Page 59 of Lighting Up Christmas

He inclined his head. “Not yet.”

What was stopping him? A million questions burned—most she had no business asking as an electrician, but as his friend…did he see her as his friend? Could he, like Sophia said, possibly see her as more someday?

“Why?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. Fascinating. Zhang so rarely showed emotion, Riley didn’t know whether to rejoice or draw back.

“It’s been on my list,” he admitted. “But I have to discuss it with my…mother.”

The way he saidmotherwas like he was talking about some scary disease. How awful to not be close with his mom. To not be able to visit with his grandfather when he wished. Riley still missed her mom, though she’d died nearly twenty years ago. If her mom were still alive, Riley imagined she’d talk to her every day.

Zhang was silent, and for the first time, Riley just let the silence be. It was comfortable. She watched him work and wondered how they would decorate the Fire Ridge and the Flanagan & Sons’s Christmas trees for the auction.

“My mom is city through and through. Beijing. London. Hong Kong. Paris. She’s driven and demands control. I slipped my leash. We rarely speak. She doesn’t trust that I will put my grandfather’s needs above my own, and I know that she never puts another’s needs first. Stalemate.”

“Have you spoken to him about his wishes?” Riley finally asked, her voice small, not sure if she should voice the question but knowing that she had to. Her feelings for Zhang were too big for her to pretend that what upset him didn’t matter to her.

“He had a stroke a little over eight years ago. My mother blames me because he was visiting at the time. She says I overtaxed him.”

“That’s not…”

“He lost the ability to speak.”

“Oh. Zhang, I’m so sorry.” Riley’s hand covered her heart. She ached for him. Ached for his loss just like she still missed her mother.

“He’s regained his physical mobility and has a full-time caretaker, but he lives in a steel and glass castle. If he were with me, he’d have more independence. A garden. A purpose. He has every luxury, but nothing he wants.”

“What about email or texting?” she asked.

“My mother is in charge of his correspondence.”

It sounded awful. Almost like abuse. And yet, maybe his mother was so concerned about her father that she wanted to micromanage his care. Feared him traveling.

“The farmhouse remodel came out great,” Riley said. It was in her nature to look at the positives. “Perhaps when your mother sees it and how committed you are to providing your grandfather with a good home even if it’s just for a visit…”

Zhang’s expression shuttered.

“While the muffins bake, why don’t we look at the winery website?” he said flatly. “See what still needs to be done.”

As a non sequitur, it was a winner. Riley felt like she had mental whiplash.

“So you’re going to open the winery—officially.”

“I thought about it this week. You’re right. It’s time.”

“Me?” Riley nearly yelped. She hadn’t told him he should open it, had she?

“You pushed, and I needed that. I felt uncomfortable thinking of the changes a winery would create, but the indecision bothered me more. I don’t like to start something I won’t finish.”

That was a motto Riley could get behind. And the determination in his voice and the fire in his expression lit something deep inside her—a spark of something that compelled her forward.

“You should take your own advice then,” Riley said, reaching for her computer and booting it up. “Call your mom. Tell her you’re bringing your granddad for a visit because you’ve builthim a house and a greenhouse and a garden. Invite her to come along.”

She’d really done it now. She could feel the dip in the room’s temperature and rise in tension. It was tangible. She squared her shoulders and faced Zhang, challenged him. It was what friends did. Even when it was hard.

“Put it on the top of your list you talk about.”

*

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