3 Madness in Christmas River (23 page)

He started opening his car door.

“Wait,” I said.

He stopped, and looked back at me.

“I have something for you,” I said.

I pulled the large square present out from my jacket and handed it gently to him.

He looked down at it, and then back up at me.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Just something I found,” I said. “Something you should have up in your house. Uh, I mean,
our
house.”

He peeled the silver paper away and pulled the photo frame from the wrapping.

He peered at it for a moment, then glanced back up at me.

“Cin, where did you…?”

“Up in your attic,” I said. “I thought some of those pictures should see the light of day.”

He looked back down at the frame.

I had gotten a few of the old photos of him and Jared enlarged at the local photocopy store. With the help of Kara’s crafty skills, I had placed them in nice pine frames with the words “Jared and Daniel: Outdoorsmen of the Wild Woods,” carved into the bottom.

Daniel didn’t say anything for a long while. As the silence dragged on, I began to get worried.

Maybe that photo album had been in the attic for a reason.

Maybe the memory of his brother had been too painful. Maybe there was a reason there were no photos of him up in Daniel’s house.

I cleared my throat.

“I hope that it’s okay,” I said softly.

He looked over at me. His eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

“I can’t believe you did this, Cin,” he said. “I haven’t seen these pictures in years.”

He reached across, pulling me to him, and kissed the top of my head.

“This… this means so much.”  

Relief swept through me.  

“I just thought he’d been in that attic long enough,” I said.

He smiled, looking back at the picture of him and Jared grinning and putting bunny ears on each other.

“I wish you could have known him, Cin,” he said, his voice growing thick with emotion. “He would have liked you so much.” 

His eyes grew moist.

I squeezed his hand.

“Me too,” I said. “Me too.”

He gazed at the frame a little while longer, and then smiled. He placed it carefully on the dashboard, and cleared his throat.

“Okay,” he said. “Now it’s my turn to show
you
something.”

Chapter 70

We got out of the car, stepping into the chilly winter’s night.

The moonlight was bright and strong, and cast the trees in a bright blue glow. The stars danced up above, nestled in the folds of a dark blue blanket.

The woods smelled of crisp winter pine needles and frost.

Daniel got something from out of the trunk, and came around to me.

I smiled when I saw what he was holding.

“Are you crazy?” I said, placing my hands on my hips.  

“Yes,” he said. “That’s why you married me.”

“I haven’t been skating in years,” I said. “I don’t know if I even remember how.”

“Well, that’s what I’m here for,” he said. “To catch you when you fall.”

I sat back in the passenger seat, and he took my silver heels off and replaced them with white ice skates. He laced them up carefully, and then put his own skates on.

“You sure we aren’t going to fall through?” I said, looking over at the wide expanse of ice just off the road, where I assumed we were headed.  

“If we did, it’s only a few inches deep. This isn’t anything more than a meadow during the summer.”

A few minutes later, we were gliding down on the ice. Or struggling to glide, in my case. Daniel, who was a strong skater, held my hand and pulled me along across the meadow.

In the distance, warm light spilled happily from the windows of a few houses, brightening the cold winter’s evening.  

We stopped for a moment, gazing up at the moon and the sparkling stars, speckled across the night sky just like Christmas tree lights.

I sighed happily. I couldn’t even feel the cold. My spirit was too warm and bright.   

“I don’t think there’s ever been such a beautiful night,” I said, looking at Daniel.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“You’ve made me very happy, Daniel Brightman,” I said. 

“It’s only the beginning,” he said.

It felt like my heart might just burst with joy.

I didn’t think such happiness was possible.  

“C’mon, we’re not there yet,” he said, grabbing my hand again.

“Where?” I said. “I thought this was it.”

He looked back and smiled, but said nothing.

He pulled me along toward the other side of the meadow that bordered the woods.  We glided close to the bank for a while until we came to a small clearing.

We stopped in front of a two story house that was built in the style of a cabin. A layer of snow frosted its roof. A stream of smoke puffed from its chimney stack, disappearing into the night. Warm light danced in its windows.

It looked just like a scene out of a Christmas card.

Daniel wrapped his arm around my waist and we stood staring at it.  

“It looks just like a painting,” I said, admiring the cozy scene. “It’s lovely.”

“You really think so?” he asked.

“Don’t you?”

“Of course,” he said, looking down at me. “That’s why I bought it.”

Chapter 71

“Jesus Christ in Christmas River!” I said. “You
didn’t
.”

My jaw almost hit the ice.

His face brightened, and a childish grin came across it.  

“You know that I did,” he said.

I felt like my eyes might just bulge out of their sockets.

This house, with its charming architecture, two-story design, and its stunning view of the meadow, was ours.

“But what about your house? What about the plans we—”

“I’m renting it out,” he said. “I’ve just had some time to think about it, and I think it’s time for both of us to let go of the past. We’re starting a new life together. It’s only right that we have a new home to start in.”

I shook my head, still flabbergasted.

“You sneaky devil,” I said. “How’d you do all of this without me knowing?”

He grinned mischievously, and pulled me close to him. I slid into his arms.

“Daniel,” I said. “I’m absolutely crazy about you.”

He laughed.

“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Brightman,” he said.

He leaned down and kissed me tenderly. A kiss that captured all the joy flooding both of our hearts.

A kiss that held all the promise of our future lives together.

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Brightman.”

He smiled and then grabbed my hand.   

“C’mon,” he said. “Let me show you around.”

We glided like two swans across the meadow toward our new home.

Toward our new life together. 

In that moment I knew.

Warren had been right.

I had all the luck.

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About the Author

Meg Muldoon writes cozy fiction mysteries from her home in central Oregon. She enjoys bourbon bread pudding, red cowboy boots, and craft glue guns.

She lives with an Australian cattle dog named Huckleberry.

For more about Meg and her upcoming books, visit her blog at
http://megmuldoon.blogspot.com/

Look for Meg’s brand new cozy mystery series in the early spring of 2014.

Look for the fourth installment of the Christmas River series,
Malice in Christmas River
, in summer of 2014.

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