Touched by Angels (Angels Everywhere #3)(71)

“That’s what I thought, too,” Goodness said with a disgruntled sigh, “only it didn’t happen that way. Instead her family pressured her into setting a wedding date, and before she knew what to do, it was all decided for her. She’s scheduled to marry Carl Rabinsky in June.”

“Oh, poor, poor Hannah.”

“Hannah nothing,” Goodness cried. “What about Joshua? He trusted her. She’s supposed to be in love with him, remember? The fact is, I don’t trust Hannah to do the right thing by Joshua.”

“There’s plenty of time yet,” Shirley said in an effort to placate her friend. “Just because Hannah and Joshua’s relationship has gone slightly off course doesn’t mean you should do anything so drastic as disrupt the best-known New York landmark.”

Goodness didn’t agree or disagree with her. “I’m so frustrated with these humans, I could scream.”

Shirley was about to suggest just that when to her great relief Mercy arrived, looking serene and happy.

“What’s happenin’?” Mercy asked as though she hadn’t a care in the world.

While Goodness went into a short explanation about Hannah and Joshua, Shirley studied the other angel. Then it came to her in a flash. Mercy had been up to something herself.

“Mercy, I’m shocked at you,” Shirley cried. Oh my, what would Gabriel do if he learned about this?

“What?” Mercy asked, but wasn’t able to hide a guilty look.

“Tell me where you’ve been!” Shirley asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Me?” Mercy had perfected that look of innocence. She might even be able to fool Gabriel.

Although she asked, Shirley knew. “Don’t tell me, please don’t tell me you’ve been riding the escalators again?”

Mercy shifted her gaze away. “Just for a little while.”

“Mercy.” Shirley was outraged. One of them had to show a little responsibility. Why oh why did it have to be her?

“I can’t believe you’d jeopardize our entire mission by doing anything so silly.” She closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Actually, I’m in the mood for a little fun myself,” Goodness said.

“Goodness, no,” Shirley cried.

“You wanna have some fun?” Goodness asked Mercy.

“Oh, I have been, but after what happened this afternoon, I’m game for just about anything.”

Shirley opened and closed her mouth. At this point her protests would fall upon deaf ears, and she knew it.

A twinkle sparked from Goodness’s eyes as she smiled over at Shirley. “Are you coming along or not?”

“You’re headed for trouble.”

Goodness laughed. “So what else is new? There’s only so much of this being on my best behavior that I can take.”

Mercy released an exaggerated sigh. “Boy oh boy, do I identify with that. I can’t remember the last time I slid down an escalator railing. By golly, it felt good.”

“If you want the truth, I would have thought you’d have discovered the Holland Tunnel before now.”

The corners of Mercy’s mouth started to quiver.

“What did you do?” Shirley asked suspiciously.

Mercy gave an innocent shrug. “Remember that traffic jam all the newspapers reported not long ago?”

“You caused that?”

Mercy grasped her hands behind her back and shook her head. “Not me. I didn’t have a thing to do with it.”

Goodness’s eyes lit up brighter than a Fourth of July sparkler. “If Mercy can mess around with the Holland Tunnel, then no one’s going to mind if Lady Liberty takes a short stroll.”

“Goodness, no.”

“Oh, come on, Shirley, let your feathers dangle a little. Gabriel isn’t going to hear about this.”

“I don’t think we should risk it,” she said cautiously. “Really. Shouldn’t we talk this out?”

Goodness shook her head. “Are you in or out, Shirley? It’s time to separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“Ah . . .”

Goodness and Mercy started to pull away. “I’m in,” Shirley said hastily. “I just hope I don’t end up playing a harp for all eternity.”

The talk filled the deli all day, until Hannah was sick of hearing about it. Some people, obviously tourists, claimed that the Statue of Liberty had done a 360-degree turn. It was by far the most ridiculous thing Hannah had ever heard.

Someone from the financial district claimed he’d watched the grand lady make the complete rotation. There were said to be news tapes of it as well.

Hannah remained skeptical. Years earlier, some magician claimed to have made the Statue of Liberty disappear. All this talk now didn’t impress Hannah. Besides, she had other matters on her mind.

She needed to see Joshua and had been unable to reach him all afternoon. Making phone calls during business hours was difficult for her. Privacy was always at a premium in the kitchen, and she didn’t dare risk someone listening in on her conversation.

When she had a free moment, a rare commodity this busy time of the year, she raced upstairs and phoned Joshua’s office. Unfortunately he was out, but his secretary promised to give him the message as soon as he returned.