Page 80 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

The only thing making her sad tonight was looking out the family room window at the ice storm that was happening before her eyes. She had been planning to spend Christmas at Timber Run with her two favorite guys, but that was looking less and less likely by the minute.

We’ll have the rest of our lives together, she told herself. All the rest of our Christmases…

A buzz from her phone tore her from her thoughts, and she grabbed for it just as she heard a car crunching onto the ice in her driveway.

“What in the world?” she said to herself as she spotted Aidan’s name on the phone screen.

“Kenzie,” he said the moment she picked up. “I hope it’s okay, but we’re in your driveway. I got a call from the firehouse that a tree fell on a car over in Springton Valley and they need some hands. I want to head over right away. Is there any chance I can leave Walt with you?”

One of the first things Aidan had done after they decided they were both coming home to Trinity Falls permanently was stop over at the fire house and let them know he was ready to volunteer again, just like he had in high school. It made Kenzie proud to know how eager her fiancé was to serve his community.

“Of course,” she told him, hurrying to open the door.

Aidan and Walt shuffled in, along with a gust of frigid air. Walt wore a big smile, but Aidan looked worried.

“You’re a ballerina,” Walt squeaked happily when he saw Kenzie.

“Oh,” Kenzie said. “Right. I’m kind of a mess.”

She was actually wearing tights and a leotard, with a soft ballet shoe on her right foot and a sneaker on her left to remind her not to isolate that leg. The guys had seen her work out before, but normally she just wore yoga pants and a t-shirt. Today, she’d decided she wanted to feel like a real dancer again. She’d even put her hair up into a quick bun.

She had a strange instinct to cover up, though she had worn leotards in classes with male dancers since she was in preschool. Fighting it, she met Aidan’s eyes.

He was grinning at her like he had lost track of why he was out in this storm in the first place.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, looking into her eyes.

She was right. It did feel different when he said it, like he was talking about her whole self, not just her appearance. It made her feel seen in a way she’d never felt before, and for a moment, she forgot to even breathe.

“Aren’t you supposed to be out there helping people?” she said at last, feeling her cheeks heat.

“Right,” he said. “I almost forgot about that for some reason. I’ll be back for him when we’re done. It might be late. And I didn’t grab his pajamas from the house before we left.”

Kenzie blinked at him for a moment, realizing something important.

If Aidan and Walt had been at home when he got the call, that meant he had driven past his aunt’s place to get to Kenzie. It meant that Aidan trusted Kenzie with Walt, that he wanted Walt to be with her, even in the middle of a frightening ice storm.

“That’s fine,” she told him quickly. “He can wear one of my t-shirts after his bath. We’ll be sure to stick to his routine, and I’ll see you when you get here.”

That was her way of saying she wouldn’t let Walt stay up too late. After all, she didn’t want him to be grumpy on Christmas.

“I’ll see you soon,” Aidan promised.

“Be careful,” she told him, grabbing his hand.

He pulled them both into a quick hug before heading out.

“What should we do first?” Kenzie asked Walt once his dad was gone. “We can watch a movie, or do some drawing, or read a book?”

“Can we dance?” Walt asked, looking super excited.

“Of course,” she told him. “We’ll have a ballet dance party.”

Walt couldn’t really do ballet. He was too little to properly turn out without hurting his feet. But he loved doing pre-ballet exercises with Kenzie.

Seeing The Nutcracker had made him even more interested than the books he’d read. Two of the high school boys who had larger roles in the production had talked with him after the performance. Alec Williams and Diego Vargas were the stars of the Trinity Falls soccer team. Their mothers had started them in soccer and ballet when they were about Walt’s age, as many parents in town did, and the boys had been the only two that stuck with both. The reason was most likely because they were brimming with high energy—just like a certain little boy Kenzie knew.

Diego was considering an offer to join a ballet company in Chicago as an apprentice, which made Kenzie happy to hear, though he seemed alarmingly young to her. She had left home to dance herself at about his age, but looking at the boy now, it was impossible to imagine him living in an apartment with roommates.

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