Love by the lights, p.1
Love by the Lights, page 1
Love by the Lights
Riley Long
Copyright © 2025 by Riley Long
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Contents
1. Chapter 1
Dakota
2. Chapter 2
Colin
3. Chapter 3
Dakota
4. Chapter 4
Colin
5. Chapter 5
Dakota
6. Chapter 6
Colin
7. Chapter 7
Dakota
8. Chapter 8
Colin
9. Chapter 9
Dakota
10. Chapter 10
Colin
11. Chapter 11
Dakota
12. Chapter 12
Colin
13. Chapter 13
Dakota
14. Chapter 14
Colin
15. Chapter 15
Dakota
16. Chapter 16
Colin
Chapter 1
Dakota
I grunted as I lifted my side of the sofa, my friend Robbie on the other end helping me haul it into the house I was newly renting. We carefully navigated down the ramp of the moving truck and maneuvered the couch through the front door to place it in the living room. As soon as we made it to the right spot, Robbie put his end down with a heavy thud.
Once the couch was in place, I surveyed the room with pride. “This is going to be great.”
Robbie gave me a sincere smile. “I’m proud of you, man.” We’d been roommates in college and best friends since, through thick and thin. I’d had a few rocky years as of late—an ex-wife with a spending problem that put us way into debt, for starters, which she rounded out by cheating on me—but it was good to be out on my own again and back on my feet.
“Now, which room is Caroline’s?” Robbie asked.
I gestured down the hall. “First door on the left.”
Robbie nodded and lifted a box labeled “princess clothes” and headed to the room I’d designated for my five-year-old daughter. “When does she get to see the new place?” he called from her room.
I followed his voice into the spacious bedroom. “Next week. Beth has her until then.” One thing I was grateful for was the house being in the right school district, so Beth and I could continue our every-other-week custody schedule. “I’m hoping to paint and set it all up before then. It’s going to be pink.”
He grinned. “Of course. What other colors are there for a five-year-old princess?” After a moment’s consideration, he continued. “Well, we might as well get back at it.”
“Lots to unload still,” I agreed. I led the way back toward the moving truck and as we stepped outside, I spotted a guy hanging around the truck, his focus on his phone. The guy was about my height, and had a mess of dusty brown hair, several days of facial hair growth, and dark eyes. He was wearing a blue button-down sweater and had a blue and white scarf loosely wrapped around his neck. I had to admit, the look was doing it for me.
“Can I help you?” I asked as I approached him.
He looked up from his phone. “Oh, hey there. You must be the new renter? Mr. Samuels mentioned he’d found someone. I’m Colin. Welcome to Pinehaven.”
I nodded slowly. Jeffrey Samuels was the ninety-something-year-old homeowner I was renting from. “Hi there. I’m Dakota.”
He gave me a bright smile as he tucked his phone into the back pocket of his snug jeans. “I told Jeff to have you call me if you need anything at all. I’m right next door.” He gestured to an unassuming rancher with pale yellow siding. “I’ve been helping out around here since Annie passed away two summers ago, and Jeff moved into the retirement home up the road. You know… cutting the grass, raking leaves, that sort of thing.”
I nodded again. “Thanks.” Not sure what else to say, I shifted from one foot to the other and waited for him to keep speaking.
“Well,” he said eventually, “I guess I’d better get going. Christmas lights won’t hang themselves, you know.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Christmas lights? It’s November first.”
Colin grinned at me and my stomach flipped in a weird way. Stop it, I chastised myself. He’s cute but I don’t need any complications right now.
He shrugged. “Never too early to start. Spooky season is over. Time for Christmas. Besides, it’ll take at least a week to set up the village.”
“Village?”
“Here, let me show you.” He pulled his phone out and scrolled for a moment before holding it out for me to see. It was a photo of the house next door, but it was almost unrecognizable, decorated from roof to foundation in Christmas lighting, figurines in the yard, and candy canes lining the street and driveway.
“That’s… something.”
Robbie peered over my shoulder and let out a low whistle. “That’s impressive.”
Colin beamed and put his phone back in his pocket. “Thanks. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Kids love it, you know? Besides, there’s always the prize money.”
“Prize money?” I was starting to sound like I didn’t know how to carry on a conversation, but this guy moved so quickly I doubt he noticed.
“Yeah,” he said. “There’s a competition every winter and the house with the most votes wins a thousand bucks.”
“Seriously?”
“We love Christmas here in Port Grandlin,” he assured me.
Robbie chuckled and cleared his throat. “I bet Caroline will love it, too.”
“Who’s Caroline? Your wife?” Colin asked.
I shook my head quickly. “My little girl. She’s five. She’ll be here next week. Shared custody. You know how it is.”
He nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I do.”
“What about you?” Robbie asked. “Wife? Kids?”
“Oh, no. Definitely not. No kids, no spouse. Not even a boyfriend.”
