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“Oh.” I risk a quick look at him. His expression is bland and neutral. Normal. “That’s okay then.”
“Glad you approve.”
I roll my eyes. I’m about to ask him more, but he suddenly sees a homemade sign for a “primitives” shop and insists we stop to check it out.
I need to pee anyway, and the conversation is making me weirdly uncomfortable, so I’m happy to oblige.
OUR FIRST PLANNED DESTINATION is a small town with a large popular Christmas shop, several antique stores, and a few kitschy restaurants.
We arrive at just after one, so it’s too early for check-in at our bed-and-breakfast. We go right to the Christmas shop and stay all afternoon.
It’s got huge rooms of great, unique items, including a lot of local arts and crafts. Chase is in full form, admiring all the tackiest stuff with wide eyes and tongue-in-cheek comments. When I keep going back to a handmade cuckoo clock that makes me giggle with Santas instead of birds that pop out, he picks it up to buy it for me, despite my attempt to object.
“Anything that makes you laugh that much is worth the money,” is all he says.
As we check out, I talk for a long time with the cashier, who is the niece of the store owner. She gives me business cards for a few of the craftspeople I’m interested in contacting, and then she takes a stack of my cards, saying she’ll be happy to pass them out to folks who might be interested in connecting with me.
Pleased with the conversation, Chase and I finally leave the store at four thirty. We’ve agreed to take turns driving, and it’s his turn, so I get into the passenger seat with my cuckoo clock on my lap. It’s wrapped up neatly, but I pull down one corner of the paper so I can catch a glimpse of it again.
One of the carved elves on the frame smirks back at me and makes me giggle again.
Chase’s face softens from behind the steering wheel as he looks at me.
“Thanks again,” I say.
“You’re welcome again. But you’ve now thanked me four times, so that’s enough. You’re taking me on this entire trip and won’t let me contribute anything but splitting food and gas, so I can buy you a clock if I want.”
“I know. I’d be paying for the rooms whether you came or not, so of course I’m not going to ask you to help with those. By the way, I’m calling up all the places and switching to two beds if possible. But the cost of the rooms doesn’t change because you’re with me.” I don’t say so, but I’ve got plenty of money in savings, and this trip didn’t make even a dent in it. Chase works at a coffee shop and needs to help support his grandmother as well as himself. Most of my friends might have trust funds, but Chase doesn’t.
There’s no way I’m going to let him pay much for this trip.
“We can definitely go check in now,” I add, changing the subject. “That way, we can settle in and rest a little before dinner.”
“Sounds good.”
The bed-and-breakfast is cute and cozy if not luxurious. I reserved the largest room because it has the nicest bathroom. The room has two double beds, hefty antique furniture, and a large bay window looking down at the garden. Not that there’s anything blooming at the moment, but it’s still a pleasant view.
Chase automatically sets his stuff down on the bed in the corner rather than the one in the more advantageous position near the big window and the bathroom. He doesn’t appear remotely awkward or self-conscious about our sharing a room. “This is nice. What time do you want to go to dinner?”
“I was thinking around seven if that works for you. If you’re hungry, I don’t mind eating earlier.”
“Seven is great.” He glances at his phone. “That will give me time for a nap.”
I laugh at that and go to set my stuff up in the bathroom. I resist the urge to really unpack, since we’re just here for one night, but I do pull out the clothes I’m planning to wear to dinner and tomorrow, as well as my pajamas for tonight.
Chase is clearly not an unpacker. He’s already stretched out on top of the covers on his bed with his earbuds in and his eyes closed.
I rest for an hour and then decide to take a shower before dinner. I put my clothes on while I’m in there, pulling on a pair of stretchy black jeans and a green sweater that looks nice and festive but still relaxed.
When I come out, I sit down to message a few of my friends and my mother to give them updates on the day while Chase uses the bathroom. He comes out after not too long, still wearing the jeans he’s had on all day but changed into a heavy sweater with a dramatically festive green-and-red-checked pattern.
I burst into laughter, even more amused by his blithely innocent expression. “I love it! Where did you get it?”
“Grandma made it for me for Christmas a few years back. She gives me one every year.”
“Did you bring more of them?”
His eyebrows twitch. “I brought them all.”
