“Oh, I don’t know,” she said lightly. “I just had a craving for it for some reason, and it can’t hurt to have a little extra vitamin C during flu season.”
He glanced over, but her expression was completely innocent. Except maybe the usual sparkle in her blue eyes was a little extra sparkly?
He was getting ready to ask when Henry whimpered in the backseat.
“Hi, Henry,” Willow said in a soft, cheerful voice. “We almost made it to see the Christmas trains. Would you like a snack?”
Jensen watched in the rearview mirror as the furrow in Henry’s brow smoothed and he nodded his little head up and down.
“Great,” Willow told him. “I brought some muffins. Do you like banana muffins, Henry?”
“I think he will,” Jensen said. “Would you mind breaking him off a piece of mine?”
“I’d be glad to,” Willow said, grabbing the muffin and peeling a chunk from the top. “Here you go, Henry.”
He took it without hesitation then looked at it for a moment before taking a bite.
“Mmm,” he hummed quietly after a moment.
“Oh, I’m so glad you like it,” Willow told him. “These are my favorite.”
Henry took another bite, his eyes twinkling right back at Willow’s, and Jensen suddenly felt really good about the trip.
Nothing’s going to go wrong today, right?
11
WILLOW
That afternoon, Willow stood on the snowy ground, holding her phone up in front of her as she took in the festive sights all around.
Every tree in the arboretum seemed to be adorned with a different arrangement of lights, decorations, or both. A few inches of snow covered the ground, and the people wandering around among the trees and trains were all laughing and smiling, carrying souvenirs in recycled shopping bags from the gift shop in wrapping paper patterns.
After riding the Christmas train around the arboretum so many times they had lost count, and looking at all the little trains under glass, Henry was finally ready to say that this would be hislast ride.
Since the train only allowed two riders per car, Willow and Jensen had been taking turns accompanying Henry. This last time she had convinced Jensen to ride, so she could take a video of them.
The sun had already set, but she found an area wherethousands of Christmas lights would illuminate the riders enough to show their faces. As she waited for the train to come around, she drank in the fresh, frosty air, and smiled at the thought of the amazing day they had shared.
It wasn’t just the trains, it was walking among the beautifully lit trees, hearing Henry speak a few times about the trains and the snow, and even eating lunch in the small cafeteria, where they had bumped into the conductor who was also taking his lunch break.
He’d introduced himself as Ralph, while smiling at Henry over his bowl of soup. And said that Henry had been his favorite passenger today. Henry had grinned up at him, practically speaking through his joyful expression.
But she couldn’t help getting a little stuck on what happened next.
“Quite a kid you two have there,” Ralph had said, obviously mistaking them for a couple.
Willow had been too surprised to say anything, and Jensen had just smiled and thanked the man. Honestly, Jensen seemed pretty quiet all day. Not in a bad way, but ever since their talk in the car about Henry, Jensen had looked happy but also really thoughtful.
A rumbling on the tracks alerted her that she was about to miss her last chance to get a good video of the Webb boys.
She took a deep breath, focused on the spot where the train would come into view, and willed her hands not to shake.
A moment later, the little train appeared, moving at asensible but brisk pace. Jensen and Henry were in the car right behind the conductor’s, and though Henry was slumped against his daddy like he was tired, he was smiling ear-to-ear.
Willow began recording, pleased to find that the glow of the Christmas lights was more than enough to light their faces.
As they passed, Henry noticed her, and cried out something with an expression of happy excitement. It sounded likewow, but she suddenly realized he was sayingWillow.
