Mayhem in Christmas River: A Christmas Cozy Mystery (Christmas River Cozy, Book 2) by Meg Muldoon Page B

chest.
     

Chapter 17
     
    “Cin,” Daniel said, dropping his arms. “This is… what are you doing here? Is everything all right?”
    I nodded slowly. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from her.
    I didn’t recognize the woman he’d had his arms around. She wasn’t anybody that I knew, which meant she probably didn’t live here. 
    She was pretty. Very, very pretty. With a kind of style that just wasn’t native to Christmas River.
    I mean, she was wearing high heels for chrissake. And she wasn’t even in any Christmas play.
    Even though I hadn’t had anything for breakfast, something was trying to crawl its way up my esophagus.
    “Well, I’m glad you’re here,” Daniel said, clearing his throat. “Cin, This is Stephanie Calder, an old friend from my days back in California. Steph, this is Cinnamon Peters. My girlfriend.”
    Maybe that should have made me feel better, but it didn’t.
    She smiled, revealing a pair of bright, white, perfect teeth to go with her tan, perfectly proportioned face and fiery red tresses. 
    What kind of old friend?
    She stuck her hand out to me.
    “Dan’s been telling me all about you.”
    Dan? I didn’t like the sound of that.
    “Uh, really?” I said, finally finding my voice. It came out scratchy and shaky. 
    “I heard you have a bakery,” she said. “He’s been going on about your pies all morning.”
    She smiled. 
    I glanced over at him. I couldn’t figure the expression on his face.
    Was this really as innocent as they wanted me to believe?
    I didn’t want to be that kind of girlfriend. The jealous, possessive, can’t-stand-to-see-her-man-so-much-as-look-in-the-direction-of-another-woman type. Despite my history with a cheating husband, being jealous and suspicious wasn’t who I was, or ever wanted to be.
    I believed in trust. And that complete trust was the only way anybody could ever truly love someone else.
    But… still. Instinct, or something that wanted me to believe it was instinct, overcame me. I couldn’t dismiss a lingering suspicion. It felt like I’d walked in on something. And I didn’t like that feeling. Not one bit.
    And with so much unresolved still between Daniel and me, I didn’t like seeing a pretty woman from his past suddenly appear in his office. Today of all days. 
    I suddenly realized that I was still holding onto her hand in a limp handshake. She was smiling, but I could tell she was waiting for me to let go.
    “Oh, goodness, I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head and releasing her hand. “I’m a mess. I ran all the way here from across town.”
    “You look fine,” Daniel said.   
    I cleared my throat.
    “So Stephanie, what brings you to our neck of the woods?”
    “Well… I,” she started stammering, looking over at Daniel. “There’s something I was hoping Dan could help me with. A case.”
    “Oh, are you a cop too?” I asked.
    If she was, she wasn’t going to be running suspects down anytime soon in those Prada high heels she was wearing.
    “No, but you see I—”
    “Hey, Cin, what about I finish up here and meet you back at the shop for lunch?” Daniel said.
    He rubbed my shoulder, but there was a strain in his voice that wasn’t normally there.
    I didn’t like being shooed away like that. But there was no reason I could think of to stay.
    After a moment of hesitation, I finally nodded.
    “Okay, sure,” I said.
    I backed away from them.
    Something was just off about all of this. I could feel it in my gut.
    “Nice meeting you Stephanie,” I said. “I hope I’ll get to meet you properly sometime soon.”
    I forced my best smile, stretching my cheeks as far as they would go. But it only came out lukewarm. 
    “Me too,” she said.
    I closed the door behind me without looking at Daniel. 
    And then I was running again, even before I was outside the building. I blew past Norma at reception, who gave me a nasty look. I burst through the front doors and out into the blistering hot sunshine.
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