Angels at the Table (Angels Everywhere #7)(3)

“How come the streets are black?” Will asked, gazing down at his feet.

“They aren’t gold here.”

“It’s asphalt. Earth is nothing like heaven,” Mercy explained. If Will stuck around Earth much longer, other differences would soon become apparent.

“Where’s Shirley?” Goodness whirled around so quickly she caused a small whirlwind to form. People grabbed on to their hats. Papers flew in every direction. “We’ve lost Shirley.”

“No, we haven’t.” For Will’s sake Mercy made every attempt to remain calm. “I’m sure she’s close by.”

“She isn’t.”

“Oh dear,” Will cried. “Shirley’s disappeared.”

“She’s got to be right here.” Mercy was beginning to grow frantic herself. This wasn’t good. Shirley was older and tended to be easily sidetracked, but vanishing like this wasn’t the least bit like her. Of the three of them, Shirley was by far the most responsible.

“Look for children,” Mercy instructed Goodness and Will. Shirley was invariably drawn to little ones. It was a result of all the years she’d spent as a Guardian Angel.

Mercy scanned the crowd then rose above the street and peered down, hoping for a glimpse of her friend.

Goodness joined her. “Do you see her?”

“Do you?”

“No.”

Mercy continued looking and when she turned to connect with Goodness, her friend was gone as well. Panic was starting to take hold. “Will,” she shouted, fearing she’d lost complete control of the situation.

“I’m here.”

Thank heaven for that. “Do you see Goodness?”

“What about Shirley?”

Shirley wasn’t nearly the worry Goodness was. If her fellow Prayer Ambassador got loose there was no telling the trouble she could get into. And Goodness could do it without even trying.

“Is that Goodness over by those people on the stand?” Will asked.

Stand? What stand? Mercy surveyed the area until she saw the direction Will indicated. This was exactly what she’d feared. Goodness had gotten distracted by the television crew busily working the cameras. It was all those lights. Goodness found lights impossible to resist.

Mercy arrived in the nick of time. Goodness also had a weakness for anything electronic. Everything in heaven was advanced and her fellow angel was fascinated by the primitive forms of communication still commonly used on Earth.

“Goodness,” Mercy screeched. “Don’t do it.”

Startled, Goodness disappeared from the jumbo screen but not before her shadowy image briefly flashed across the surface. A hush fell over the crowd.

“Did you see that?” someone shouted and pointed at the screen.

“It looked like an angel.”

“It’s a sign from God.”

Mercy groaned. This was worse than she’d imagined. If word of this got back to Gabriel they could all be banned from Earth forever.

“I knew something like this was bound to happen.” Shirley appeared out of the blue, hands digging into her hips. Her face was crunched up into a look of righteous indignation.

“We were looking for you,” Mercy admonished before Shirley could complain. “Where did you go?”

“I was around.”

“Goodness.” Shirley grabbed hold of the Prayer Ambassador just before she made a repeat appearance on the big screen.

“She can’t help herself.” Mercy felt obliged to defend her dearest friend.

“Where’s Will?”

Sure enough Will was now nowhere to be seen.

“I’ll find him.” But first Mercy had to take care of Goodness.

“I know, I know,” Shirley said, catching hold of Goodness a second time. “I’ll get her back to heaven. You find Will.”

“Where were you?” Mercy demanded, unwilling to let Shirley off without an explanation.

“Sorry, I saw a cranky toddler. Mom was doing her best to soothe her with little success, so I lent her a hand. The little boy is fast asleep now.”

“Thanks to you.”

“I’ve learned a fair number of lullabies in my time.”

No doubt Shirley had.

“I’ll join you as soon as I can.” Mercy caught a glimpse of Will out of the corner of her eye. As she suspected, he’d returned to the street. The crowd started to chant off the seconds and then a loud, joyous cry arose as the mass of people welcomed in the New Year.

“Happy New Year,” Shirley cried out as she escorted Goodness home.

“Happy New Year,” Mercy echoed. Now all she had to do was collect Will before he got into trouble.

Oh dear … oh dear. It looked like she was too late.

Humans surrounded her, hugging and kissing, and there was Will, standing beside two people all alone with their backs to each other.

Mercy could see what was about to happen and felt powerless to stop it. With a single nudge of his wing, Will caused these two strangers to stumble into each other.

Chapter Two

Lucie Ferrara knew it would be a mistake to come to Times Square on New Year’s Eve. She’d so much rather be curled up in bed with a good book.

What had she been thinking?

Instead of indulging herself with a good read, Lucie had let Jazmine and Catherine talk her into going with them into the madhouse of this New Year’s Eve celebration. Lucie’s own mother had teamed up against her, insisting Lucie worked too hard. She needed to get out of the house and enjoy herself with her friends.