“I’m just glad you’re here,” Kenzie said softly.
“Me, too.”
They sat in silence for a while, both gazing out the window at the clouds floating by, lost in their own thoughts.
“It had to be real,” Carter said after a moment. At Kenzie’s questioning look, he continued, “Tess said she met Henry . . . so he couldn’t have been a figment of my imagination, right?”
“Who’s Tess?”
“You met her at the party last night,” Carter told her. “You talked to her about me.”
Kenzie’s brow creased in confusion. “I didn’t talk to anyone about you last night.”
“Sure you did.” Carter thought maybe Kenzie had forgotten amidst all the people she’d met at the party. “Tall girl? Pink hair? Kinda looks like a unicorn?”
At Kenzie’s shrug, Carter reached under his seat for his satchel. “She’s a big fan of yours. You signed a book for her,” he said, pulling it out and flipping it open. He turned a few pages, looking for the autograph. “I don’t understand,” he murmured as he searched the book, slamming it shut as the search came up empty. “She said she talked to you. She convinced me that I should come find you. She knew all about that guy Martin, and said that you missed me.”
“I did miss you,” Kenzie said with a small smile.
Carter squeezed her hand. “But how did she know that if she never talked to you?”
They stared at each other for a moment.
“You don’t think . . .” Kenzie began. “Maybe Henry wasn’t working alone?”
“Maybe.” Carter replied. “Or maybe I just imagined them both.”
“You don’t really believe that.”
Carter shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything except whatever happened—whatever it was that led me to this moment—I owe to the two of them.”
Kenzie smiled at him. “I guess I owe them, too.”
Carter lifted his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close to his side. “I know we can’t just pick up where we left off, Kenzie,” he said quietly. “We have a lot to catch up on . . . a lot to learn about each other.”
“We have plenty of time,” she replied. She picked up his other hand and played idly with his fingers.
“I wonder how it ends,” Kenzie murmured after a while.
“What?”
“The story,” she said, turning toward him again with a smile, her eyes twinkling. “It would make a great book, but it needs an ending.”
“Well, I’d say that’s up to you,” Carter replied.
Kenzie tapped her lips thoughtfully. “It can’t end with them up in the air,” she mused. “I mean, it’s so unresolved.”
Carter smirked. “Good point.” He leaned closer to her, his eyes dipping to her lips. “Maybe he’ll lean in, promise to love her forever, and kiss her passionately.”
Kenzie fought a grin, wrinkling her nose. “That’s kind of cliché, don’t you think?” She blushed, though. The blush always gave her away.
He reached out with one hand to cup her face, savoring the feel of her warm skin as he brushed his thumb along her cheekbone. “Clichés become clichés for a reason,” he pointed out, his lips a mere breath away from hers. “I prefer to think of it as a classic . . . a crowd pleaser.”
“You think?” Kenzie asked breathlessly. She licked her lips, leaning slightly into his hand.
“Oh, yeah . . . definitely,” Carter murmured, almost able to taste her already. “Everyone loves a happy ending.”
Then he kissed her.
And Kenzie didn’t think it was cliché at all.
Christmas Eve, Two Years Later
“I hope they’re okay,” Kenzie murmured to Carter as she looked out the window of their New York apartment onto the snow-covered streets below. “Maybe we should have gone to the airport to get them.”
Carter wrapped his arms around Kenzie’s waist—a difficult task given the late stages of her pregnancy. He rubbed her swollen belly, smiling at the feel of a kick under his palm.
“I offered, but we couldn’t fit them all in the car anyway,” Carter replied. “They’ll be fine. Don’t worry so much.”
But Kenzie was worried. Given her condition, she and Carter couldn’t fly back to Woodlawn for the holidays and she’d been disappointed that they wouldn’t get to see their families. Carter, however, had taken the opportunity to use some of his abundant frequent flier miles to buy tickets for them all to come to New York instead. Kenzie had cried when he told her. Of course, Kenzie was especially prone to crying lately, but that didn’t diminish the fact that she was overwhelmed and so thankful for what Carter had done.
