Free Manic in Christmas River: A Christmas Cozy Mystery (Christmas River Cozy Book 6) by Meg Muldoon Page A

would have ended the same way anyway: with two signatures on a piece of paper and a division of the assets.
    But with Daniel, it was a completely different story. We still had arguments and our share of issues. But the passage of time only made us stronger. More together. More passionate about each other.
    I could honestly say that on this quiet, calm, and beautiful July morning, I was more in love with Daniel Brightman than ever before.
    And everybody, including myself, knew what the next logical step for our relationship would be.
    It was the next logical step for any couple in their thirties.
    But it was one that I was having a tough time coming to terms with.  
    Daniel and I hadn’t ever had a real conversation about it. Not exactly, anyway. There had been that lovely night walking home last winter when he’d hinted that it was a discussion he was ready to have. And at the time, I thought it would be one I was ready to have too.
    But since then, I’d been doing some thinking on the topic. In fact, I couldn’t stop thinking about the topic after seeing Kara go through all that she’d gone through in the last year with doctor visits and sweat pants and baby diapers.
    It wasn’t that I didn’t want children – because I did. I did, with my whole heart. And in that same spirit, there was nothing I wanted more than to start a family with the love of my life.
    But there was something… something inside of me. A feeling, an urge. A little voice whispering the words wait and not yet .
    A little voice that had become ever noisier with the growing crowds gathering at my pie shop door every morning. A little voice that was telling me to keep my head down, work harder, develop, expand, and put everything I had into my business.
    A little voice that was telling me I was on the verge of something big.
    And that whatever was waiting for me on the other side of all of this hard work would vanish like smoke if I didn’t give it my all.
    That little voice had been speaking loud and clear lately, yet I felt bad in some ways for listening to it so intently. For thinking only of myself and my career. For not thinking about Daniel and what he wanted, which I knew was a couple of little Cinnamons and Daniels running around our backyard.
    And I couldn’t be sure that that little voice wasn’t just a voice of fear. Starting a family was a big deal, and something not to be taken lightly. Maybe I was afraid. Maybe it was as simple as that. Like the fears I’d had over getting married a second time.
    Maybe if I just kept thinking about it, one day soon, I’d be able to wrap my mind around the idea of becoming a mother.
    I knew I was facing the dilemma that so many women these days faced, including my best friend. Forced to juggle career and family, it seemed so easy to me for one or the other to get compromised.
    But I guessed I wouldn’t know how it really was until I actually made the decision to—
    I gasped loudly as a figure appeared at the kitchen window, seemingly from out of nowhere. A rush of air flooded my lungs, causing me to cough and sputter out my coffee.  
    A moment later, I slammed my mug down on the counter, and walked on over to the door, my heart thundering in my ears.
    “Jeez, you scared the hell out of me,” I said, opening it. “What are you doing here?”
    My heart was still beating like an oil barrel rolling downhill.
    He looked like a deer in the headlights, clearly jarred by my reaction, though I didn’t know how else he expected me to react. Seeing a guy appear outside the window at this hour of the morning would have that effect on most people.
    “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, his accent so thick I could hardly make out what he was saying. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
    I held the door open farther and stepped out.
    “I thought you weren’t coming in until eight,” I rasped. “It’s still dark.”
    “I know,” he said. “But I don’t sleep all that much anyway, Mrs. Brightman. And