Free 5 Mischief in Christmas River by Meg Muldoon Page A

things usually work themselves out.”
    “Yeah,” Brad said. “In the meantime, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for that dog.” 
    “Me too,” Kara said.
    She peered at me for just a little bit too long, then went back to her crafting.
    I bit my lip, and then tried to focus on being a good maid of honor.
    Trying not to think too much about what would happen to Daniel should Shasta never turn up.
     

 
    Chapter 21
     
    It was going to be a late, late night at the pie shop, and it had nothing to do with baking pies.
    I peered at the image on my laptop of the ice palace from Dr. Zhivago , trying to shape the sweeping domes and towering spires out of gingerbread cookie dough. It was a precarious business, trying to bake cookie dough like this. Much of the time, under the heat of the oven, the dough would lose its shape, and you’d be left with an unrecognizable blob.
    Still, despite the difficulty of this particular gingerbread house, I didn’t regret having chosen the subject matter. I had always loved the movie, in particular, the sweeping and beautiful love story between Yuri and Lara. Dr. Zhivago always held a special place in my heart, ever since Warren took me to see it at the Christmas River Movie House when I was a teenager.
    I couldn’t wait to bring the story to life through frosting, cookies and edible glitter.
    I shaped the domes around crushed aluminum foil, and placed the delicately balanced dough carefully in the oven. Then I started mixing up another bowl of white frosting to act as a gluing agent for when the cookies had cooled.
    My mind wandered as I whipped together the powdered sugar and cream, and I soon found myself thinking, not surprisingly, about Pepper Posey.
    I wondered what she was going to enter in the competition. From what she had said at registration day, she hadn’t had much experience building gingerbread houses. It was probably going to be a small, basic one, if I were to guess. The kind that you might find in a kit at a store, with lots of gumdrop decorations. The beginners always went over-the-top with the gumdrops. It was probably not going to be any better than—
    I let out a sigh.
    “You’ve got to stop this nonsense,” I said out loud.
    I had to stop being so competitive with Pepper. And at the very least, I had to stop thinking these mean thoughts about her. She seemed a perfectly pleasant person. She’d given me no reason to dislike her, other than the fact that I envied her business sense and her French pastry training. And if I let that make me feel threatened, than I was no better than—
    “Stop what nonsense?”
    I glanced up. Daniel was standing behind the dividing door, a self-satisfied expression on his face.
    He must have been watching me argue with myself.  
    “Eavesdropper,” I said.
    He walked through the doors, his shoes thudding loudly against the kitchen floor.
    He smirked.  
    “Well, that’s part of my job as Sheriff,” he said. “To eavesdrop. Make sure everything’s in order here in this rowdy establishment.”
    He took a seat at the kitchen island, his eyes drifting over to the half-finished gingerbread house in the corner.
    He studied it for a while, not saying anything.
    “Well?” I finally said.  
    “I don’t know much about these kinds of things,” he said. “But I’d say that’s got all the makings of a winner.”
    He peered at it some more.
    “Is that a cookie sleigh there?”
    I nodded.
    “Wow,” he said. “That’s some artistic genius, Cin. I really mean it.”
    I smiled, going over to him and kissing the top of his head. His hair smelled of pine and melted snow.
    “Thanks, hun.”
    He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close.
    “Any luck finding Shasta?” I said.
    His expression darkened.
    “No,” he said. “We’ve been searching, but no cigar yet. I’m thinking about just coming clean to the media. Sending out a news release. Doing as much damage control as I can now.”
    He let out a troubled sigh.
    “Do