent tone that told Kenzie she very much knew she was spilling a juicy tidbit.

“Oh yeah?” Kenzie asked, pretending to examine the back of one of her books.

“He and his little boy were up in the kids’ section, but I could hear every word they said,” Mal said.

“Aren’t the romance books in the back?” Kenzie asked.

“Well, I pretended to be looking at the town history stuff,” Mal admitted. “Because as I was walking past, I heard them asking Miss Caroline for books about ballet.”

“What?” Kenzie demanded, forgetting to play it cool.

“The kid wanted a book about a ballerina,” Mal said. “And Aidan asked if she had anything like that.”

Kenzie swallowed hard, and reminded herself that of course Walt was a very little boy, and he would be interested in the new people he met.

“Then once she got those books for Walt, she asked Aidan if he wanted any books about ballet,” Mal said. “She told him they had some really good biographies.”

“He didn’t, did he?” Kenzie asked, figuring the answer had to be no. It was one thing for Walt to want to know more about his new friend, but Aidan wasn’t going to take such an interest in her.

“No,” Mal confirmed, shaking her head. “But he did ask her if they had anything about sports injuries.”

Kenzie blinked at her bestie for a moment, trying to think of any other reason he would want a book like that.

“He wants to help you, Kenzie,” Mal said, her eyes wide. “Or at least he’s interested. It’s not like he has a sports injury of his own.”

“Wow,” Kenzie said again, not sure what to think.

Before she had time to sort out her feelings, there was a knock on the door and it opened a few inches.

“It’s Aidan and I’ve got a helper with me,” the familiar deep voice called out. “Are we okay to come in?”

Mal’s eyes got wide as saucers, and Kenzie had to hold in a giggle. They were like little kids getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar—gossiping about Aidan and then having him show up in the middle of the conversation.

---