Snowfall on Haven Point(20)

Will beamed and threw his arms around her neck.

“You give the best hugs of any four-year-old boy I know, sir,” Kenzie said. “Let me take your coats, and then you can go find Rika and Hondo. They’re hanging out with the kids back in the den.”

“Yay! Hondo looks scary, but he’s not at all.”

“You’ve got his number, don’t you? That guy is nothing but a big old softy.”

Until that summer, Will had been terrified of big dogs after he’d been bitten by one in the neighborhood. Thanks to Wynona and her gentle dog, Young Pete, Will had been able to lose his fear and now he embraced all things canine—especially the little Havachon they had rescued from the shelter before Thanksgiving.

“Just head down that hall and you’ll find dogs and kids and toys. Maddie Hayward is here and so are Ty and Jazmyn Barrett. I do believe there might be a movie playing, if you want to watch it.”

“Can we, Mama?” Chloe asked. Though she wasn’t typically nervous around Kenzie, large groups could bring out her anxiety—at least until she found her friends and settled in.

“Sure. You guys have fun. I’ll be right here.”

Will raced down the hall and Chloe followed at a more subdued pace. She watched them, her heart pinching with worry for her sweet little girl.

“Don’t worry. You know Jenna, the high school girl who works for me at the shop after school? I asked her to come out and keep an eye on the kids so the moms can enjoy the party in exchange for my help decorating for her birthday party in January.”

McKenzie thought of everything. It was what made her a good businesswoman and a dedicated mayor of Haven Point. “Thank you. I’ll still worry, but probably a little less, knowing that. Call me when the birthday party comes around and I’ll help you decorate.”

“I just might take you up on that.”

“Not that you need my help.” She looked around at the entryway, decorated in glittering white, blue and silver. She particularly admired a trio of thick candles spearing up from an elaborate arrangement of twigs, berry picks and pinecones, all spray-painted to match the color theme. “Your house looks beautiful. It should be in a home decor magazine.”

“Ben calls it Christmas on crack,” she said with a smile.

“Hey. I only said that once.”

Both she and Kenzie looked up when Ben Kilpatrick spoke from the doorway. He wore a leather jacket and had car keys in his hand.

“You did,” Kenzie said. “But it was memorable.”

“I love our house. It’s my favorite place in the world,” he said. “Hi, Andrea.”

He leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, then stepped quickly away, making her face heat. Ben was always so careful with her, treating her like those delicate ornaments hanging in the front window. It was clear he didn’t want to crowd her or make her feel threatened—or maybe he was that way with everyone and she was looking for layered subtext where none existed.

She would have greatly preferred that no one in Haven Point had ever found out what happened to her, but Rob Warren had made that impossible.

“You look lovely tonight, as always,” he told her.

“Thank you. I hope we’re not chasing you away.”

“Not really—though I’d like to think I’m smart enough to duck and run when the Helping Hands are around.”

McKenzie gave him a mock scowl. “You love the Helping Hands.”

“I do. Everyone knows the Helping Hands are really the heart of Haven Point. Without you, this town would be a cold, sad, cheerless place.”

“Don’t you forget it.”

“You would never let me, darling,” he said with a laugh, then kissed her forehead.

“I’m actually heading over to Snow Angel Cove,” he told Andie, then pitched his voice lower and looked around as if checking for eavesdroppers. “I’m helping Aidan with a Christmas present. I’d be grateful if you didn’t mention anything to Eliza or Maddie. They think I’m heading over to watch a basketball game.”

She twisted her fingers as if locking her lips and tossed the pretend key over her shoulder, which earned her one of Ben’s rare but devastating smiles.

“Good luck to both of you, then,” she said.

“Thanks.” He waved at her, then leaned in once more to kiss his wife of only a few months. When he walked out the door, McKenzie’s lipstick was smeared and her hair a little rumpled, but that rather dazed smile indicated she didn’t really mind.

For one small, selfish moment, envy poked at Andie with sharp, merciless claws, leaving behind a trailing sadness. Oh, she missed that. Jason had been gone for two years and there were times she ached most of all at the loss of those casual little touches. His fingers brushing the back of her neck as he passed by, his arm draped across her while he slept, his hand on her knee as they sat together on the sofa watching a favorite television show.