Page 9 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

But now I’ll have pudding cups, she thought to herself, feeling her usual good cheer flowing back into her chest. I’m not going to let this get me down. And nothing really happened, anyway.

Actually, if she thought about what he had said instead of how he said it, he had been pretty nice about things. He hadn’t made a big deal over the damage, and he’d even helped her with her stuff.

She turned on the radio and smiled when she heard Fats Domino singing about how he’d be home for Christmas. She had forgotten all about it, but of course the local station still played all Christmas music from Thanksgiving through New Year’s.

Her heart was feeling light again, and she found herself looking forward to getting home and having a cozy day.

But she still checked her mirrors and waited until Aidan Webb had disappeared from her sight before she backed out of her spot.

3

AIDAN

Aidan stood on the sidewalk for a moment, watching the little red hatchback out of the corner of his eye.

It sat stock-still in the parking lot, with no signs of moving.

His emotions were all over the place after his bizarre interaction with the car’s owner. As usual, he had been hotheaded and impatient, with the end result that he found himself sort of wanting to make sure she got out of the parking lot okay.

He couldn’t get the visual of her out of his head. When he’d first leaped out of his truck, he’d expected that the person whose cart it was would be up the hill getting into their car.

His eyes had landed on the tiny woman with the long blonde hair, balancing on one crutch and a massive boot cast, her delicate features already melting into an expression of sorrow as she tried and failed to stop the cart in time.

Guilt had landed heavily on his shoulders, and he’d tried to apologize, something he wasn’t good at, but she was crying too hard to notice.

He’d actually never seen anyone cry like that, like the tears were just exploding out of her eyes. And now she was just sitting there in her car.

She’s fine, he told himself firmly, turning and heading across the street to run a few errands. She’s probably just catching her breath after you yelled at her.

It seemed like he’d been doing more than his share of that lately. He hadn’t always been such a grump. Last Christmas, everyone around here had loved him. He’d volunteered to help out at a house on Yale Avenue where the owners had gotten behind on maintenance when the husband fell ill, and he’d even built shelving for the owner of the bookshop when she got in a pinch.

It just went to show what a difference a year could make.

He tried hard not to think about Sharon, but his mind showed him a photo of his ex’s wedding announcement. And he heard her voice in his head.

I’m pregnant and Chris got a new job, so we’re moving to Chicago, she had said lightly, like she was telling him the weather forecast. I’ll try to visit with Walt when I can.

He just couldn’t get past the fact that she was just leaving Walt—their beloved son, the beautiful little boy who had been Aidan’s whole reason to live since the moment the doctors placed him in his arms.

Or maybe it was more accurate to say that she was trying to replace him.

Thoughts of Walt’s mother sent Aidan down a rabbit hole of anger and frustration. It took everything he had not to let Walt see that side of him, but he did a good job. It was a little harder to keep it all in check when he dealt with anyone but his boy.

Like that girl today. It hit him hard that he had been cruel to her. Maybe he was only dwelling on it because she had been so transparent about the way it made her feel. But the look in her eyes haunted him.

Focus on something else, he told himself.

He headed into the heart of the village, passing the library and crossing the street. The bakery was open, he could see lights on inside. He sped past it as quickly as he could, sneaking a glance inside.

But it was no good. He couldn’t see if the owner was in there or not.

She’s doing well with that place if Aunt Leticia is right, he told himself. Maybe she has her employees in there working the weekends.

Aidan had been on one toweringly disastrous date with Mallory, the owner. He wasn’t really in the dating mindset. But his aunt had set him up, and he could never say no to Aunt Leticia.

It didn’t help that Aidan’s regular sitter had canceled on him and he’d had to hire someone new at the last minute. The idea of leaving Walt with someone he didn’t know had him pretty freaked out. And his nervousness must have been contagious. The sitter had texted him every five minutes all night—always with silly questions about how to use the microwave or the television, but he’d kept his phone in his hand anyway, fearing the worst every time it buzzed.

The result of it all was that he’d been late to the date, and then on his phone throughout the whole dinner. He probably should have apologized and explained everything to Mallory, but what was the point? He didn’t want to see her again anyway. He didn’t want to date at all. He just wanted to focus on his son and his growing carpentry business.

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