This year Riley and Chloe are spending Christmas with Dad in his trailer on the beach. That means no Christmas tree, no Yule log and no Mom, who has to go away to help her ailing aunt. That's when Chloe and Riley decide on the best Christmas present of all. They're going to get their parents back together again for good, no matter what it takes.

Ages 9–15

So Little Time #16: Surf Holiday

By Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2006 Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0060595159

Chapter One

"Those are the cutest ski jackets I have ever seen!" Chloe Carlson exclaimed to her sister, Riley. "I think we should each get one."

Fourteen-year-old Chloe pictured herself in the orange jacket that Riley was holding up. No, the silver one would look better with her hair. Of course, she and Riley had the exact same shade of blond hair, not to mention the same blue eyes and the same complexion. Still, Chloe thought that the silver jacket suited her personality better.

Riley laughed. "That's a great idea. Except we came to the mall to do some last-minute Christmas shopping, remember? For other people?"

"Fine. I'll buy you the orange jacket for Christmas, and you can buy me the silver one. They're only -- " Chloe paused to check out the price tag. She let out a so little time small scream when she saw the triple digits. "Aargh! I mean, they're a tiny bit more expensive than I thought."

"Maybe we should wait for the January sales," Riley suggested.

"But we're leaving for Vail on Saturday!" Chloe groaned. "We have everything else we need ... new snowboards, hats and scarves, the coolest sunglasses. But we still need the perfect jackets. And these jackets are really special." She grinned. "They have personal stereo systems inside with headphones sewn into the hoods. We could listen to our lave CDs while we tear up moguls."

Chloe and Riley were leaving for Vail, Colorado, in just three days. Their mother, Macy, was taking them to the famous ski resort for their holiday vacation. Chloe couldn't wait to hit the slopes with her new snowboard.

And she couldn't wait to see snow. At home in Malibu, California, there was nothing but sunshine and warm, balmy weather almost 365 days a year. Which was nothing to complain about. Still, there was something special about seeing snowflakes falling gently onto a pure white landscape.

The three of them also planned to visit the resort's spa for lots of postskiing massages and beauty treatments. Chloe had read online that the spa's pineapple papaya facials were to die for.

"Let's go next door to Video Planet and get some DVDs for Dad," Riley said, tucking her arm through Chloe's. "That will get our minds off the -- hey, look at those awesome black ski pants!"

"Oh, we have to get them!" Chloe cried out.

Ten minutes and lots of cash transactions later -- the pants were thirty percent off after all -- Chloe and Riley managed to tear themselves away from Powder-hounds.

They stopped to look at a flyer for Surf Expo posted on the wall outside the door. "I guess we're going to miss that when we go to Vail," Riley said sadly.

"I know you've been looking forward to it since last year, but trust me ... once you hit the slopes, you won't miss it at all," Chloe said as they turned to go into Video Planet.

Chloe shifted her shopping bag from one arm to the other as she scanned the shelves of DVDs. "So what would Dad like?"

Riley pointed to several titles and read them out loud. "Beach Yoga for Your Health. The Meat-Free Gourmet. Spirituality After Forty."

Chloe pretended to yawn. "Okay. As long as we don't have to watch them with him when we stay over at his place."

[Chloe: See, Mom and Dad are separated. They decided to split up when they realized that they live at two different speeds. You know the story of the tortoise and the hare? Well, Dad is the tortoise; Mom is the hare -- on caffeine. Riley and I live with Mom in our beach house in Malibu. Dad decided he preferred the simple life in his small trailer by the ocean. He's into yoga, meditation, and health foods with strange names.]

Riley grinned and put the three DVDs into a shopping basket. The sisters continued to browse. Riley found some movies for her best friend, Sierra. Chloe found a special three-DVD set for her boyfriend, Lennon, of his favorite TV show, it cost more than she had wanted to spend, but Lennon was so worth it.

"Hey, Chloe! What are you doing here?"

Chloe's head flew up at the sound of the familiar voice.

Lennon was standing in front of her.

Chloe stifled a gasp and whipped the DVD set behind her back.

[Chloe Okay, this is what you call bad timing. Did Lennon see my present for him? Did I blow his big Christmas surprise?]

Lennon leaned to kiss her. Chloe noticed that he was holding something behind his back, too.

"Hi, Lennon," Chloe said, enjoying the kiss. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh -- just picking out some DVDs for my mom," Lennon said quickly.

"That's what we're doing, too! We're picking out some DVDs for our dad," Chloe said. "No one else. Just our dad."

"That's cool," Lennon said. "Hey, Riley."

"Hey, Lennon," Riley said with a little wave.

Lennon turned back to Chloe. "Listen, I was going to call you. Are you free Friday night? Do you want to go out with me and my parents? We want to take you out for a special good-bye dinner before you leave for Vail."

"I'd love to," Chloe said eagerly. "Is this going to be fancy or casual?"

"Definitely fancy," Lennon replied. "I'll call you about it later, okay?""Okay."

Lennon gave her another kiss, then took off. Chloe noticed him quickly shifting whatever he had been holding behind his back so that she couldn't see it.

"Did you catch what he's getting for me?" Chloe whispered to Riley.

Riley laughed and shook her head. "No! Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

Chloe laughed, too. "What kind of sister are you?" she teased. "Anyway, we'd better knock some more stuff off our shopping list or we'll be here all night."

"Slumber party at the mall. Doesn't sound so bad," Riley remarked.

"True," Chloe agreed.

Continues...

Excerpted from So Little Time #16: Surf Holidayby Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen Copyright © 2006 by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen. Excerpted by permission.
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