Read Manic in Christmas River: A Christmas Cozy Mystery (Christmas River Cozy Book 6) for Free Online

all.”
    “It’s nothing.”
    “No, it’s something, all right,” he said, frustration rising up in his voice. “Would ya just look at me, please?”
    I rested the orange on the counter, then turned around, wiping my sticky hands on my apron.
    He was staring at me with an intensity I hadn’t expected.  
    “You’re upset, Cin. Don’t pretend you’re not.”
    “I wasn’t pretending,” I said. “It’s just…”
    I trailed off.
    Daniel and I didn’t fight much. Hardly at all, in fact. But the few times when we had, the arguments had left me emotionally drained. And that was something I couldn’t afford when fifty people were waiting on my pies at the moment.
    I shook my head.
    “Now’s not the time,” I said. “I’ve got too much to do.”
    He stood up and inched closer toward me.
    “Just tell me, Cin,” he said. “I can’t stand you being upset with me. I haven’t been able to think about anything else all morning.”
    “I’m not upset with you. I’m just…”
    I trailed off, knowing that there was no way of avoiding it now. The train was already in motion and headed for impact.
    I took in a deep breath and did my best to hold on.
    “I know I shouldn’t have even been out there in the first place” I said. “And I know that that’s my fault. I’m as stubborn as Warren is when I get my mind on something. You’ve been telling me all this time that I shouldn’t be coming along on these calls, that things could get dangerous. But I guess I never really thought it through all the way.”
    He didn’t say anything.
    “But I just…”
    I cleared my throat, and summoned the courage to say what I really meant.
    “I saw the look in your eyes, Daniel,” I said. “You looked like you were going to murder George Drutman right then and there. I mean, God knows what would have happened if Billy Jasper wasn’t there to stop you.”
    I bit my lower lip.
    “I haven’t ever seen you look that way before.”
    “He almost killed you ,” Daniel said, his voice quivering slightly. “You expect me just to stand by and not do anything about that? After what he did and what he said? You expect me to let a man like that get away with all of it? The same way he’s gotten away with things his whole entire life?”
    “No,” I said. “I don’t expect you to do nothing. And I know that you were just trying to protect me, and I’m grateful for that. But you know what would have happened if you’d thrown that punch? You’d have lost your job and everything you’ve worked so hard for. All because of that drunk idiot.”
    I swallowed hard.
    “I know how much it means to you being Sheriff,” I said. “I know how hard you worked to get here. And you were about to throw all of that away this morning because of—”
    “Nothing happened,” he said. “I didn’t hit him, Cin.”
    “I know, but—”
    “It didn’t happen,” he said. “George is sitting in the county jail right now and there’s not a scratch on him.”
    “Maybe,” I said. “But I still can’t stop thinking about what almost happened, Daniel. About everything that could have been lost in that moment.”
    “And I can’t stop thinking about what I could have lost in the moment before that,” he said.
    I looked away.
    He’d only been trying to protect me. I knew that.
    He was silent for a few moments.
    He finally placed a hand up to my cheek and gently turned my head back toward him.
    The frustration in his eyes had faded.
    “I’m sorry if I scared you, Cin,” he said. “It was only because I got scared myself. You see, I thought that son of a bi… He…”
    Daniel trailed off.
    “When I saw that truck overturned in the ditch like that, I…”
    He let out a heavy breath.
    “I should have protected you better,” he said. “It’s my fault that any of it happened to start with. I shouldn’t have left you alone out there, exposed. I knew how unpredictable that bastard was.”
    “You couldn’t have known he was going to