Miracle On 5th Avenue (From Manhattan with Love 3)

Resolving to keep her lips sealed next time they were together, Eva cleared the kitchen, polished the stove until it shone, and then settled down at the island unit with the remains of her wine and a large stack of Lucas’s mail.

She dealt with the junk first, carefully tearing through the address and disposing of it in the recycling. Then she turned to the rest.

Most were invitations. Four publisher parties, another author’s book launch, nine charity balls, a night at the opera and two movie premieres. In addition there were twelve letters requesting charity donations.

She didn’t even know people wrote letters anymore. And nine charity balls?

Eva surveyed the invitations spread in front of her with more than a twinge of envy.

Here, right in front of her, was evidence of an interesting life.

If her social life looked like his, her chances of meeting someone would have been significantly increased.

“Lucas Blade,” she muttered, “for someone who isn’t a party animal, you’re invited to a large number of parties.” Parties he would, no doubt, refuse to attend.

And she knew now that the reason he wouldn’t attend wasn’t all to do with his deadline.

In his current mental state he found the company of strangers as unappealing as she did.

She grabbed her laptop and started with the letters.

Dear Caroline, she typed, thank you for your kind words about my books. I’m flattered to know that— She pulled a face, wincing slightly as she typed, wishing she could change the title—Death For Sure was your favorite read of the year.

She wrote at length and then signed off with Best wishes, Lucas Blade.

Too formal?

With a grin, she deleted Blade and added two kisses. She was willing to bet he’d never added kisses to any of his letters in his life.

Each letter was given the same treatment and then she turned to the invitations, politely declining each one until she reached the last one in the pile.

Darkness had fallen outside the windows and Central Park was bathed in the ethereal mix of moonlight and snow.

The final invitation was to the Snowflake Ball at the Plaza hotel.

The invitation was embossed in silver and shaped like a snowflake.

Eva stared at it. If she’d been sent an invitation as beautiful as this one she would have put it in a frame and hung it on the wall. He was lucky she’d sorted through his mail.

It was less than a week away. Was it too late to respond? No. Lucas was a VIP guest. They’d make room for him no matter how late his RSVP was.

She scanned the details. The proceeds were going to a charity that trained and provided therapy dogs for the elderly. Her heart melted. She knew how many elderly people were lonely.

On impulse, she picked up the phone.

“Hi, I’m calling for Lucas Blade… Yes, I work with him…” That wasn’t a lie, was it? “Mr. Blade will be attending The Snowflake Ball. Yes, and a plus one. We’ll let you know the name later. Thank you so much.” She hung up, imagining what would have happened if she hadn’t opened his mail.

He would have missed the ball, the social event of the New York calendar.

He would have been so mad at himself.

And he was going to be so grateful to her.

* * *

“You did what?”

“I called the Plaza and said you’d be attending the Snowflake Ball. Let that be a lesson to you to open your mail. You almost missed it.”