23. Kenzie

23

KENZIE

K enzie sat in the darkened theatre, grateful to have Dmitri beside her, blocking off her view of the empty seat beside his that should have been Aidan’s.

She had envisioned watching the ballet with Walt beside her. If he got antsy, she was ready to whisper to him what was happening in the story. He did have a library book that explained the story, and they had read it together. And he was such a bright little boy that he probably would have followed right along. It was more the idea of seeing it through his eyes that she was missing.

“Are you okay?” Dmitri asked her quietly.

“I’m fine,” she told him, putting on a happy face. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m not fine,” Dmitri muttered. “I’d like to give that big dope a piece of my mind for dumping you. What an idiot.”

“That’s not a very nice thing to say,” Kenzie said. “And besides, he’s only doing what he thinks he needs to do to protect Walt.”

Dmitri huffed in a way that made it sound like he disagreed but didn’t want to upset her.

“What?” she asked.

“Well, guys like that are usually just looking for a free babysitter,” Dmitri said, shrugging. “He’s not ready to commit, not when he was willing to walk away so easily.”

She wanted to disagree, but Dmitri had just voiced all the fears that were in her heart. She knew life wasn’t like a ballet, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to fall madly in love and be carried off into the sunset.

The lights flickered, indicating that the performance was about to begin. Everyone around them made excited noises. While the productions in the small theatre were always packed, The Nutcracker was a favorite. When the Trinity Falls Gazette did a question about special holiday traditions on their back page feature, Talk About Town, many people mentioned it as one of their favorite things.

A sudden commotion at the end of the row pulled Kenzie out of her reverie.

“Excuse us,” a familiar deep voice said softly as the people beside them got up and flattened themselves to make way.

“Aidan,” Kenzie murmured.

“I think you’re in my seat,” Aidan said to Dmitri.

“I can move,” Dmitri said right away, smirking at Kenzie as he wove his way past the people on the other side of her to stand in the back.

She watched after him helplessly, then turned back to Aidan .

“MacKenzie Forrest,” he said, his deep voice nice and loud. “I’m done walking away. I’m going to fight for what I want. And I’m ready to put my money where my mouth is.”

“Aidan,” she whispered, mortified that every single person in the crowded theatre was now watching with wide eyes.

“You make us both happy, and we can’t live without you,” he said, pulling something out of his pocket and kneeling as best he could between the seats.

Kenzie watched him with her heart in her mouth.

“I can’t promise you a lot of fancy dates,” he went on, his voice rough with emotion. “But I’ll do my best to keep you happy, and I’ll follow you wherever your career takes you. And if you’ll let me, I’ll give you a wedding worthy of one of your ballets.”

She swallowed hard. It was happening.

“I’m a dad, and I can’t play games, so I’m laying it all on the line,” he went on. “MacKenzie Forrest, will you marry me?”

He held out the item he’d been holding in his hand and the faded house lights caught it, causing it to shimmer in the light.

“It’s a ring pop,” Walt announced happily.

He was right. It was the same blue ring pop Aidan had shoved in his pocket the other day at the mall.

“I’ll replace it with a real ring as soon as possible,” he whispered.

The ladies sitting in front of them smiled.

All Kenzie wanted was to launch herself into his arms .

“Aidan, do you mean this?” Kenzie heard herself ask instead.

“Yes,” he said. “Of course I do.”

“And it’s not just because of Dmitri?” she asked. “We’re just friends.”

“Nope,” Aidan said, shaking his head.

“Just so you know, I’m already married, buddy,” Dmitri stage whispered from his spot by the back wall. “And we’ve got three little girls.”

The audience began to giggle in earnest.

“It doesn’t matter,” Aidan said firmly. “This is what I want, and it’s what Walt wants too.”

Kenzie bit her lip, knowing she had to answer, but afraid that he wasn’t backing down after hearing about Dmitri only because he had an audience.

“Can you think about it a little bit more?” she asked in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear. “We should spend a little more time together.”

“Sure,” he said, his face falling a little. “Of course.”

When he stood, he looked incredibly awkward.

“Sit down,” Kenzie whispered to him. “Put Walt between us in case he has questions about the ballet. As soon as the dancing starts people will forget all about us.”

Aidan was in a haze, but the big man did as he was told and took his seat, sending Walt to sit between them.

Only a few seconds later, Grandma Lee came out in one of her beautiful flowing dresses and welcomed everyone to the production, which Kenzie realized was going to start a few minutes late for the first time in its history at the ballet theatre, all because of her own disorganized love life .

Her cheeks heated even though Grandma Lee gave her a twinkly-eyed smile before stepping off the stage and heading back to the booth.

Then the lights went down, the music came up, and for an hour they were all transported by the beautiful story of a childhood Christmas and the magic of a little girl’s imagination.

Walt wiggled in his seat beside her a few times, but it was mainly because he was so excited—especially when the Nutcracker Prince fought the Rat King. When intermission came, Aidan took him to the bathroom while Kenzie stepped outside for a little cold fresh air.

She moved down the steps of the theatre’s main entrance and slipped up onto the porch entry to the office where she could be alone and look out over the village.

