Angels at the Table (Angels Everywhere #7)(48)

“I can promise you that I won’t be long.”

The woman handed Lucie her ticket and she moved with the others waiting for what must be the last ride of the day up the elevator. She’d been to the top floor once before, but that had been years ago. If Lucie remembered, she’d been on a field trip with her fifth-grade class. Although she was young, she’d been impressed with the story of the structure, which first opened in 1931, just after the start of the Great Depression.

As she stepped out of the elevator, Lucie immediately went outside. The lights of the city had started to turn on and she stood mesmerized by the incredible three-hundred-sixty-degree view. Although she’d promised the woman selling the tickets she wouldn’t be long, Lucie felt drawn to the view. The sadness that had enveloped her since her last conversation with Aren lifted. All at once she knew what she had to do.

She needed to phone Aren. When they last spoke she claimed she needed a breather. Well, she’d had one.

Digging into her purse, she reached for her phone and scrolled through her contacts until she found his name. A smile lit up her face as she initiated the call.

It rang four times and then went to voice mail.

Chapter Seventeen

What surprised Aren the most was how many people had found their way to the top of the Empire State Building on Christmas Eve. Although it was closing time and the guards were anxiously glancing at their watches, no one seemed to be in a hurry to leave. Especially him.

Earlier in the day Aren had gotten a text from Jack asking to meet him there at four, but Jack was nowhere to be found.

It didn’t take Aren long to figure out the reason behind Jack’s request. He strongly suspected that the other man was about to give Josie back the engagement ring she’d returned. Aren couldn’t be happier for his sister.

Glancing at his watch, he scanned the area and shrugged. One of the guards announced the deck had to be cleared within the next fifteen minutes. The crowd started to thin out as several people headed toward the elevator. It would be just like his sister to be late to her own engagement. Funny though, both Jack and Josie were late.

Something unavoidable must have come up. Aren reached for his phone to call Jack and find out what was up. To his surprise he discovered that he’d inadvertently turned off the ringer and had missed a number of calls. As he was scanning the numbers, preoccupied with the task at hand, he bumped into someone behind him.

“Excuse me,” he said, turning to apologize. The words froze on his lips. “Lucie?”

“Aren?”

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his mind spinning.

“I got a text …”

She got a text? “So did I.”

“I didn’t recognize the phone number … I wasn’t going to come but then I found myself in a taxi and the driver said it would be impossible to get here before four but we did and he said it was a Christmas miracle, like the parting of the Red Sea, which I don’t think happened in December, but then I don’t know for sure.” She stopped abruptly as she realized she was jabbering. “Oh, Aren, Aren, I’m so happy to see you.” With that she threw her arms around his neck.

Caught off guard, Aren stumbled two steps back. He didn’t know what had happened or how they both happened to be at the same place at the same time, but he was in no mood to question it. He was simply too pleased to care. Looping his arms around her waist, Aren closed his eyes and held Lucie close to his heart.

She said she’d received a Christmas miracle with some crazy taxi ride. Well, he’d gotten one of his own and that was Lucie clinging to him and chattering away so fast he could barely understand a word she said.

“I was being silly and foolish and—”

Aren eased her away and silenced her by placing his finger against her lips. Immediately she stopped talking and blinked several times. Smiling down at her, Aren brushed the hair from her face.

“We were both being silly and foolish,” he said.

“My life is crazy … the restaurant means everything. It has to succeed, but I can’t walk away from you. I just can’t.”

“Good.” He kissed her then and it felt as if it’d been months since he’d experienced anything even close to the contentment he found with Lucie in his arms. “I can’t walk away from you either.”

“I tried to call you.”

“When?”

“Just now and it went to voice mail and I thought … I assumed you didn’t want to talk to me and I thought I’d ruined everything.”

“My ringer got turned off. I don’t remember doing that, but apparently I did.”

“Who sent you the text, because I don’t know who it was that sent mine?” she asked, looking up at him, her eyes bright with happiness.

“Jack.”

“Who’s Jack?”

“Josie’s soon-to-be husband. They just recently got back together. I assumed he was going to propose to my sister a second time.”

“A second time?”

“Don’t ask, it’s a long story.”

Lucie reached for her cell in the side pocket outside her purse and showed Aren her text. “Is this Jack’s number?”

Aren looked at it and frowned. “No. That number belongs to my sister.”

“How did Josie get my cell number?”