Page 37 of The Christmas Blueprint

“I doubt I can be much help to you,” he noted. “And you’re really out of time if your light garden is glitching. The mayor’s talking.”

“Are you kidding?” She laughed, not seeming as stressed as he’d be if he had a problem with a presentation moments before it started. They arrived at what looked like Riley’s command center. She still had some equipment out. “Bane will bloviate about how great he is and how lucky we are all to have him as mayor for a decade.”

“I hope not. I’m only in town for a year.”

“You keep saying that.” Riley handed him some needle-nose pliers and several packages of supplies. “I’m going to run the computer program one last time on dark, and if I see anything amiss, you can do a physical check.”

“Riley, I’m not an electrician.”

“You can do this in your sleep. Stop lying to yourself. You’re many things but modest isn’t one of them.”

“Did you drag me over here for some belated heart-to-heart where you accuse me of screwing up your life?”

“If I did, I’d accuse you of screwing upyourlife, but why do you always think it’s about you, Killian?”

“My life is not screwed up.” He sounded defensive and about twelve. “Do you really need help?” he asked stonily, his eyes already straying to the dark tree and the people gathered around. Even though the crowd numbered in the hundreds, he could see Sophia, tall and elegant and cute in her elf hat. She was talking animatedly to Harlow, whose corkscrew platinum curls poked out sideways from under her matching elf hat. They stood out. They looked like they belonged.

Sophia would be an excellent mother. But now she might never get a chance because Enrique, her soul mate and a good man, was gone.

“I really wanted to warn you about Sophia.”

“What?” Killian dropped the pliers. He bent to pick them up.

“She’s amazing. Any man would be lucky to have her.” Riley booted up her computer program.

Riley didn’t expect him to argue with that, did she?

“I don’t want you to hurt her.”

“Me?”

“Don’t look so boyishly incredulous. You too are the total package.”

Hardly. Yes, he was usually successful at anything he tried, but he hadn’t begun to build the career he wanted.

“Sophia is still deeply grieving Enrique,” Riley said softly.

“So am I.”

“I know.” Riley briefly laid her head on his shoulder. “I know. And now Hunter’s deployed again so you’ll worry about him. But Sophia needs more time. She pretends that she’s fully ready to move on and that we don’t need to watch out for her, but she’s always hidden her deep feelings. And you, Killian, well, you were always her Kryptonite.”

“Her what?” he demanded as if he’d never seen a Superman movie.

Riley shook her head at his feigned obtuseness as she watched the screen scroll through whatever program she’d designed.

“Don’t tell her I told you, but she crushed hard on you when we were kids.”

“She what?”

Riley’s reveal came out of left field.

“Are you even capable of forming a full sentence anymore? Ah, number nine. Follow me. I’ll show you what to do, and then you can fix anything else if it glitches. We look to be in good shape.”

“There’s nowehere. This is all your doing, Riley,” he said, proud of his sister but totally uncomfortable with the conversation. Still, Riley was a good friend to Sophia, and he had been a bit of a…flirt in high school and beyond. And she likely intuited that he never took anything further than a few dates or some casual hookups with women, and he didn’t intend to enlighten her.

She held her Maglite Flashlight in her mouth and focused on the number-nine relay, quickly working the fix. She looked up at him, blinding him.

“Sheesh.” he covered his eyes with his arm.

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