Page 52 of Lighting Up Christmas

“Wednesday evening,” was all he reiterated.

Chapter Ten

“Sooooo,” Sophia drawledout Monday night as Riley stopped to see if she wanted to go to dinner. She had nothing fresh or edible in her fridge or pantry, and she was in no mood to shop.

“So what?” Riley watched Sophia move elegantly around her store, sure of herself and her place in the world.

“Have you heard from the Easter Island god?”

“I didn’t really call him that, did I?”

“You did. I call him Mr. Right.”

“He’s Mr. All Wrong.”

“How so?” Sophia arched one brow. Dang, Riley had always wanted to do that. Zhang could do it too. It was an art Sophia had mastered in sixth grade, and it had kept bullies and mean girls firmly in their own orbit. “You like him.”

“He’s a client.”

Sophia huffed out a breath. “I have to put a few things away, so come in. You’re letting all the cold air in.”

“I’m starved.”

“Oh no. You’re not getting off that easily.” Sophia shook a finger at her.

Riley began straightening tables—hopefully, her willingness to help out would divert Sophia’s scrutiny.

No such luck.

“Have you gone on a date yet? A real date?”

Should she count searching for a tree together? Racing flat out across the fields of his land, his arms wrapped around her waist, his chin on her shoulder. It had been one of the finest, most fun moments of her life and the best part? After Zhang hadlet her drive his souped-up snowmobile, he’d high-fived her at the end—his beautiful eyes sparkling in pleasure or amusement or something that had made her tummy flip and heart pound. But that wasn’t exactly a date.

“He’s a client,” Riley reiterated, reminding herself more than Sophia. “But if I were to ask him out on a date, what do you think it should be?”

“Make a thermos full of hot cocoa and drive around and look at lights.”

Riley snorted. “Is that code for something?”

“Is it? That’s what we do every Christmas. Stalk the homes with the good lights so you can take notes.”

“It is good that my bestie’s cousin is a cop.” Riley laughed. “But I do love Christmas lights. The colors, the festiveness. I think about the solstice—the nature significance but also the pagan history, and the lights just seem so hopeful—lighting up the darkness so weary travelers can find their way home.” Riley’s voice broke.

Sophia stopped folding sweaters and looked at Riley.

“It really bothers you that your family chose to start their extended vacation in December instead of waiting until January, doesn’t it, sweetie?”

Riley bit her lip. Sophia made her sound immature and selfish. She was feeling that way. “No,” she blew out a breath and leaned against the table with the sweater display, one sweater dangling from her hands. “Yes. I don’t want it to. I don’t. I want my dad and stepmom to have this trip. I do. They were so excited, and then when my aunt and uncle decided to join them, it seemed perfect.”

For them.

Riley hated that she was whiny. She was nearly thirty-one. No more Santa down the chimney. “They called me to check in. Twice now, but…”

“But.” Sophia patted Riley’s shoulder and tugged her ponytail lightly. “There’s always a but, isn’t there?” Her dark eyes were kind.

“I thought I’d have Christmas at my house. It’s tiny, but I was looking up all these different recipes, and I have the outdoor covered patio and firepit that my brothers helped me build last summer. I thought I’d host my brothers and cousins. You know, like a kids’ Christmas although we’re all adults, and then when I called them, every one of them had already made other plans. I mean, some of them are working but…”

“There’s that peskybutagain,” Sophia said, pretending not to see that Riley’s burning eyes had welled and a few tears trickled down her cheek, which she swiped at with her thumbs.

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