Page 41 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

“Do you read ballerina books?” Walt asked.

“I read some of those very same books when I was a kid,” she told him. “And now that I’m older, I still read about dancers, but they’re not picture books, they’re books written by real dancers about what it was like to dance in ballets. Or books about choreographers—those are the people who make up the dances.”

“Oh,” Walt said politely.

“One of the books you chose is kind of like that,” she told him. “It’s about a real little girl who becomes a dancer in the ballet, and all the other boys and girls who dance with her. That was one of my favorites.”

Aidan put her coffee mug in front of her and Walt’s juice in front of him.

“Thank you,” Kenzie said.

Walt dug into his toast right away, but Kenzie bowed her head for a moment of silence before eating.

Aidan watched her with a lump in his throat. His parents had always said grace before meals, but after they passed, he had let go of the habit himself.

“This is good,” Walt said with his mouth full, spewing a few crumbs onto the table.

Aidan signaled to him, pointing to his own mouth, to remind him not to talk with his mouth full.

“My friend, Mallory, made the bread in her bakery,” Kenzie said, pretending not to notice. “She loves to bake bread. Maybe one day she’ll teach me.”

“My Aunt Leticia makes her own bread,” Aidan said. “It’s time-consuming, but the bread is so delicious.”

“I’ve got a little time on my hands,” Kenzie joked, glancing down at the boot on her foot.

“How long do you have to keep it on?” Aidan asked her.

“Well, that depends,” she told him. “Probably until right before Christmas, but maybe less time if I’m doing well. The only trouble is that I don’t really have a doctor here, so I’d have to travel to get it looked at before then.”

“My cousin Kellan could see you,” Aidan offered. “If you wanted.”

“Right,” she said, shaking her head as if in awe. “Kellan Webb is a doctor now.”

“Most folks still refer to him as the kid who delivered the paper,” Aidan said, chuckling. “It used to bother him, but I get the feeling he kind of likes it now.”

“It’s good to be remembered in your hometown,” Kenzie said firmly. “I went over to the ballet theatre the other day and some of the kids in the preschool class I used to help out with were there. They’re all teenagers now. It was so cool.”

“There’s a ballet preschool?” Walt asked.

“It’s not like your preschool, bud,” Aidan told him. “It’s something you do after regular preschool, like in the afternoons.”

Walt nodded, looking thoughtful.

“Anyway, a lot of people stayed in Trinity Falls,” Kenzie said. “It’s sort of nice, isn’t it?”

“I guess so,” Aidan agreed. “I always wanted to come back at some point. I’d like to be living here before Walt starts kindergarten.”

Kenzie gave him a funny look.

“What?” he asked.

“You don’t live here now?” she asked.

“Well, I have a place here,” he said, not wanting to get into why. “But it’s just for our visits. We usually live in Philadelphia. It’s easier to find high-end carpentry work there.”

“That makes sense,” she said. “Wouldn’t it be funny if we both moved back here this winter?”

“Well, you’ll be back in New York as soon as you’re feeling better,” he said without thinking.

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