Page 54 of Lighting Up Christmas

“I can’t get him a Christmas gift. He doesn’t celebrate Christmas.”

“Maybe he’ll celebrate his first Christmas with you.”

That was crazy. Cheeky as…as…she couldn’t even think of a simile.

“We’re not dating.”

“Yet.”

Riley stroked her finger down the dragon’s bumpy spine. She was going to buy the dragon and probably scare Zhang to death. Or maybe she would keep it, a gift to herself. A memory of what she might have had if she’d been lucky or brave or….

“Riley.” Sophia stood in front of her smelling like chocolate, peppermint, pine, and gardenias. “Give yourself more credit. Not everyone sees you as one of the guys.”

“I know,” she said defensively.

“You need to know in here.” Sophia tapped Riley’s chest. “I’m sorry your brothers and cousins are being single dudes and not thinking about you, but that’s on them. Not on you. You and I are going to have fun with my family unless you get a better offer. And you are the only one who can make things happen for yourself.”

Riley met Sophia’s blazing gaze and felt it like a blowtorch to her fear. Could she? Would she? Riley held her fist high like a superhero about to fly, the dragon wrapped around her thumb. “Dragon magic.”

“Don’t mock it or you will get burned. Now, let’s get something to eat.”

*

Riley and Jakeand her assistant for the day finished their work early. Usually they would drive together to a job to save on gas, but today the job had been at Zhang’s even though he was still in California. She’d been surprised and pleased to hear from him, although it had been a totally professional call—nothing about decorating the Christmas tree for the auction being held at the Christmas market.

Romance was definitely not in the air.

So much for what Sophia thinks.

Still, Riley had jumped at the chance.

The farmhouse still stood—new green metal roof, repaired porch, new windows and fresh lick of gleaming white paint. But as she’d suspected, Zhang had built a different house for himself a hundred yards or so farther up the hill closer to the trees.

Riley hadn’t been hired to work in Zhang’s house, so she tried to not glance too often in that direction and wonder what it was like. Austere. Monochromatic at a guess. But he wasn’t paying for her to guess. He was updating the electrical in the farmhouse and a greenhouse that was being built. He’d started but wanted her to check his work and finish it off. The work was straightforward. Like anything Zhang did, Riley imagined, he did it well. She and her assistant had found no surprises or anything they needed to tear out and redo.

“He might be fixing to put us out of business, boss,” Jake had said.

“I hope not. I’d be in some trouble, but I think with the winery and whatever he’s got going with his tech company, he’s pretty busy.”

“I saw him in town at Davies Lumber last week. He said hello. Recognized me. Asked about you.”

“Oh.” Riley was surprised. She’d pictured Zhang as introverted and keeping to himself. She tried to kick away the pleasure she felt that he’d asked about her. This was not freshman year of high school.

“Lot of clients don’t give a shout-out, you know? We’re the job, not individuals to them, especially the rich ones. They don’t really look at us while we’re working in their homes so they don’t recognize us out and about in the community.”

Riley had heard this complaint. She didn’t like it.

“But he was different,” Jake said as he finished checking the voltage of each outlet.

Zhang was different. He was extraordinary.

And now as Riley made one last sweep of the farmhouse to make sure it was clean and ready for the floor refinisher team, she was trying to not think about how unusual and appealing Zhang was.

The farmhouse looked good. She did a final walk-through of the greenhouse she and Jake had wired after the builders had finished it yesterday. Perfect. Hopefully, the upgrades meant that Zhang’s grandfather had agreed to come if not to live, at least for an extended visit. She didn’t like to think of Zhang alone up here, although if he did open a tasting room, he wouldn’t be nearly as isolated as before.

Riley stood on the porch of the house and looked over at the fairly large garage/shop. She wasn’t sure what Zhang was going to use it for, but he’d wanted it rewired. They’d done that, including replacing the large industrial-sized pendant lights with refurbished ones she’d had from another job that were copper and reworked so a more energy efficient bulb could cast a warm orange glow rather than a harsh bright one. She was still itching to replace the lighting in the winery.

She waved as Jake started his truck and swung in a wide circle to pull up to the porch before heading down the gravel road.

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