The Christmas Plan - Samantha Chase Page 0,15

fifteen minutes,” his mother replied cheerily. “Plenty of time for the kids to check out the house!”

His father led the way and Gabe held Aspen back a couple of paces. “If you’re not okay with this,” he whispered, “it’s totally fine to say something. You can take my room and I’ll stay out here. Or…I don’t know…I can pay for you to stay at a hotel or something.”

“I’m fine with it,” she replied softly, her arm still hooked through his. “I don’t know why you’re freaking out so much. Remember the studio apartment I lived in when I first moved to Atlanta? It was essentially the size of a closet and we used to hang out there all the time.”

“It’s not the same…”

“Sure it is! Plus, I’m not going to be in there that much. Most days we’re going to be out and about around town or working at the tree lot, so if you really think about it, it’s not going to be that bad.”

He couldn’t believe how understanding she was being. “It’s still not right. My mother and I discussed this and she went and changed everything around without even trying to discuss it with me! Had I known she was planning on borrowing this…this…”

“Tiny house?”

“Yes, this tiny house–such a ridiculous name–I would have made other arrangements. Hell, I would have rented a house for us for the month!”

“If it’s making you this upset, Gabe, then maybe we should.”

He stopped and considered that. “You think so?”

Shrugging, Aspen said, “Personally, I don’t get what the big deal is. But I also don’t want to spend the entire month listening to you freaking out.”

“I’m not freaking out…”

“You, my friend, are definitely freaking out.”

He was about to argue but they were at the door to the…tiny house…and his father was standing there waiting for them with a big smile on his face. “You ready to stop freaking out now, Son, and have a better attitude?”

Beside him, Aspen snickered and with nothing else to do, Gabe let out a long breath. “Sure. Let’s do this.”

It was a good thing everyone was so focused on Gabe freaking out that they hadn’t noticed that she was too.

Yeah, she was good at covering it and she felt bad for lying to Gabe about it all being okay, but…she was kind of feeling a little dejected.

And rejected.

And maybe she was overreacting; after all, it was going to be nice to have a little of privacy. But as they approached the tiny house, she realized it was quite a bit away from the main house.

Which made her feel like the houseguest nobody wanted.

Mr. Andrews was holding the front door open for them and motioning for them to go inside. She glanced at Gabe and he stepped aside to let her go in first. So, with a smile on her face, she walked up the three steps and walked in.

And immediately fell in love.

She paused in the doorway. “Oh.” It was a breathy sigh.

“Welcome to your home for these six weeks,” he said.

“I’ll let the two of you look around. Don’t forget dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” his father called in to them before heading back to the house.

“I…I don’t even know what to say,” Aspen said quietly as she stepped into the room. “This is just…wow.”

“It’s tiny,” he said with just a hint of disdain.

“I’ve seen these on TV,” she said and turned and looked at him. “They’ve always fascinated me, but it’s much cooler than I thought it would be.”

Gabe didn’t look like he was sold just yet.

She stepped farther into the space and looked around–touching everything she could. “I’m not saying I could function in this kitchen in the long-term, but I think everything here works just fine. I’ll just make my candies in smaller batches.” She smiled at him. “I mean, it’s definitely smaller than my studio apartment and I didn’t think that was possible.” She paused and realized that she needed to try to be positive or he’d continue to be miserable. “It’s much better than I expected.”

“Aspen…”

She couldn’t let him get going on a negative rant. So she forced herself to keep moving around and talking about everything she was seeing. She moved over to look in the bathroom and merely popped her head in and then out again. Looking at him over her shoulder, she said, “I’m not loving this. Your mom will just have to deal with me showering over in the house. There’s no way I