Robbie gently nudged me with his elbow, a wide grin on his face, and I forced myself not to react to his prodding. I had the urge to flip him off, but I’d deal with him later.
“I guess we’d better get back to unloading,” I said, tipping my head toward the moving truck. “This stuff won’t unpack itself.”
“Yeah, of course. Let me know if you need anything at all. I’m good at unpacking and organizing.”
“Sure. Thanks,” I said, knowing I wouldn’t take him up on the offer. I was more of a “friendly in passing” kind of neighbor, rather than a “friends” neighbor, and I hoped Colin wouldn’t take offense to it. Then again, it might be nice to know someone in the neighborhood who knew about the politics of the residents, and Colin definitely seemed like the kind of guy who’d be plugged into that. Hell, he’d probably be HOA president, if we had one—which we didn’t, thank the heavens.
“Good luck!” he said as he walked away.
Robbie and I unloaded the rest of the truck in relative quiet, focusing on the task at hand, trying to get everything where it belonged quickly, so I could return the truck before I got charged an overtime fee. As we unloaded, I caught myself sneaking glances at Colin, who was indeed in his yard setting up an elaborate Christmas light arrangement and blasting Christmas music while he did it. All I could hope was that he’d turn the music off—or at least down—by the time the sun set.
Chapter 2
Colin
I worked hard on putting the display up, starting with the lights on the porch and in the yard. I strung icicle lights along my porch railing, draped lights over the front windows, and blanketed the bushes in front of the house with netted lights. Later, I could hang the icicles from the gutter, and I planned to put lights in the shapes of shooting stars on the slope of the roof.
Each year, my display got bigger and better, and I’d won five years running. I always rolled the prize money back into the competition, helping to purchase new lights and pay the electric bill that skyrocketed in winter.
As I worked, wrapping lights around the branches of the dogwood trees in my front yard, I listened to my favorite Christmas music, singing along and letting my mind wander back to Dakota, my serious—and seriously sexy—new neighbor. I’d noticed the way his friend elbowed him when I mentioned I was single and I wondered if that meant I had a chance. Not that I needed to be getting involved with the neighbor. It hadn’t ended well, the last time I’d dated someone in the neighborhood. When we broke up, they’d attempted to sabotage my lights display. Luckily, I’d foiled that plan before it got too far.
Then again, if my reading on Dakota was right, he wasn’t interested in my lights display at all, which was good. I didn’t need a saboteur again this year. I was going for win number six—beating the record of five consecutive wins that I was already tied for. The first five-time winner honor had gone to Amos Ambrose back in the nineties. Nobody had gotten close since, until I’d started my winning streak.
By the time the sun began to set, I was pleased with my progress, and I wrapped up by placing the candy cane lights along the driveway and along the border of my yard. It was coming together nicely, and I was proud of what I’d done.
The following day was Monday, and as the week progressed, I couldn’t find time to put up any more lights. Work was super busy and I was getting home after dark every night. I couldn’t exactly climb on the roof to put up the shooting stars in the dark, so i
Carefully, I placed a ladder against the side of the house. I hefted an armful of spools of lights up the ladder and sat the spools firmly on the roof. The next thing I knew, I was balancing on the roof, my feet firmly on the shingles, and placing lights carefully in the design I’d planned.
“Daddy, that man is on the roof,” a little girl’s voice called as I started laying out the second of the three shooting stars I had planned.
“He sure is.” I recognized the second voice as Dakota’s immediately.
Cautiously, I turned and waved. Next to Dakota, who looked absolutely delicious in a dark sweater and jeans, was a little girl with blonde pigtails wearing a pink sparkly dress.
“Why is he on the roof? You said it’s dangerous,” she continued.
“I did say that. It looks like he’s putting up some decorations. I’m sure he’s being careful.”
“Hey, guy! Daddy says I can’t go on the roof. It’s not safe.”
Dakota shook his head gently. “Caroline, his name is Mr. Colin, and I promise he’s being careful.”
She beamed. “Hi, Mr. Colin!”
I chuckled and lowered myself to sitting. “That’s right. I’m being very careful. But your daddy’s right. It’s not safe for kids. You’ll have to enjoy my Christmas decorations from down there.”
Her eyes lit up. “I love Christmas. Daddy says Santa will find me no matter what house I live in. Even if I don’t live in our old house. He says Santa doesn’t care if it’s Mommy’s house or Daddy’s. He’ll still know how to get my presents to me.”
I grinned, my heart melting. “That’s true. Santa knows everything and he can find anyone.” I hesitated for a moment. “What are you asking Santa to bring you this year?”
“A pointy princess hat and a white pony.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s a tall order, asking for a pony.”
She shrugged. “My friend Sarah has a pony. A real one. He’s brown though. I want a white one, like a real princess would have.”
“And where would you keep him?” I asked.
Another shrug. “In the backyard,” she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Dakota put a hand on her little shoulder. “Let’s get inside, baby. It’s cold out here. Besides, I’m sure Mr. Colin has more to do than just chat with us.”