A winter storm had caused some problems, however. The connecting flight was delayed, and the tired group was forced to stay overnight in Chicago. Once the runways were cleared, they were back in the air, but Kenzie knew she wouldn’t feel completely at ease until they were all safe and warm together.
She searched the streets again and Carter kissed the top of her head. “Relax. I just checked, and the plane landed safely. The rental car has four-wheel drive. They’ll be fine.”
The phone rang and Carter squeezed Kenzie once more before releasing her and crossing the room to answer it. Kenzie watched him anxiously as he spoke, and Carter smiled and nodded at her in reassurance.
“They’re on the way,” he said once he’d hung up the phone. “They dropped their luggage at the hotel and should be here in a few minutes.”
Kenzie nodded in acknowledgement. “Did you put the fresh towels in the guest room?” she asked nervously.
“Yes. It’s all ready,” Carter replied indulgently. Although they would have enjoyed having the whole family stay with them at the apartment, there just wasn’t enough room. Fortunately, there was a nice hotel only a few blocks away, so at least everyone would be close.
Kenzie stretched, pressing her hands to her lower back with a slight groan.
“Tired?” Carter asked, moving behind her to massage her aching muscles.
“A little,” she admitted, “My back is killing me today.”
“Hmmm . . .” Carter murmured, rubbing circles into her back with his thumbs. “Maybe after we get everyone settled you can have a nice bath.”
She leaned back into him. “That sounds wonderful.” The sound of a buzzer interrupted their quiet moment, and Kenzie straightened quickly. “They’re here!” she exclaimed, hurrying over to answer the buzz.
“Hello?”
“Merry Christmas!” A chorus of voices crackled over the loudspeaker. Stitch’s voice then added, “Let us in. It’s freezing out here!”
Kenzie laughed and buzzed them in, opening the door so she could watch for them coming down the hallway. Carter stood next to her, his arm over her shoulders.
“Excited?” he asked. She looked up with glowing eyes and popped up on her tiptoes to offer him a smacking kiss.
“This is the best Christmas gift ever!” she told him, turning back down the hallway as the elevator doors opened.
Then they were there . . . and the sounds of laughter and “I missed you” and “Merry Christmases” filled the hallway as they all made their way into the apartment.
“Hope you’re all hungry,” Kenzie announced once they’d all settled inside.
“Starved,” David and Stitch said simultaneously, causing another round of laughter.
Carter and Kenzie had set up a buffet of finger foods and Christmas treats, and the group filled their plates and took their seats in the living room in front of the crackling fire, and a brightly lit Christmas tree.
Carter found it difficult to eat. Instead, he looked around the room, considering how his life had changed in the past two years.
First, there was Kenzie. His eyes lingered on his wife, glowing and radiant in the light from the Christmas tree. It reminded him of when he first saw her in New York at the party at the Four Seasons . . . before his life had taken it’s rather unusual turn.
But she looked differen
t now, too. Of course, she was still beautiful, but as Carter caught her eye and a genuine smile lit her face, his breath caught—as it often did when he saw her smile.
She was his. And she was happy. It was everything he wanted. His eyes trailed down to her belly. Well, almost everything.
Theirs had been a whirlwind courtship. After the week they spent together in Woodlawn, they both knew they didn’t want to waste any more time. He’d had to return to New York for his new job, and Kenzie went on her book tour, but they spoke every night—either on the phone or on the Internet. Carter smiled at the thoughts of some of their more interesting Web dates.
God bless Skype.
She’d come back to New York for Valentine’s Day and Carter knew he couldn’t wait any longer. He proposed on one knee in front of the Four Seasons, offering her his heart and a diamond ring. She’d cried and smiled and said yes. They were married six months later, to the delight of their families. Well, to the delight of Carter’s family anyway. Sheriff Monroe was his usual restrained self, although Carter felt he was warming to him.
Stitch caught Carter’s considering look and his eyes narrowed.
