Page 51 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

But a real date would have put pressure on, and he would have choked. Or worse, it would have given her the wrong idea. After all, he wasn’t going to get married again. And a sweet, young girl like Kenzie would want to get married and have children of her own one day, once her dance career was over.

If they were just friends, then he couldn’t screw it up. And when she was feeling better, she wouldn’t feel bad about leaving again to pursue her dreams.

And if she doesn’t get better, then maybe we could try dating…

He couldn’t bring himself to hope she wouldn’t be able to dance again. Even seeing those brief moments of her moving at the barre had opened his eyes to who she really was.

Kenzie was an ethereal creature—part ballerina, part angel, and all intended to be shared with the world. For him to try and keep her here, and extinguish her light with his shadows—that would be the worst kind of crime.

Too soon, he was pulling into her drive.

Get your head together, he told himself sternly. Don’t be weird with her. Show her you just want to be friends.

Yesterday hadn’t been magical because he’d wanted to kiss her. It had been magical because he’d felt like himself for the first time in a long, long time.

And at the end of the day, he wasn’t an animal. He could control his desire to kiss her.

He parked and headed back to the family room.

“Hey, Aidan,” she said, opening the door before he could knock. “Where are we going?”

“I was thinking the mall,” he said. “I need to pick up one or two things for Walt that they don’t have at the toy store in town.”

“Yes,” she said, her eyes lighting up.

He felt himself smile too, as if her joy was contagious.

“Okay, then,” he told her.

“I haven’t been to the mall since I was a teenager,” she said as they headed to the truck. “I love all the decorations they used to do.”

“They still do,” he told her, finding himself actually excited to go to the mall for the first time in his adult life. “Wait until you see the ones in the plaza.”

He helped her carefully into her seat, taking the crutches for her and offering her his hand.

It was silly, but he couldn’t wait to lift her out again when they got to the mall. Having her in his arms, even for a second, was thrilling.

Stop thinking about it.

“I’ve been using the barres,” she said as soon as he started the truck. “They’re really wonderful. I’m feeling more like myself now that I can move, at least a little, and keep an eye on my upper body technique.”

“That’s great,” he told her, meaning it. “How’s your leg doing?”

“It hurt a lot at first,” she said, shrugging, her eyes going to the window. “It’s just a matter of waiting now, and doing my exercises. When I get the boot off, I’ll know more.”

He felt a pang, imagining what it would be like not to know if all your dreams were about to end.

“It’s nice having some free time though,” she told him. “I’m trying to remember that this is basically a vacation.”

“We’ll have some fun today,” he told her. “Even if it’s just Christmas shopping.”

“Hey, can we stop at the library on the way?” she asked. “I wanted to adopt a family from the tree, and before a mall trip is the perfect time for that.”

He glanced over at her, surprised. The Trinity Falls library always had a beautiful Christmas tree with paper ornaments on it that you could take. Each one had a number on it, corresponding to the number of people in a family and when you unfolded it, there was a list of what the kids liked and their sizes. You bought the gifts, wrapped them, and then brought them back to the library to be distributed.

It was a lovely tradition, but he didn’t expect Kenzie to be involved with it. From what he understood, dancers didn’t exactly make a good enough living to pay for other families’ Christmas presents.

“I like buying toys and clothes for kids,” she said, shrugging and looking embarrassed. “Since I don’t have any of my own.”

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