Page 55 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

“Just what?” he asked.

“I kind of wanted to eat at the food court,” she murmured.

He blinked at her for a moment, truly stunned.

“It’s dumb,” she said quickly. “It’s all junk food.”

“No,” he said right away. “It’s awesome. You can get whatever you want there. It will be great. And it’s not even all junk these days.”

“Really?” she asked, her eyes doing that sparkling thing again.

“Of course,” he said. “Come on.”

They headed to the food court, and he got her set up at a table where she could see every single restaurant before he excused himself to dash out to the car and deposit their purchases.

By the time he got back in, she had mapped out a game plan.

“Are you sure?” he asked her.

“Very sure,” she said with a big smile.

He squashed down his fatherly instincts and went along with it, buying her a toweringly unhealthy meal that included sides from half the restaurants in the place.

“You don’t have to keep paying for everything,” she said worriedly.

“Are you kidding me?” he teased. “I’d pay a lot more than this to watch you try to eat it all.”

She laughed and his heart squeezed like it was trying to hug her.

Back at the table, she closed her eyes for a moment of silent reflection, and then managed to put away more food than he would have thought possible, based on her tiny frame, all while peppering him with endless questions about Walt.

“So, is he excited about kindergarten?” she asked, picking up her cheesesteak.

“Yeah, I think so,” Aidan said, not wanting to bring up his worries about the kid being able to sit still in school. “I can’t believe you’re eating a food court cheesesteak. You know that’s not a real one, right?”

But she only laughed and took a big bite, her eyes closing in ecstasy as he watched her. He shook his head, feeling younger than he had in years.

When she had done her best with her meal, he carried their trays back to clean them up and then returned to the table to find her gazing out at the Christmas activity display in the mall with what he swore was longing in her eyes. The main attraction over there was a bouncy house that was like a larger-than-life snow globe.

“Looks like fun, right?” he teased.

“Yeah,” she said, sounding like she meant it.

“Stay here a second,” he told her, following a sudden inspiration.

Her eyebrows lifted, but he jogged over to the display before she had time to question him.

It was the middle of a weekday. The parking lot was full of adults on their lunch breaks trying to get a jump on their Christmas shopping, but there weren’t many people inside with kids. The mall Santa seemed to be playing a game on his cell phone.

“Excuse me,” Aidan said to the grown man dressed as an elf.

“How can I help you?” the man replied, giving Aidan a strange look, which maybe made sense since he didn’t even have a kid with him.

“My, uh, friend wanted to play in the snow globe,” Aidan said. “Is there an age limit?”

“Your friend?” the elf asked.

“Over there,” Aidan said, pointing to Kenzie.

---