"Flights are back on. Mine's at three."
He's quiet for a moment, and I can practically hear him thinking. Then he takes my phone out of my hand, sets it on the nightstand, and pulls me back down to face him.
"Come to Aspen with me," he says.
I blink. "What?"
"My flight's probably rescheduled too. Come with me. We can spend the rest of the holiday together."
"Garth, I can't just—my mom is expecting me."
"Right. Of course." He kisses my forehead. "Then I'll come to Detroit with you."
I pull back to look at him. "You want to come to Detroit? To meet my mother?"
"Yes."
"The one who criticizes everything about me?"
"Especially her." There's steel in his voice. "Someone needs to be there to tell her she's wrong."
My chest does something complicated. "You can't just tell my mother she's wrong."
"Watch me."
God, I love him. I actually love this grumpy, overprotective, ridiculous man.
"What about Aspen?"
He shrugs. "This is better."
"Spending Christmas with my judgmental family in Detroit is better than a luxury ski resort?"
"Spending Christmas with you is better than anything." He says it matter-of-factly, like it's obvious. "So yes. I'm coming to Detroit."
My chest feels too full. "Okay. But don't say I didn't warn you."
Three hours later, we're at the airline counter. The terminal smells like coffee and cinnamon from a nearby café, and someone's phone is playing holiday music—Mariah Carey's high notes filling the air.
Garth hands over both our confirmation numbers. "I need to cancel my Aspen flight and rebook both of us on the next available flight to Detroit. First class, two seats together."
"Garth, you don't have to—"
"I know. I want to." His hand finds the small of my back. "You hate flying. This way I can hold your hand during takeoff."
The agent gets us on the 3 PM flight, and soon we have new boarding passes and time to kill. We grab coffee and find seats near our gate.
"I should probably warn my mom," I say, pulling out my phone.
Me: Hey, slight change of plans. I'm bringing someone. His name is Garth. We're... together.
Three dots appear immediately.
Mom: WHAT? Who is Garth? How long has this been going on?
Me: It's new. Really new. I'll explain when we get there. Flight lands at 5.
Mom: Claire Marie Abbott, you cannot just spring a man on me—
