Page 15 of A Christmas Road Trip

“Nothing. Your grandmother wanted me to check on you. She thought you were taking a long time.” I block his way up the steps into the house.

“Oh.” He frowns slightly. “The can was full, so I had to drag out another one. We always make a lot of trash during the holidays.”

Thinking quickly, I land on a method of stalling. “You really need to reorganize your stuff out here. This is the wrong place to put your garbage cans.”

He snorts in amusement but steps back and gestures toward the cans. “Well, you’re the master organizer. Tell me how to do it.”

I manage to kill almost ten minutes, trying out different configurations and discussing possibilities. I could probably have stretched it longer, but I’m starting to shiver in the December air, so Chase insists I come back in.

We’re both laughing as we rejoin his grandmother in the kitchen.

She’s just putting down her phone. “Okay. I’ve got it all settled.”

“What do you have settled?” Chase asks.

“Darlene is going to come stay with me to help me while you’re gone.”

“While I’m gone where?”

“On the trip with Paige, of course.”

He’s clearly shocked. “Grandma—”

“There’s no argument. I’ve got it all worked out. You go with Paige and have a wonderful time. You don’t need to take care of me every minute of every day.”

He makes a few half-hearted attempts at arguing, but his grandmother won’t allow it. In a few minutes, she announces she’s getting tired, so he needs to walk me back to my house.

I take my tin of cookies, kiss her on the cheek, and say goodbye before walking out the front door with Chase.

We’re quiet for a minute, both of us lost in thought.

I’m a little worried that his grandmother pushed him into something he doesn’t really want to do, but I’m not sure how to address it.

As we’re reaching my house, I say, “If you don’t want to go, it won’t hurt my feelings. We can think of some kind of excuse to tell your grandma.”

“I do want to go.” He’s straightened up, his eyes wide and confused.

“You do?”

“Of course. I was afraid she’d pushed you into it.”

I laugh in relief. “Oh. No. I meant what I said. I’d love for you to go with me.”

“Okay then.” He’s not meeting my eyes, but he’s smiling slightly. It’s hard to tell in the moonlight, but he must be slightly flushed. “Then it’s settled.”

“Yes. It’s settled.” I gulp. “I’ll text you about plans.”

“Sounds good.”

“Sounds good.” We’re staring at each other. We’ve reached my house.

This is getting ridiculous again.

I brush off the weirdness and give him a smile. “Okay. See you tomorrow. Good night!”

He probably says good night back, but I’m hurrying to my door in a rush, so I don’t really hear.

Three

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