Touched by Angels (Angels Everywhere #3)(8)

“Do I know you?” he asked, frowning slightly.

“I’m Hannah Morganstern,” she said. “Most people recognize me from my parents’ deli.”

“Of course. Your father serves the best pastrami in town.” He held out his hand to her. “I’m Joshua Shadduck.”

“Hello, Joshua.” The noise level made it difficult to carry on a conversation.

They shook hands, and Hannah glanced over her shoulder, looking for Carl. He wasn’t there. She scanned the crowd once more, certain he wouldn’t have left her intentionally. Carl would never do that, yet he was nowhere in sight. Anxious now, she stood on her tiptoes and looked around.

“Oh, dear,” she whispered, and bit into her lower lip.

“Is something wrong?” Joshua lowered his head close to her so she could hear him.

“My friend. I’m afraid we’ve gotten separated.”

“That happens in crowds like these.”

“I know, but . . .” She continued to study the huge throng. The crowd was moving, milling about. “I didn’t mean to leave him behind.” Carl would be worried and flustered. If she ever hoped to talk him into attending another parade, he’d be sure to remind her of this.

“I’ll help you look,” Joshua offered.

“You don’t need to do that.” She was the one to blame. If she hadn’t been so impatient to see what was ahead, she wouldn’t have lost Carl.

“Tell me what he looks like,” Joshua suggested. Since he was head and shoulders taller than she, his chances of finding Carl were far better than her own.

“Let me think,” she mumbled. She went with the most obvious: his clothing. “He had on a black wool overcoat.”

Joshua leveled his eyes on her, amusement bracketing the sides of his mouth. “Hannah, every man here has on a black wool overcoat.”

“Yes . . . I know. He’s five ten or so, and . . . he’s probably frowning. He only came because I wanted to see the parade, and he’s probably annoyed with me for disappearing like this.”

“A frowning man, five ten, in a black wool overcoat.”

Their eyes met once more, and for no reason Hannah could explain, they both started laughing.

“He’s probably given up on me and left,” she conceded, and glanced longingly over her shoulder, not wanting to miss the rest of the parade. “I should probably go back myself,” she said with regret.

“Why? Your friend can find his own way home, can’t he?”

“Yes, but . . .”

“Stay,” he urged. His hand cupped her elbow, his touch light and encouraging. His eyes smiled with warmth and pleasure, something she’d found sadly lacking in Carl. Her friend had only tolerated the merriment. Macy’s parade was one more thing Carl considered frivolous and impractical. He often mentioned the overwhelming cost of such a production. To Carl’s way of thinking, this money would be better spent feeding the hungry or aiding the homeless.

Hannah had no argument to offer. The parade would go on no matter how wasteful Carl found it to be, and she could see no reason not to enjoy it.

“Oh, look,” she said, pointing down the street at the oncoming float. She glanced at Joshua and discovered that he viewed the winter festival creation with the same keen enjoyment and wonder that she did.

One lazy snowflake drifted down from the lead gray sky. Another soon followed.

“Snow!” Delighted, Hannah held up her hand to catch a fluffy flake. It melted in the palm of her hand.

“It’s a perfect conclusion to the parade, don’t you think?” Joshua asked. Pressed against him as she was, Hannah couldn’t help noticing how warm and close he was.

“Is it over? Already?” She didn’t want it to be.

“Do you have to hurry back?” Joshua asked. “We could take a short stroll in Central Park and enjoy the snow.”

It went without saying that she shouldn’t. Her family would be waiting for her. They assumed she was with Carl, not some strange man she barely recognized. Her father had always been protective of her. She was his jewel. Hannah remembered how pleased her parents had been when she’d first started dating Carl. The fact that he was a rabbi’s son added to their endorsement of the young man.

“A stroll in Central Park,” she repeated, and then before she could change her mind, she nodded. Her willingness to spend time with him, a man who was little more than a stranger, would be frowned upon by everyone concerned.

“Goodness,” Gabriel warned, “don’t even think about it.”

“About what?” The fact that the archangel was traveling with her had cramped her style considerably.

“I know what you’ve got up your sleeve.”

“What?” Archangels knew so little about romance; what else was she to do? Gabriel thought Carl Rabinsky was the perfect husband for Hannah. Anyone with half a brain could see how ill suited the young couple was. Carl was a determined man, sincere in his faith. Unfortunately he’d fallen into a common trap. He was big on religion and weak on faith.

“I can see what you’re thinking and I’m telling you right now, it isn’t going to work,” Gabriel continued, disapproval beaming from his piercing eyes. “Joshua Shadduck is an important attorney. The two have nothing in common.”