Angels at the Table (Angels Everywhere #7)(5)

“I haven’t been there yet, but my sister tells me it’s fast becoming the place to be. I’ll need to find an apartment soon and she suggested I look there.”

“You’ll like it.” Lucie had lived in Brooklyn her entire life and was part of the community. Their apartment was just off Jamison Street. Their restaurant, once they opened, would be relatively close. They’d decided to name it Heavenly Delights.

“What brings you to New York?” she asked.

“A job. I’m a writer and a good friend recommended me for a position with the New York Gazette.”

“The Gazette. Wow, you must be very good.”

“I’d like to think so, but time will tell. What about you?”

Lucie hardly knew where to start. “Well, I recently graduated from culinary school, and my mother and I are working toward opening a restaurant.”

It looked as if Aren was about to say something but changed his mind. “That takes a lot of work.”

“Tell me about it.” She stopped herself from elaborating on the trials and difficulties, the expense and the fears. This wasn’t the time for that.

“You’re looking thoughtful,” Aren commented.

Lucie smiled. “Just before we bumped into each other I was thinking that I’d much rather be home than standing alone in the cold.”

Aren chuckled. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing. The only reason I agreed to go was because I didn’t want my sister to be alone. She had a recent breakup and is taking it pretty hard. Actually, I was wondering if I’d find my way back to my sister’s apartment.”

“You’re lost?”

“Not exactly,” he said and looked a bit embarrassed. “Understanding these street directions is driving me nuts and testing my intelligence. What do you mean when you say on Fifty-third between Sixth and Seventh when the address is something completely different, like twelve Madison Avenue? I used to think I had a good sense of direction. No longer.”

Now it was Lucie’s turn to laugh. “Don’t worry, you’ll catch on soon enough.”

“I hope so.”

The harried waitress approached their table and handed them menus. “Coffee?”

“Please,” Lucie answered. She was going to need it if she intended to stay awake much longer, and she sincerely hoped that she was. Her day had started at four that morning, meeting with contractors and dealing with what seemed like a dozen problems that all had to be resolved that day.

Aren righted his coffee mug and glanced at the menu. “I don’t generally eat this late, but Josie insisted we’d find something on the street.”

Josie must be his sister. “And you ended up not eating.”

“The truth is I spent half the evening in a frantic search for my sister. We were continually separated.”

That had happened to Lucie as well with her two friends. The cops had directed them into a fenced-off area, but the crowd still seemed to move her away from her friends. She probably should have been a bit more aggressive, but that simply wasn’t her nature. And she was nervous to leave her spot because she knew the cops wouldn’t let her back in.

“What do you hope for the new year?” Aren asked, after sipping his coffee.

“Oh my, so much.” Lucie sat up straighter and talked nonstop for a good ten minutes, until she realized she’d completely dominated the conversation. More than a little embarrassed, she shook her head. “Enough about me. What do you hope for the new year?”

“No, no, continue,” he insisted, and then added, “Actually, there’s something important I’m waiting to hear.”

“And what would that be?”

His smile was warm. “What about the men in your life?”

Lucie shrugged. “At the moment there’s only one.”

“So, there’s someone important in your life?”

“He’s a bit possessive, too.”

Aren’s smile faded. “Really? Tell me about him.”

“His name is Sammy, and we’ve been together five years. Actually, he lets me sleep with him.”

“I beg your pardon?” Aren laid the menu aside and frowned.

“Sammy’s a fifteen-pound mixed-breed dog my mother and I adopted. He does allow me to sleep with him and makes sure I know I am there only by his generosity.”

Aren laughed. “In other words you’re currently not involved with anyone … human.”

“Correct.” Lucie was thrilled he’d asked. “What about you? Any women in your life?”

He sighed heavily. “I’m two years out of a divorce.” He looked down at his coffee.

Lucie watched as the sadness and disappointment sank Aren’s shoulders.

“Katie and I were married for five years. She fell in love with someone else.” He said it as if the pain lingered still.

“Children?”

“No, thankfully we avoided that complication. I wanted a family but Katie kept coming up with excuses. In retrospect, I’m grateful.”

“Have you dated much since?”

“Very little. But getting back to you, because I want this to be clear between us. You’re not involved with a man, or currently married, right?” He posed the question as if he feared a repeat of the mistakes in his past. “You see, the man Katie left me for was someone she was once involved with.”