From where I sat, I could hear her exasperated sigh. “Okay. Bye, Mr. Colin.” She waved and trudged away, toward her own house. Dakota gave me one last glance and a little wave before following her inside.
He was just being friendly, I told myself, despite the butterflies that fluttered through me when he waved. Nothing to see here.
An hour or so later, I was satisfied with my work on the roof. The stars were arranged the way I’d envisioned, and I was getting colder by the minute. I scooted toward the ladder, but as I swung my foot over the side, the leg of my jeans caught on one of the rails. I pulled my leg back to avoid getting tangled or pulled off the roof, and as I did, the ladder wobbled. I reached for it, but it was too late—the ladder rocked away from the roof and crashed to the ground with a loud clatter.
I sank to a sitting position with a deep sigh. “Well…” I said to myself after staring at the now-grounded ladder for a moment. “Now what?” It was quiet out—all of my neighbors were off doing their own things, it seemed. Of course, I’d left my phone on the porch downstairs. There was a tiny window above the porch, but it wasn’t the kind that opened, and breaking the glass seemed extreme.
My mind raced through options. I could try to carefully lower myself to the ground. That seemed like the most practical option, if none of my neighbors passed by anytime soon. I didn’t want to spend the evening getting colder and colder on my roof and being stranded until dark. The only other option was to start shouting for help and hope someone heard me.
I closed my eyes and thought for a minute, combing my brain for other possibilities. As I sat there, I heard a door shut and my eyes flew open.
“Hi, Mr. Colin!” Caroline was skipping toward me, wearing a hat and gloves. “Were you sleeping up there?”
I laughed. “Not sleeping. Just waiting. Can you go get your daddy?”
“What were you waiting for?”
“I’m stuck—see?” I pointed at the downed ladder. “Do you think your daddy can help me get down?”
She nodded solemnly. “Be right back,” she called as she raced away. A few minutes later, she was back, leading Dakota by one hand. “Here we are,” she announced.
Sheepishly, I waved to Dakota. “Hey there. I was hoping you could help… my ladder fell.”
He chuckled and nodded, tugging his hand free of Caroline’s. “Sure thing. Lina, stay back, okay baby? I don’t want you to get hurt.” She nodded and scrambled a safe distance away while Dakota hefted the ladder and rested it against the roof.
Relief surged through me. I grabbed the empty light spools and passed them down before climbing down myself. As I descended, Dakota continued to hold the ladder steady, spotting me for safety.
“You really shouldn’t be doing this alone. You could get hurt.”
A few steps later, I was securely on the ground and Dakota was stepping back to give me space. “Apparently, you’re right. The roof is dangerous.”
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck bashfully before looking at Caroline. “Hear that, Lina?”
She sighed and nodded. “Can we go play now?”
“Of course, baby.” He gave me another glance. “Are you going to be okay now?”
My stomach fluttered again. I forced myself to take a breath, smile, and nod. “A hundred percent.”
A few moments later, I watched as Dakota and Caroline retreated into their yard, Caroline shouting something about a dragon. I watched them for a moment, my chest aching, before I turned away and refocused on my decorations.
Chapter 3
Dakota
“Daddy?”
I looked up from my phone, which I’d been casually scrolling while Caroline played with her dollhouse on the living room floor. “Yes, baby?”
“Can we have a fancy Christmas, too?”
I frowned and put my phone down. “What do you mean?”
She put her dolls down. “You know. Like Mr. Colin has.”
When it hit me, I chuckled. “I don’t know. That’s a lot of work.”
“But they’re so pretty.” She jumped up from her spot on the floor and spun around before facing me again. “They sparkle. It’s like a castle.”
With a sigh, I tucked my phone into my pocket, knowing I was about to cave in. I was never good at telling her no, especially when it was something innocuous like Christmas decor. “Maybe we can. Did you know there’s a prize for the best-looking house in Port Grandlin?”
Her eyes went wide. “There is?”
I hummed and nodded. “Mmm-hmm. One thousand dollars.”
“Wow,” she breathed.
I scooped her in my arms and tickled her. As she giggled and squirmed, I continued. “Think of how many dolls you could buy with a thousand dollars.”
“A million!”
After another second of tickling, I set her next to me on the couch. “What should the decorations look like?”
She shrugged. “Sparkly.”
I gave her a solemn nod. “Of course. What else?”
“Could we have a winter princess? A big one, like as big as you. And she’s sprinkling magic dust everywhere and the dust is the lights!”
“That sounds like a tall order,” I said. “Maybe we keep it a little more tame for our first year, hmm?”
Her small shoulders slumped a bit. “Okay,” she said, sounding just a bit disappointed.
“Fine.” I sighed. “We’ll find a way to make it work. A winter princess with princess dust. But only if you help.” My mental wheels were turning already, trying to figure out how I’d manage to make a princess out of Christmas lights.
