Page 67 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

“Not Kenzie,” Walt said sadly.

“Nope,” Kenzie said. “But I got to dance in the ballet.”

“With a scratchy dress,” Walt remembered.

Kenzie frowned. He was making it sound like kind of a bummer.

“It’s okay,” she told him. “I was doing what I wanted to do, so I was very happy.”

He snuggled back in quietly and soon she felt his breathing even out again. She and Aidan watched the rest of the movie in friendly silence. When it was over, she turned to him.

“This was really fun,” she said. “Thank you for coming over.”

“Thanks for having us,” he replied, his deep voice sending a tingle down her spine. “It means everything that you let me bring him here.”

“He’s the most important thing in your world,” she said simply. “I would feel the same way if he were my son.”

An expression flickered across Aidan’s face and was gone so quickly Kenzie couldn’t name it.

“Well, we should get going,” he said, clearing his throat.

Kenzie nodded, drinking in the sight of the sweet little boy in her arms and trying to memorize what it felt like to have him there.

“He really likes you,” Aidan said gruffly.

“I really like him too,” she said, smiling.

Aidan bent and kissed the crown of her head before scooping his boy out of her arms.

Walt murmured a little in his sleep and then went quiet again on his daddy’s shoulder.

“I’ll text you tomorrow,” Aidan told Kenzie quietly as he headed for the door.

Feeling happy and content, she got up after they left and got ready for bed, humming to herself the whole time. The phone rang as she was slipping under the covers, and she smiled when she saw it was Mal.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey, Kenzie,” Mal said. “How are you holding up?”

“He stopped by,” Kenzie said. “And told me he likes me and wants to date.”

“Wow,” Mal said. “That’s awesome.”

“We were supposed to go to dinner tonight,” Kenzie said. “But Walt had a bad day at winter camp, so they both came over and we all watched a movie together. It was really nice.”

“You what?” Mal asked.

“We watched A Christmas Carol,” Kenzie told her. “And we ordered a pizza.”

“As long as you’re happy,” Mal said lightly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kenzie asked.

“Well, it just seems like he’s telling you what you want to hear and then doing the exact same thing as before,” Mal said. “But maybe it’s good to take things slowly.”

“I… I don’t have a lot of dating experience,” Kenzie admitted. “Is this bad?”

“I don’t really know,” Mal said. “I just know that if he thinks you’re special, he’ll treat you like you’re special.”

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