Touched by Angels (Angels Everywhere #3)(31)

“Yes, thank you, but I can’t accept—”

“Joshua Shadduck?”

Hannah was cut off midsentence by a well-dressed middle-aged woman who stopped at their table. Her gaze drifted from Joshua to Hannah, and her eyes were marked with warm approval.

“Gloria.” Joshua stood and enthusiastically hugged the white-haired woman. He turned to Hannah. “Hannah Morganstern, meet Judge Fowler.”

Impressed to meet a judge, Hannah smiled and said, “I’m honored.”

“I’ve been meaning to get in touch with you all week,” Gloria said. Her gaze connected briefly with Hannah’s once again. “But I can see that now isn’t a good time. I promise I’ll call you soon.”

“I’ll look forward to hearing from you,” Joshua returned. Before he could reseat himself, the judge whispered something in his ear, then turned away.

Joshua grinned broadly, then explained to Hannah. “She approves.”

“Approves?”

“Of you. She told me it was high time I . . . well, never mind.”

“Joshua.” A stout figure of a man approached their table next. “By George, it’s good to see you,” he said, sounding genuinely pleased.

“Hello, Tom.” Although Hannah didn’t know Joshua well, she could hear the frustration in his voice.

The other man studied Hannah with barely disguised admiration. His blue eyes twinkled. Before Joshua could introduce him properly, he stretched his hand across the table. “Tom Colfax,” he said.

“Hannah Morganstern,” she replied, and they exchanged brief handshakes.

Tom’s admiration was straightforward. “I know this sounds like a worn-out line, but have we met?”

“I don’t think so,” Hannah replied.

Tom rubbed the side of his jaw, then shook his head as if to say he was certain he’d seen her someplace before.

The two men exchanged information, then Tom drifted away. He continued to wear a puzzled look and glanced over his shoulder once.

Joshua exhaled sharply. “This isn’t going to work,” he muttered.

That was what Hannah had been struggling to tell him since they’d met, but she hadn’t been able to put it into words.

Joshua set the linen napkin on the table. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Hannah’s first instinct was to argue, but she wasn’t given the chance as she followed Joshua through the elegantly decorated lobby to the street outside. “Where are we going?” she asked, a little breathless.

He turned as though he hadn’t given the matter a second thought. “I don’t know. My apartment is a short walk from here.”

“I can’t,” she said, her heart in her throat. “I have to be back shortly.”

Joshua’s gaze narrowed as if to suggest he didn’t believe her. “Already?”

“Yes.” She should have told him earlier and been done with it, but each time she shared his company it became more difficult. Now she found herself frantic to say what she must.

“Joshua, please listen to me.” She hardly sounded like herself. Her voice was tight with emotion as she brushed the hair from her cheek. She opened her purse and handed him the soft deerskin gloves. “I can’t keep these. They’re a lovely, thoughtful gift, but I can’t accept them.”

He took the gloves, but his eyes revealed his disappointment. “Why not?”

People wove their way around them, and her throat tightened with regret. “I’m so sorry, Joshua, so very sorry, but I’m . . . There’s someone else.” That sounded much better than announcing she was engaged.

Joshua’s face revealed nothing. “The man you were with at the parade?”

“Yes.”

“The one who abandoned you?” His feelings for Carl were more than clear.

“Carl didn’t abandon me, we simply lost each other.” Carl hadn’t deserted her, not on purpose, and she found it important that Joshua know that. Carl might have his faults, but nearly everyone was flawed in one way or another. He’d gotten separated from her on Thanksgiving Day, and with so many people crowding the sidewalks, watching the parade, it had been impossible for him to find her again.

For a long time Joshua said nothing. Then, “Are you going to marry him?”

A definitive answer was her only recourse. Joshua deserved the truth. To hedge now might give him reason to believe there was a chance for them.

“We’re engaged.”

“That wasn’t my question. I asked if you were going to marry him.”

“Yes . . . of course.” But she sounded unsure even to her own ears.

He hesitated, but only for a moment. “I see.”

Now was the time to turn away. To end any kind of relationship before it began. One thing was certain: she shouldn’t have paused. But she did. “I like you, Joshua.” More than she should. More than she wanted to. “I misled you, and I regret that.”

“Carl isn’t right for you.” His words were stark and cool, his gaze intense.

“You don’t know that,” she argued. “You’ve never even met Carl.”

“I know you.”

She lowered her eyes because meeting his gaze had become impossible. Her throat felt as if it were about to close up on her. “I have to go.”