Page 63 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

Kenzie relaxed and joined in the fun, but in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help wondering when she would see Aidan and Walt again.

If Aidan doesn’t want to be romantically involved, maybe I won’t hear from him again at all. Maybe yesterday was just too much…

No treat was sweet enough to take away the ache of that thought.

18

AIDAN

Aidan tried to relax as he drove under the canopy of bare branches toward what had somehow become his favorite place in Trinity Falls village.

He’d allowed a few days to pass since the mall trip with Kenzie, knowing that if he didn’t stop and get his head on straight, he would end up hurting them both.

A couple of sleepless nights later, he knew what he had to do. Then it only took another day to figure out how.

And all the while, Walt had been settling into his winter break camp over in Springton Valley. Aidan had picked him up the first day and the aide on car duty asked him to wait while she grabbed the teacher.

The teacher told him that Walt was working on controlling his energy and staying in the classroom during projects and that she was sure he would be absolutely perfect the next day.

But the next day had brought more “chats” with the aide and the teacher, and a glum-looking Walt trudging to the truck afterward, looking like he was ashamed of himself.

“Is it hard to sit still?” Aidan asked sympathetically.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Walt murmured.

“This is good practice for kindergarten,” Aidan told him. “Right?”

But Walt had only shrugged and been uncharacteristically quiet on the way home.

This morning, Aidan had taken the boy out for a run around the house before they headed to camp. Hearing Walt’s peals of laughter as they chased each other around the yard, their breath pluming out in front of them as snow flurries swirled down, had been amazing.

He only hoped they had run Walt’s sillies out.

Maybe mine too, Aidan realized, as he pulled up in front of Kenzie’s house.

Sure, nothing was certain. Kenzie could take the boot off tomorrow and decide to go back to New York. Or the two of them might start a relationship that went the distance and wound them up in rocking chairs on the front porch fifty years from now.

He wouldn’t know unless he tried.

And taking her to the mall to buy Christmas presents wasn’t the way to find out. Kenzie deserved real romance. He grabbed the package he’d brought her out of the back seat, his heart pounding.

Maybe I’ve been reading her wrong. Maybe she doesn’t want me…

But he could picture her face tilting up in the snow globe, the way her eyes begged him to kiss her.

He jogged around the side of the house and knocked on the back door before he could change his mind.

While he waited for her to come to the door, he ran a hand through his hair and tried not to tap his foot. It almost felt wrong to make her come to the door in crutches, but things between them had changed, and it was important for her to understand that from this moment on.

He wasn’t some cocky teenager anymore. He was a man, a father. And playing around wasn’t going to cut it.

He heard the sound of her crutches, then the door opened.

“Aidan,” Kenzie said in a surprised way.

“Hey,” he said, suddenly wishing that he’d planned out exactly what to say to her in advance. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” she said, her eyes widening as they went to what was in his hands.

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