Okay. Maybe not.
They loved their little apartment, but with the baby coming they decided they’d need something bigger. In the spring, they would close escrow on their new house. Yes, Carter was leaving Manhattan and moving to the suburbs.
He even had a few flannel shirts.
He and Kenzie would miss the city, but they both agreed it would be better for the children. Well, child for now, but Carter was hopeful. They both were.
Kenzie could write anywhere, of course, and had decided to cut back on traveling and book tours once the baby arrived. That was one good thing about her success—she no longer had to promote herself. Her books kind of sold themselves.
Especially her most recent one. The Do Over had debuted at number one on the New York Times Bestsellers list and stayed there for twelve weeks.
Carter was right . . . people did love a happy ending.
As for his job at the network, Carter was enjoying staying closer to home. Once they moved, he would have to commute into the city, and he’d still have to travel occasionally, but he knew they would make it work.
It was something he’d come to grasp only recently—the fact that he and Kenzie were better able to deal with the challenges of their life together now than they were all those years ago. They’d both had the opportunities to grow—both professionally and personally—over the decade they were apart.
If anything, it made them appreciate each other more, now that they’d found each other again.
Carter’s eyes moved to his sister where she sat next to Noah Collins. The sight of them together made him smile. Carter and Kenzie had made sure the two were seated next to each other at their wedding reception. It had taken very little encouragement for them to realize they were meant for each other.
They planned to get married the following summer.
As for Violet, it had taken a little more convincing to get her to give Macon Bridges a chance. You sure couldn’t tell it now, though. Carter smiled at the dreamy way she was looking up at Macon as he dramatically told a story about the hotel where they stayed in Chicago. He and Vi had been living together for about four months, and seemed to be incredibly happy.
Carter’s gaze landed on his parents, and he searched for the right word to describe how they felt about becoming grandparents. Thrilled was too tame. Ecstatic was closer, but still didn’t quite suffice. He and Kenzie had decided to start a family as soon as possible, and his parents were the first people they told when they found out she was pregnant. He knew they’d be frequent visitors once the baby arrived, even if they did live on the other side of the country.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kenzie wince. He slid closer to her on the sofa, reaching out to rub her back. “You okay, baby?” he asked, leaning close to murmur in her ear.
Kenzie nodded. “Yeah. Just tired. Too much excitement I guess,” she replied with a weak smile.
“Let’s get you that bath and to bed,” he said quietly. “The family will understand.”
Kenzie nodded again, laying her plate on the coffee table as Carter helped her up.
“Everything okay?” David asked in concern.
Carter smiled, continuing to rub Kenzie’s sore back. “Yeah. The baby’s just telling Kenzie she needs some rest.”
“Carter?” Kenzie’s trembling voice drew his attention.
“Yeah, baby?”
“I don’t think I need rest,” she said hesitantly.
“But you said you were tired.”
“Uh . . . yeah . . .”
“Kenzie, what’s wrong?”
“Umm . . . I think it’s time.”
“Time for what?”
“Time time.”
Carter stared at her blankly for a moment. “What?” he said finally, his heart beginning to pound in his chest. “Are you sure? Isn’t it too soon?”
“Uh,” Kenzie said nervously, gripping his arm as her face clenched in pain. “Considering the fact that I think my water just broke, yeah, I’m pretty sure.”
“It’s time!” Carter exclaimed. “Holy crap, it’s time!”
“You already said that,” Kenzie said with a wry smile that quickly turned to a grimace.
In that instant, the room erupted in chaos.
“What do we do?”
“Kenzie, maybe you should sit down.”
“We need to get to the hospital.”
“Boil some water!”
“Okay, everyone hold it!” Stitch’s voice took on that “sheriff” tone of authority and the room was suddenly silent. He turned to Carter. “Does Kenzie have a bag packed?”
Carter nodded dumbly.
“Okay, go get it.” He turned to David. “You. Get Carter’s car. Macon, get the rental. Lydia, help Kenzie get some dry clothes, but make it fast.”
