Page 4 of Find Me Again

His niece deserved thanks for throwing a tantrum until her parents gave in and picked that color for his present. Ryan had clearly not appreciated her genius enough at the time, and he should have. Little Beth was as smart as she was stubborn and he loved talking to her, so it was a shame he wouldn't have a chance to see her this time around.

He definitely needed to schedule another visit in a couple of months. Since his boss wasn't stingy with vacation days, Ryan might as well take advantage.

At last, he caught sight of his suitcase and moved through the thinning crowd to claim it. He could see a few people doing a double take of him handling the bright green monstrosity, but he ignored it and headed straight to the arrival hall.

Scanning the crowd, he quickly located his parents a little to the side of the exit. They both grinned, and his mom waved, as she always did. It used to embarrass him a bit whenever they would pick him up after a deployment or simply on leave, but now it just felt nice.

He grinned back. It was good to be home.

Soon enough, after being hugged to death by both his parents, Ryan had to relinquish his suitcase to his dad, so that his mom could link his arm with hers and pull him towards the exit, asking question after question about his flight, the weather in DC, and whether he was missing any assignment involving the president by taking holiday season off this year.

He explained to her numerous times that any private company—KRK Security included—wasn't usually covering events with the President of the United States in attendance, but since there had been a few in the past, his mom still asked every time.

Once they got into the car and left the airport behind, Ryan allowed himself to relax in the back seat, watching the road fly by. He usually wished for a nap after a flight, but it was unlikely to happen today. His maternal grandparents and aunt were visiting as well, which meant there was going to be a lot of people to catch up with right away.

Holding back a grimace, he closed his eyes.

Thankfully, he was going to stay at his brother's house during this trip, so he could at least plan for an early night.

* * *

Ryan snapped to attention as the car stopped, and he blinked twice until he got his bearings.

They were home.

Glancing up at the rearview mirror, he found his parents looking back at him—there was the amused smile on his mother's face and the raised eyebrow from his father.

Then he heard a child's shriek of laughter and saw his cousin's twin daughters run across the front lawn towards the house.

"A power nap was a good choice," his mom said, and he snorted.

It sure felt like it, even if he wished it had lasted a little longer.

After they'd gotten into the house, what felt like the whole extended family descended to greet him, and between all the hugs from the adults and a slobbery kiss on the cheek from his cousin Vicky's toddler son, Ryan lost the rest of the tension he'd carried from the trip and beyond.

The last few weeks at work had been grueling, dealing with a client who had dragged Ryan and his partner, James, to various meetings at weird hours of the night and who'dgiven them hell for trying to keep him safe. Because blocking an excited fan from jumping down on the guy from a few feet up could"alienate the fans and create the wrong picture", apparently.

Thankfully, the assignment was over now, and Ryan could celebrate holidays with his family in peace. He was going to sleep in, read some books, help grandpa with his crossword puzzles and grandma with her peanut butter cookies, and do various other little things he did whenever he visited.

And after the New Year's, he'd go back to DC and his life there, rested and ready for another year.

Tonight, though, he got swept up in the conversation immediately after he returned from freshening up and took a seat with everyone in the living room. As he sat on the floor near the beautiful Christmas tree, he smiled at the crooked snowman he noticed hanging on the bottom left. He and George had had an entire set of these figurines, but most of them had broken or gotten lost over the years. Only this little snowman prevailed, and their mom had always put it up on the tree.

Then Ryan heard the name that always sent his heart into a spin, no matter what.

"—Hopkins, she said her son was staying until New Year's," Aunt Susan was telling his mother, who glanced at him just in time to catch his gaze.

Neil was in town.

He was in town, right now. A little more than a mile away.

Ryan turned to stare at the Christmas tree, but he couldn't really see anything anymore.

Damn it.

He'd put it all behind him a long time ago. Neil Hopkins had been a crucial, defining part of Ryan's life, but he was a memory now and had been for over a decade. The famous hockey player Neil Hopkins was somebody Ryan didn't knowand only caught glimpses of on TV every once in a while. He'd sworn to never watch any of Neil's games, and he'd kept that promise, with one exception—the last game of Neil's first Stanley Cup finals, which brought his team a victory and a title. Ryan hadn't moved from the couch for that entire game, sat through the televised celebration, and then finished his beer, went to bed, and woke up to go to work the next day as if nothing had happened.

And now Neil was in town, threatening the well-crafted constructs Ryan had built.

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