Christmas from L.A.

chapter two: the long way home

"Okay, this is extremely important. Will you please tell Santa that instead of presents this year, I just want my family back?"

~Home Alone

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Kelsey, Ethan, and Becca bumped along a dusty Idahoan road, a brown farm on one side of them, and dense woods on the other.

"You sure this is the right place?" Ethan asked.

Kelsey squinted at her GPS. "Yup." She looked up at the road ahead of her and sighed. "I hope Roadkill's going to be okay."

"Don't worry, I left him at my apartment with a good friend," Ethan explained.

"He calls himself Dogface, Ethan," Kelsey replied.

"Because he's good with dogs!"

Kelsey rolled her eyes, glad that her apartment wasn't going to be occupied by someone named "Dogface".

The trees whizzed by and the GPS said that they'd be there in five miles. It was so strange to think that she was visiting her mom in a place that wasn't their real home. Through all the chaos of divorce, her dad had offered for her to take the house in Kansas, but her mom decided to come live in Idaho, near her Aunt Josephine.

Kelsey was glad that her mom had broken up with her boyfriend, so at least Kelsey didn't have to deal with that.

She glanced back at Becca, who was hunched in the back seat of their rented Chevrolet, texting furiously on her phone.

Then, she looked at Ethan, who had one hand resting on the wheel as the golden evening sun bathed his skin. His head was tilted back and his sandy hair peeked out of his grey beanie.

Kelsey smiled and laced her fingers in his free hand. "You like it here, don't you?"

"Reminds me of Iowa, in some ways," he replied contentedly.

"Maybe one day we could move here. You could start a Little Broadway that becomes the biggest theater in Idaho, and I could buy out a space at The Grove to set up a restaurant."

Ethan lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. "We could get married amidst the potato fields. Very romantic."

Kelsey snickered. "You'd really leave the palm trees, and In-N-Outs, and beaches, and movie star fame?"

"First of all, I have six months left on my movie contracts," he reminded her, "and second, there's just something appealing about home." His face grew somber for a moment. "It's hard to get that in L.A. sometimes."

Kelsey nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Believe me."

Ethan glanced at the field that was passing by next to them. "Although, I don't know if I could live off of potatoes for the rest of my life."

Kelsey considered it. "I don't know...there's a lot of things you can do with potatoes. Mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato casserole, hasselback potatoes, French fries—"

"Cheese potatoes!" Becca cried from the back seat.

Kelsey pointed at her and nodded. "I know I could live off of potatoes for the rest of my life."