Lydia took Kenzie’s arm gingerly and led her into the bedroom. Kenzie called out over her shoulder. “The doctor’s number is by the phone, would someone please call him?”
Vi was assigned that task, and within a few minutes, David pulled up in Carter’s car and Carter, Kenzie, and Claire piled in. They took off toward the hospital, the rest of the group following behind in the rental car.
“Oh God, Carter, it hurts!” Kenzie moaned from the back seat, where he held her hand, stroking her hair back from her face.
“I know, baby,” he replied, working hard to keep the panic out of his voice as David sped down the icy streets. “Do the breathing . . . like in class, remember?” He breathed along with Kenzie as he prayed he’d get them all to the hospital safely.
They pulled up in front of the emergency entrance and Carter had a brief, agonizing flashback to the last time he’d been to an ER. One look at Kenzie’s pained face pushed that memory away, though.
She needed him. He wasn’t going to let her down. He took her hand as a nurse helped Kenzie into a wheelchair. “It’s going to be okay, baby,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead and taking her hand. “You can do this. I’ll be with you the whole time.”
Kenzie nodded, breathing deeply as Carter turned to the nurse. “We’re already pre-registered,” he told her. “Dr. Jenkins is on the way.”
The next few minutes were a blur of nurses and machines and breathing and moans. When the doctor swept in, and after a brief examination, announced it was time to head to the delivery room, Carter’s heart stopped, then sped along crazily.
“It’s time, Kenzie,” Carter whispered, as they rolled her down the hallway. “He’ll be here soon.”
“Carter, I’m scared.”
“I know, baby. I’m scared, too,” he confessed. “Hold my hand. You can do it. It’s almost over.”
Carter looked into Kenzie’s eyes as the doctor said, “Now, Kenzie. Push now!”
He held her hand as she gritted her teeth, bearing down again and again as she fought to br
ing a new life into the world.
“Stop now, Kenzie. Don’t push for a minute,” the doctor said. Kenzie turned crazed eyes to Carter.
“Almost there, baby,” he encouraged, kissing her hand. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” she said weakly. “But if you ever do this to me again, I’m going to kill you.”
Carter couldn’t keep back a snort of laughter.
The doctor’s firm voice cut into their bubble. “Okay, Kenzie. One more should do it, on the next contraction, push hard. Let’s say hello to this little guy, okay?”
Carter held her hand, but as she pushed, he couldn’t keep his eyes on hers. Instead, they drifted down to the doctor . . . to his hands between his wife’s legs . . . to the miracle he was witnessing before his very eyes.
One second the doctor’s hands were empty. The next, they were filled with a wiggling mass of arms and legs.
“Oh my God,” Carter breathed. “He’s here.”
“It’s a boy,” Dr. Jenkins announced.
“Is he okay?” Kenzie asked, struggling up onto her elbows so she could see her son.
“He’s perfect,” the doctor assured her.
A nurse wiped the little boy off a little before wrapping him up and handing him to his mother.
“Oh!” Kenzie exclaimed. “He’s so pretty!”
Carter chuckled. “Boy’s aren’t pretty, Kenzie,” he corrected, blinking through tears as he looked down at the sleeping child.
“Well, he is,” Kenzie said stubbornly, her own tears trickling down her cheeks. “He’s beautiful.”
Carter leaned down to kiss her. “Yeah, he is,” he admitted.
They both stared at their new son, not even noticing the staff working in the room, or when they finally left to give them some privacy.
“Thank you,” Carter told Kenzie quietly. “I can’t—”
Carter never finished his sentence, because at that moment, his son opened his eyes. Like all babies’, they were kind of gray, but in that instant, Carter knew they would be brown.
Dark brown, like his mother’s.
“What is it?” Kenzie asked.
“It’s . . . it’s him.” Carter’s voice was full of awe. His son looked up at him and Carter couldn’t explain it, but he knew him. He recognized him.
Second Chances: A Magical Holiday Romance Page 16
