24. Kenzie

24

KENZIE

K enzie stood at the barre in her home on Christmas Eve and studied herself in the mirror, feeling strangely at peace.

All her life she had been looking in the mirror to find flaws and correct them, or to confirm that her hard work was paying off. Tonight, she was looking at a woman who had put on a few pounds eating delicious foods over the last few weeks, and who wasn’t as strong or flexible as she had been a few months ago.

But instead of dwelling on those things, she found herself noticing the twinkle of happiness in her eyes instead, and enjoying her slightly softer curves and rounder cheeks.

Who am I kidding? I didn’t have any curves at all before, and I’m probably just wishfully thinking that I have them now. But I like where I am. I like being MacKenzie Forrest.

It felt good to look in the mirror and be satisfied. There would be plenty of other areas in her life where she would be reaching and striving soon enough. Teaching, choreographing, and running a non-profit would surely stretch her creativity in ways she couldn’t imagine right now.

And she wasn’t going to be MacKenzie Forrest for long. She was having so much fun with Aidan and Walt lately that it was harder and harder to say goodbye at the door each night. They had decided on a fun and casual wedding just after Christmas, when her parents were back in town.

Aidan had worried that she would miss having a big fancy wedding with hundreds of eyes on her. But she explained that she’d had enough performing to last a lifetime, and what she really wanted was something smaller and more intimate—something that felt like it was just for the three of them.

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.

But to Walt, both boys were incredibly impressive, and he wanted to be just like them. He’d been doing a lot of dancing since the performance, and didn’t seem to be getting tired of it yet. If anything, his interest was growing.

Kenzie put on the score of The Nutcracker and turned to Walt, waiting for him to say what he always did.

“ I’m the king of rats,” he cried happily. “ And you are the Nutcracker prince, fighting him.”

As they leapt into motion, she couldn’t help noticing that Walt was awfully coordinated for a boy his age, even if he wasn’t doing real choreography. He moved well to the music, he was energetic, and most importantly, he was really having fun. Hearing his giggles when he landed an impressive jump made Kenzie smile.

After half an hour of excellent cardio, Kenzie wiped her forehead in an exaggerated way.

“You wore me out, Rat King,” she declared. “You win this time.”

“Take that,” Walt yelled, poking at her with an invisible sword.

Kenzie made a show of falling onto the sofa with her arm over her face.

“You’re just pretending,” Walt said a little worriedly, grabbing her hand.

“Of course,” she told him, holding his hand. “You would never really hurt me.”

“It’s just like your ring pop,” Walt said, looking at the ring on her finger.

They had gone to Valerie’s shop the day after Aidan proposed and Valerie had shown them the three rings she thought they would like best.

The first was a shimmering cluster of tiny diamonds in a platinum setting. The second was a princess cut emerald solitaire flanked by two winking diamonds. And the third was a sparkling blue topaz on a slender golden band that looked an awful lot like a tiny, precious version of the ring pop Kenzie had said yes to in the first place. Walt had crowed out as much the moment he laid eyes on it, and all three of them were instantly in love.

“You’re not picking it because it’s the least expensive, are you?” Aidan asked her quietly as Valerie went to get the paperwork .

“I didn’t notice that,” she told him honestly. “Is it… in your budget?”

“All three were in my budget,” he told her with a warm smile. “I texted Valerie about it last night.”

“Thank you,” she told him, squeezing his hand. “I’m so happy, Aidan. I don’t need a ring at all.”

“Well, that other one is going to start attracting ants,” he said, winking at her. “So I’m glad we found an acceptable replacement.”

“Fine, but I’m going to keep it in the freezer,” she decided. “We don’t want to forget our history.”

He’d pulled her close and kissed her on the crown of her head then, and Walt giggled. He laughed almost every time they kissed.

Now she pulled Walt close and kissed him on the top of his head while he admired her ring.

“It does look like my ring pop ring,” she told him. “And it makes me smile whenever I think about it.”

“You love Daddy,” Walt said with certainty.

“With all my heart,” she told him, nodding.

“You love me,” Walt said, sounding less certain.

“With all my heart,” she agreed. “I will always, always, always love you, Walton Emerson Webb, no matter what.”

“I love you with all my heart,” he told her solemnly. “And with my brain.”

“Thank you,” she told him, trying not to smile. Loving someone with your brain as well as your heart was a real compliment.

“Can I have a snack now?” he asked.

