Moonlight Over Manhattan(36)

“I’m talking about what makes him sexy.”

“So am I. That’s what makes him sexy to me. I like the fact that he didn’t interrupt me. He didn’t try to—” She stopped just in time. She wasn’t ready to tell Fliss that her stammer had come back. She wanted to deal with it by herself. “He didn’t try to dominate the conversation in the way some guys do.”

“So what you’re saying is that he’s totally unfortunate looking, but a nice person?”

Harriet laughed. “That’s not what I’m saying. But looks don’t matter, do they? My first internet dating experience kept checking his reflection on his phone.”

“Gross.”

“Exactly. And what Ethan looks like is irrelevant because this isn’t a date, it’s work. I’m doing this for Madi and for Debra. And for him, because he cannot make life-and-death decisions after three hours’ sleep.”

“I have been trying to talk you into dog sitting for ages. This is great.”

“This is a one-off. Don’t get any ideas.” Harriet could almost see Fliss making notes and plans. Next she’d be sending an email with suggestions for expanding their business into dog sitting and she really didn’t want that.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

Harriet tried to close her bulging case. “I can’t believe it, either. But I’m doing it for Madi.”

For the dog. For Debra.

Not for any other reason.





CHAPTER ELEVEN


“LIFE WOULD BE so much easier if I was better with people.” Harriet slowed her pace so that Glenys could keep up. The drop in temperature didn’t seem to have kept people inside. The streets were busier than ever and there was a buzz of expectation in the air that increased as they drew closer to Christmas.

Across Manhattan, the stores unveiled their holiday displays and people traveled especially to admire the store windows.

Harriet liked to wait until after dark and then wander along Madison Avenue, Lexington and Fifth Avenue.

When they were growing up, her mother had taken her and Fliss to see the store windows and Harriet remembered the special buzz that had come from being just the three of them. Without her father there, she hadn’t been so afraid to speak.

Glenys patted her arm. “What are you talking about? You’re wonderful with people.”

“Not really, although I’m better one-on-one than I am in a crowd. But I want to be the sort of person who can bound into a room and be the life and soul of a party. It must be great to feel that comfortable and confident.” She watched as Harvey picked his way over the snow. “I’m a coward.”

Glenys stopped walking. “Oh no, honey. You’re nothing of the sort. You are brave.”

Harriet thought about the number of times she’d almost called Ethan Black and canceled. “I’m really not.”

“Think about it—” Glenys waggled her gloved finger. “Is it hard for Fliss to bounce into a room and talk to everyone?”

“No. She does it naturally.” And it was a skill she’d always envied. There were so many days when she wished she were more like her sister.

“So what’s brave about that? She does it without a second thought. Brave is walking into that room when it’s the last thing you want to do. Brave is putting yourself out there when you’d rather hide away in the safety of your apartment. Brave is what you’re doing. Moving in with a guy you hardly know to protect that innocent little dog.”

“You’re freaking me out, Glenys. You’re making it sound like the biggest risk.”

“It’s going to be fine,” Glenys said, her voice devoid of conviction. “You’re brave as a lion, honey.”

Harriet didn’t feel particularly lionlike as she hauled her suitcase across town to Ethan’s apartment in the West Village.

Unlike the rest of Manhattan, where the streets were laid out in an ordered, logical grid, here they meandered and curved. It was easy to get lost, particularly as Harriet didn’t know this area as well as the rest of Manhattan. She walked past an organic bakery, a craft store and an artsy boutique all decked out for the holidays with garlands of holly leaves and twinkling lights. Now, with the cobbled streets hidden under layers of snow, it felt as if she’d stepped straight into the pages of a Dickens novel.

She reached Ethan’s apartment block and took the elevator to the top floor.

He’d already left for work and there was no sign of Madi.

Concerned, Harriet dumped her suitcase in the living room and sprinted upstairs.

Madi was sprawled in the middle of his bed, her eyes closed.

Harriet shook her head in disapproval. “You are a bad girl.”

Madi opened her eyes, then sprang off the bed and gave Harriet an ecstatic welcome.

“You are not allowed to sleep on his bed. Are you listening to me?”

Madi wagged her tail.

“You have to behave. I’m not taking any nonsense from you.”

It was the first time she’d had the chance to take a proper look at his apartment. The first time she’d come here it had been dark, and yesterday she’d been too busy focusing on the fact he wanted her to dog sit to pay any attention to her surroundings.

But now she looked.