Page 33 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

An hour later, he was up to his elbows in framing, surrounded by family and friends he had known since childhood.

As an only child, Aidan had spent a ton of time with his cousins. Working alongside them in the fresh air of the Webb farm made him feel like he was at home in a way nothing else did.

And today the Esh family was here too. Aidan had never had the chance to spend time on the Amish family’s farm, but he’d visited with them plenty when there was a need for building or carpentry at the Webb place. Caleb Esh had been particularly close with Josh and the other cousins. And Caleb’s father Isaac kindly took an interest in Aidan since he wanted to be a carpenter too. Isaac had patiently answered endless questions about the field from a very excited Aidan back when he was a teen.

It was a cold day today, but sunny, and it felt good to work up a sweat in the frosty air while knocking out a stunning amount of work together as a team.

“Water break,” Josh yelled out.

Everyone gathered on a low stone wall and grabbed their jugs of water, joking and laughing about the job at hand, and sharing their plans for the project and the coming holiday.

“You okay?” Brody asked quietly, sitting down beside Aidan with his water jug.

Brody was a quiet, humble man, but he had always been the best-looking of the good-looking Webb boys. Girls fell all over him back in high school, and the rest of the cousins had all been a bit jealous.

But that hadn’t stopped his wife from leaving.

Now, he was married again to the sweet girl who owned the new bookshop in town. She adored his kids and Brody had never looked happier. But Aidan knew that it hadn’t always been that way for him.

“I’m just… tired,” Aidan admitted.

Brody would probably think he meant that he was working too much and not getting enough sleep, and that was probably for the best. He didn’t need to get into the Kenzie stuff.

“It’s not easy doing it all on your own,” Brody said, nodding. “And I hear there’s a girl on your mind now too?”

“I almost forgot how fast word gets around in this town,” Aidan said, shaking his head.

“Come on,” Brody teased. “You go to Philly for a couple of years, and you forget how these small towns work?”

“Well, I’m not with her,” Aidan said, shrugging. “We just bumped into each other.”

Brody nodded, his eyes serious, but didn’t say anything.

“I mean… she’s great,” Aidan heard himself say. “But she’s probably going to head right back to New York if she can dance again when she gets that boot off.”

“And if she can’t?” Brody asked. “How would you feel then?”

“I don’t want Walt to be anyone’s second choice,” Aidan said. “Not again.”

Brody nodded, a thoughtful expression on his cursedly handsome face.

“What are you thinking?” Aidan asked.

“Just wondering whether they need any carpenters in New York,” Brody said. “Though I guess Philly’s smaller and closer to family.”

“I just met her,” Aidan said, waving the idea away.

“Don’t say that,” Brody told him, his voice suddenly dead serious. “You might have just met the most important person in your life.”

“The most important person in my life is doing puzzles with his great-aunt Anna right now,” Aidan said firmly.

“You don’t want a girlfriend,” Brody chuckled, lifting his hands in surrender. “I get it. I didn’t either. But if something comes knocking—fate, destiny, what have you—maybe don’t just slam the door in its face without seeing where it takes you.”

Aidan frowned.

“What do you have to lose?” Brody asked.

“I don’t know,” Aidan grumbled, lifting his jug. “I’m all out.”

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