“You can have some dinner now,” she told him. “I’m making chicken soup in the crock. Doesn’t it smell nice? And I have bread from Mallory’s bakery for bread and butter.”

“That’s nice, Kenzie,” Walt said, his eyes dreamy at the thought of the good food they were about to eat.

She suddenly felt a shiver of awareness go right through her. It wasn’t just that Aidan trusted her with Walt, it was the knowledge that she was good for Walt, that she was ready to take care of someone else’s needs, even if she’d had an unusual beginning to her own adulthood.

I’m going to be the step-mama of the most wonderful little boy in the world.

It might be hard tackling this new territory sometimes, but she was ready for the challenge.

Aidan arrived a little before midnight, cold and tired but looking really happy.

“Did you get them out?” Kenzie asked him quietly.

“Yes,” he told her. “Almost right away, thank goodness. But there were a couple of other accidents, so we all stayed with it until everything was wrapped up.”

“They’re lucky to have you,” she told him fondly. “You can tell me about it over supper. Are you ready for chicken soup with bread and butter?”

“That sounds amazing,” he groaned. “Okay if I wash up first?”

“Of course,” she told him.

She headed into the kitchen and ladled out a big bowl of soup for him and cut two thick slices of bread. She had left the butter dish on the counter, so the soft butter slathered on easily.

After placing his dinner on the table, she poured them each a glass of iced tea, and by the time she got back with it, he was coming in to join her.

“Was Walt okay going to bed?” he asked.

“He was great,” she told him. “He had his bath, and we read some of my old books, and he went right to sleep. I stayed in there until I was sure he was out, since he’s in a new space. And I left the door open so I would hear him if he had a nightmare.”

“You’re so amazing with him,” Aidan said, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand.

She gazed back at him, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world and wondering how she could possibly explain to him why she felt that way.

“This makes me smile,” he said, tapping her ring with his thumb.

“Walt and I were admiring it tonight,” she told him. “Hey, you were home when you got the call, but you brought him here instead of taking him to your aunt and uncle’s place.”

“Of course,” he said, nodding. “Was that okay?”

Tears threatened out of nowhere, and she bit her lip, trying not to cry.

“Kenzie, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Do you remember what you said to me the first time we met?” she asked him, determined not to let the tears fall.

“I try very hard not to,” he said, shaking his head as if he were still furious with himself for yelling at her in the Co-op Grocer’s parking lot.

“You called me an overgrown child,” she said.

“And I’m really sorry about that,” he said. “In fairness, I hadn’t even laid eyes on you when I said it.”

“But here’s the thing,” she told him. “I felt like an overgrown child. I still do sometimes. I went right from high school to ballet school to a ballet company. I spent every minute of my days in a rehearsal hall or a theatre, and I never really lived a normal life.”

“You did something unique and special,” he told her. “Something that most people can only dream of.”

“That’s true,” she told him. “And I’m grateful for it. But I’m grateful for something else too.”

“What’s that?” he asked her.

“I’m grateful to you,” she said, “for showing me tonight that you trust me with the most precious thing in your world.”

He got up and came around the table to kneel in front of her, cupping her cheek in his hand.

“MacKenzie,” he told her. “You’re disciplined, determined, and you have a heart of gold. You don’t need me to show you that you’re a person of substance. You should know that already, right down to your soul, and never doubt it again.”

She burst into tears, and he held her close.

“Don’t cry,” he said helplessly.

“I’m h-happy,” she sniffled.

“Okay, then,” he said, chuckling. “Go ahead.”

He held her, stroking her hair until she was all cried out at last .

“Eat your dinner,” she said, pulling back and wiping the happy tears from her cheeks. “We need to get some sleep so we can keep up with Walt tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” he said, getting up. “The roads will be rough by now.”

“Walt’s in the guest room,” she offered. “We have twin beds in there for when my cousins used to visit. You’re welcome to sleep over if you don’t mind sharing a room with him.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Definitely,” she told him.

“I’d love that,” he said. “Thank you.”

“Oh, it’s selfish on my part,” she teased. “I was worrying that the weather was so bad I wouldn’t see you on Christmas.”

“Too late,” he said.

She glanced at him in question, and he tapped his watch.

“Merry Christmas,” he told her with a smile.

She glanced up at the clock over the kitchen sink and saw that it was just past midnight.

“Merry Christmas,” she replied, a sense of wonder filling her heart.

Kenzie had enjoyed so many wonderful Christmases over the years. But she was certain that this year would be the best of them all.