Staying for the Holiday

Part 4

God, this was good.

"I mean, unless I call you Carter." I joked, more so to myself but he heard me. "Carter it is."

"No, Grant. I was just joking around, I don't have to call you Carter if you don't want me to." I said, munching on the last piece of bacon. Was there more? I wanted more. It was really that good.

"No, I like that. No one calls me that." The mood in the room shifted and it was freaky. My stomach dropped, once again. The flustered feeling was new to me all over again. I hadn't been wooed since the beginning of my relationship with dumb face Drew. Back then he was the perfect flirt, over the years he stopped trying. Feeling giddy over a guy again felt nice.

"Carter it is." I finalize, mirroring what he had said minutes ago.

"Well, if you're finished my lady. You can freshen up and I could give you a tour of the house. There's whole other side to this place." I handed him my plate as he waltzed towards the door. "When you're ready, meet me in the kitchen." With a wink, he whirled away.

I felt that fuzzy feeling in my stomach before grabbing a towel and heading towards the bathroom.

Was it wrong that I was feeling like this not even 24 hours after I broke up with a guy I dated for 2 years?

-

"Took you long enough." Grant says as I walked into the kitchen. No, I'm sorry. Carter. I'm calling him Carter, now. "Oh hush. I took like thirty minutes." I laughed, slowing moseying over towards where he was sitting at the kitchen island. I was glad to see he still had on his pajamas because I just threw on tights and a flannel with fuzzy sock. I wasn't planning on going outside, so why waste a good outfit?

"Here," Grant- Carter said, handing me a mug, filled with the hot liquid. It smelled like peppermint. "I hope you like peppermint hot chocolate." I saw that he had a mug that matched my own as we began walking in a direction across from the kitchen. "I like anything hot chocolate in the winter. It gives me the classic Christmas vibe."

Carter showed me two separate family rooms, an office, and a mini library with a comfortable chair in the corner. Then we headed downstairs towards the "old people quarters", which he liked to call it. His parents, Aunt Mary, Uncle James, and Grandma Rose stayed on this side of the house.

From those quarters, we went down the steps. There was a wine cellar, another dining room setting, a movie theatre- that sat 15 people, a gym, and a sauna. How big was this house? Carter directed us towards another flight of stairs and we were back on the main floor.

William and Junior's rooms were next to the main dining room, kitchen, and foyer. There was a hidden winding staircase at the end of their hallway. It lead directly upstairs, to the end of our hallway or we could just walk back towards the front of the house to use the grand stair case.

On the main floor there was, of course, the dining room we used yesterday, a family room, a sun room that looked across the backyard and a big empty looking room.

Gra- Cater! Gosh, it was going to be hard to remember his new name. Carter said that there would be a Christmas party being held there tomorrow night. Maybe I'll be able to wear my dress then? I didn't ask because that would be rude to invite myself, but that didn't keep me from dreaming.

Carter took my hand and lead me back towards the secret winding staircase. As we passed William's room, the door opened.

"What are you two up to?" William was rubbing his eyes as if he just woke up. I checked my watch and it was 2pm.

I hope he wasn't just waking up.

Me waking up at 12 was bad. William glanced at our hands that were together but shrugged it off. "You and Junior missed breakfast, loser." Carter teased pulling me up the staircase after him.

We were near our rooms again but instead of him letting me off at my room, he continued to pull me towards the grand staircase. Before we reached them, there was a little hallway that lead to another sunroom. It was a circular, softly painted yellow room with books that filled the walls. There were four cozy looking recliners and a couple of end tables.

"I love this room." I said, looking around. It smelled of old books and I loved that smell more than anything in the world. I ran my fingers along the spines of the books before walking over to the large windows. The same scene that greeted me from my bedroom this morning, greeted me here.

"It's the most peaceful room in this house." I forgot that Carter was with me so when I heard his voice, I jumped a bit. He was standing close beside me. I glanced up at Carter to see him admiring the snow like I was.

Suddenly, I heard Rose calling me from outside of the room. I almost didn't want to leave, but I had to answer her.

Upon entering the hallway, I saw her about to go down the steps. "Oh! There you are! What are you- oh!" I felt Carter standing behind me now and I tensed up slightly. A knowing smile spread across her face, "I was just going to tell you that I was going to go to the stores with Emily and Mary to get some last minute gifts but if I'm interrupting something-"

"No! I'll go!" I say, quickly. "Wow, don't try so hard to get away from me." I hear Carter say from behind me.

"That's not what I meant!" I swirl around, facing him now. Oh, gosh. Did I offend him?

"Kidding," he smiled. I sighed heavily and turned back to Rose. "Let me just put on a coat and boots and I'll be down." Rose only smiled and skipped down the stairs.

Carter was going to drive me to the grave with his jokes.