There were a few cut Christmas trees left across the street on the library lawn, and lights and decorations adorned every shop and house she could see from here. Trinity Falls was magical at this time of year. She had missed it more than she knew.

“Seems like opportunities are cropping up for you at every turn,” Grandma Lee’s warm voice said as she joined Kenzie on the porch. “Artistic director of a professional ballet company, huh? And you can bring your new husband and son if you want?”

“It doesn’t feel real,” Kenzie said, shaking her head. “But wait. How did you know?”

“Oh, news travels fast in a small town,” her grandmother said. “All the kids were going nuts over it on that app backstage.”

“BeeBop,” Kenzie said, smiling in spite of herself. “ Who would have thought you’d find all this out from an app instead of from me?”

“And no more boot on your foot,” Grandma Lee said. “How does it feel?”

“So far, it feels almost perfect,” Kenzie said, looking down at her leg in wonder. In all the commotion, she’d honestly almost forgotten about it.

“That’s great,” her grandmother said. “You really have choices then.”

“It doesn’t feel that way,” Kenzie said, shaking her head.

Grandma Lee wrapped an arm around Kenzie’s shoulders, and they looked out over the little town together for what felt like a long time.

“I guess we should go back in,” Kenzie said at last.

“Well, they can’t start without me,” Grandma Lee whispered.

Kenzie giggled at that.

“There is no wrong choice, my girl,” Grandma Lee told her. “But I do have one bit of advice, if you want it.”

“Always,” Kenzie said, turning to her grandmother.

“Choosing a partner to share your life with is the biggest decision you’ll ever make,” she said simply. “No matter what else you want to do, knowing that the people at home have your back is your foundation. Your partner at home is even more important than your partner on stage.”

Kenzie nodded slowly.

“I’m ready to go back in,” she said.

“Let’s go put on the second half of a ballet,” Grandma Lee chuckled, her eyes twinkling again.

By the time they reached the end of the second act, Kenzie was feeling much more like herself.

Walt had relocated to a spot on her lap and his warm weight felt so good in her arms. She whispered the names of the dances in his ear and at times he was watching to raptly she thought he would start quivering.

She made a mental note to mention those preschool ballet classes to Aidan again. She had the feeling Walt would really shine in them, if he had the chance.

Beside them, Aidan was alternately watching the ballet and watching Kenzie. She tried to ignore him, knowing it was best to focus on Walt and the dancers, so as not to lose this moment to her thoughts. But she couldn’t help smiling every time their eyes met.

When the lights dimmed and came up again for the reprise dances and curtain call, Aidan shot to his feet.

“Kenzie,” he said with a rare smile. “I’ve thought about it a little more. And we’ve spent a little more time together. Will you marry me now?”

He went down on his knee again, ring pop held out for her.

“That was really fast,” she whispered.

“I waited until the ballet was over,” he said, shrugging. “I don’t think I can wait any longer.”

“It’s not over,” she whispered.

“It isn’t?” he asked, looking stunned.

She gestured to the stage. All the dancers in the whole ballet were in the wings, peeking out.

The audience began tittering again .

“ Yes ,” she said quickly.

“Yes?” he echoed.

“Yes, absolutely,” she told him.

He leaned in closer, his eyes drifting to her mouth and up to her eyes again.

She felt a pull that made her think of gravity, only stronger, and she couldn’t help leaning in to meet him in the middle.

When he pressed his warm lips to hers, she nearly swooned. Her whole life had been leading to this moment, and now that it was here, it felt like she was melting and crystalizing all at once, starting down the path of the person she would become—a wife, a mother, a grandmother running a ballet school and giving the best advice.

The audience began to cheer, and she pulled back immediately, feeling a little embarrassed that their first kiss had happened with a hundred people watching.

Aidan smiled at her, as if to tell her that it was okay to pull away.

“I’ll start looking for work in Minnesota,” he told her, slipping the candy ring onto her finger.

“I don’t want to go to Minnesota,” she told him.

There were oohs , and aahs in the audience.

“Back to New York, then?” he said. “I can work with that.”

“No,” she whispered.

Sounds of surprise came from everyone around then. Kenzie tried to ignore the noises of people who thought she was quitting on her dreams. Only she knew her dreams .

“No?” he asked.

“I was going to talk with my grandmother first,” she said. “But I might as well say it now. I want to stay right here. If you and Walt don’t mind a quieter life.”

“Mind it?” he said. “We’d love it.”

There were chuckles and cheers throughout the theatre, and even some of the dancers whooped backstage.

“Okay,” Kenzie said firmly. “Sit down now, please. The show must go on.”

“Anything for my fiancée,” he said, happily taking the seat beside her and wrapping his big hand around hers.

“ Let’s go from the top of cue eighty-seven ,” Grandma Lee’s voice called out happily from the booth.

The lights dimmed slightly, came up again, and the dancers did tiny reprisals of each dance in the ballet, while the audience cheered for them.

Aidan squeezed Kenzie’s hand, Walt snuggled into her neck, and Kenzie knew right down to her bones that she had made the best decision she could have made—the only one that was in her heart.

In the whole world, there was no place she would rather be, and no one she would rather be beside.