I glanced at the phone really quick to make sure it wasn't something else, but no, of course it wasn't. According to my mom, my dad was being selfish by not rearranging his whole schedule for Elsa, and according to my dad, my mom orchestrated this whole crisis just to make things harder for him. And I was done. I'd had as much of this shit as I could handle. “Hey,” I said, pulling the cart to the side out of the way and stopping. “I have an idea.”
“Okay, your idea about art supplies was great, so what's this one?”
“Let's go to Oklahoma for Christmas. I'll just tell my family they can stop fighting and keep their original plans, and we’ll go to your family’s instead. What do you say?”
“But what about your family? Won't they get their feelings hurt?”
“I don't know, but you’re right. It isn't right for them to put me in the middle like this. I’d rather spend the holiday having fun with your family than dealing with mine. Assuming, of course, your parents wouldn't mind us coming last minute.”
“Are you kidding? My mom would be thrilled. I’d need to double-check with Reed of course, but I don't think it’ll be a problem for me to take off. Are you sure? I don't want you to upset your family.”
“I'm sure.” And I was. As soon as I made the suggestion, it was like a weight lifted off my chest. I loved both my parents, but at some point, they were going to have to grow up and stop the fighting. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to tell them now.”
I opened up my phone and responded to their text.
Miller: You guys can stop fighting over who’s going where. I’ve decided to go with Landon to his family for Christmas. I’ll talk to both of you in a couple of days. But for now, Landon and I are in the city shopping, so I won't be responding to any calls or messages for the rest of the day.
“There, it's done. Now you let your mom know, and we'll finish up the shopping.”
The rest of the day was perfect. I turned off the ringer on my phone. I figured the guys knew I was with Landon, so if they needed me, they could call him, and I wasn't working today, so I wouldn't miss anything important. We found gifts for all of Landon's family that I thought they would be happy with, but the highlight of the day was when Landon texted his mom to tell her we were coming.
He’d barely even sent the message before the phone rang. “She always does that,” he said with a laugh. “Hey, Mom, you’re on speaker.”
“Hello, Carol Anne,” I said so she would know I was there.
“I’m so excited you boys are coming. But Miller, hon, what about your family?”
Of course, that would be the first thing she would worry about. “My family is fine. I see them here in town all the time.”
“Well, I hate for you to not get to see them, but I won't pretend that I'm not so excited I can't see straight.”
“Mom, I need to talk to Reed and verify what days I can have off, so I'll let you know what the plan is as soon as I know.”
“Okay, you just let me know. Now I need to get busy. Everyone will be here this year. I'm so excited.”
“Don't do anything special for me,” I insisted.
“Landon, you explain to that young man of yours the way things work around here, and I'll talk to you later.”
Landon chuckled and said, “I will, Mom, love you.”
“I love you too, Lan.”
After he hung up, he turned to me and said, “See, I told you she’d be thrilled.”
“You have a wonderful family. Do you ever wish you lived there?”
He shook his head. “No, it may sound odd because I love them, and I miss them, but they can be overwhelming. I like living here. It's close enough I can drive it in a day to go see them if I need to, but far enough that I don't feel obligated to be there all the time. I like the quiet. I like hanging out in the barn with the horses and not having to interact with a bunch of people. Seeing all of them is nice, but I like it the way it is.”
“As long as you're happy,” I said, pulling him to me for a quick kiss. “Now,