at herself. Truer words had never been spoken. Ah, well.
They paused, and Pearl eyed her hard. “And… no contacting anyone that you know.”
Dusk fell quickly and bathed Chicago in darkness. The skyline was bright with smattered lights on the high-rise buildings. Life moved through the city in waves of sound, the honking of horns, the chatter of people, wandering to and fro as they made their way to wherever they were headed.
“I have fondness for this city,” Pearl said from the park bench just outside downtown proper, where they looked at everything hustling and bustling before them. “I love to come back and check it out when I can.” Despite the cold in the air, she didn’t seem chilled at all, even clad in just her thin white garb. She pointed. “I grew up in Wicker Park.”
“How long ago was that?”
Pearl retorted, “Let’s just say I’ve been wearing white a long time.”
That made Eve chuckle. She shook her head as she eyed the cityscape in fresh wonder. “I never noticed all the colors. The lights and the sounds. It’s so beautiful.” Like a painting. How was it she’d never sat on a bench and just looked at the skyline?
Not taking her eyes off the view, Pearl whispered in response, “Yeah.”
A thought came to Eve, and she felt a surge of sadness. “My brother… I have to tell my brother. He doesn’t know what happened to me.” Tyler must have so many questions.
“Yes, he does,” Pearl said quickly. “You have to focus on your assignment now. You have a little girl who’s extremely worried about her uncle. He’s at a crossroads in his life, and I’m afraid he’s lost his way.”
Eve shook off thoughts of her brother. She’d deal with that. But first, she had to understand the details of her assignment. “Okay, but what am I supposed to do?” How could she possibly help with this?
Pearl sighed and stood. “I don’t know how you’re going to fix it, but you really need to do it before Christmas. Let’s go.”
Chapter Three
There was that strange sensation again as Pearl took Eve’s hand, and then she found herself back in downtown Chicago, transported through time to the next day. It was probably lunchtime now, the crowd bustling around her. Snow fell in fat flakes as they walked toward a building bearing a sign that read Max’s Diner.
“There he is,” Pearl declared, leading Eve to the front door of the place.
Inside, a man was behind the diner’s counter. He looked over at Eve, and their eyes connected.
Wait a minute. “Him?” Was Pearl serious? He was the musician she’d shared a cab with—she was certain of it. “But… I know him.”
Pearl shook her head. “No, not really.”
Eve heaved a sigh as her stomach flipped over itself. This guy was her assignment, the uncle who had lost his way, and she was supposed to help? “Pearl?” She glanced around and realized the angel was missing. “Pearl? Pearl?” she cried out, looking desperately up and down the sidewalk. “Come back!” She’d left without explaining what was next, and Eve felt her nerves clawing at her.
The diner door dinged open, and there was the man in question, standing in the doorway and staring at her, his brow quirked. “Did you… lose a reindeer or something?” he asked with a smirk.
Due to the confusion in her mind, Eve blurted out, “Uh… an angel.” She winced internally at the words, knowing she sounded silly, and felt her cheeks explode in flames. Smooth, Eve. Really smooth.
His brow furrowed as he studied her. “‘Hark-the-herald-angels-sing’ angel?” Yeah, he definitely thought she was certifiable. Well, this was a fantastic start to her assignment.
“Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la?” she responded and plastered on a wide smile. Maybe he’d think it was a joke if she played it off like one.
That got him to laugh, his brown eyes sparkling. And something about that laugh made her feel warm inside. Maybe, just maybe, this assignment wasn’t going to be so bad. She had to admit, he was charming when he wasn’t trying to steal her cab.
“So, are you going to come in or just stand there and treat us to carols all day?” he asked, a lingering chuckle evident in his voice.
She lifted her head and eyed him. “Trust me, you don’t want me singing.”
The guy opened the door wider and welcomed her inside.
Delicious scents of food wafted right to her, and she sighed, her mouth watering in response. Could angels drink or eat? She hoped so, because she could destroy a piece of pie right now. Not to mention how much she wanted a coffee. Pearl hadn’t exactly filled her in on these finer nuances of her new career. She made a mental note to ask the elusive angel next time she saw her.
The guy went back behind the counter, and Eve slipped onto a stool, resting her forearms on the smooth bar surface. Behind her, people chatted in booths as they ate lunch. Life was going on around her the same as before, though everything had changed for her.
“So,” he said with a grin to Eve, crossing his arms over his chest. “Didn’t think I’d see you again.”
“Me neither,” she admitted.
Wow, his eyes were quite brilliant when he smiled. She couldn’t help but respond similarly.
“Maybe it’s fate,” he teased.
She jumped on the topic. This might be her in to figure out exactly what the crossroads issue was so she could come up with the strategy to help him. “Maybe, yeah. At this point, I think that I’d probably believe just about anything.”
He nodded toward the door. “What was all that outside?”
She scrambled for a response to the question, then decided she could give him the truth—at least, the partial truth. “I recently hit my head,” she admitted.
“Are you all right?” he asked, concern clear in his voice, brows furrowed in a frown.
“I’m alive for now.” Not really much else to say about that. She was still wrapping her head around this whole angel business. Yes, she’d grudgingly accepted it was true, but that didn’t mean she had any idea what she was doing. And speaking of, time to get more information out of him so she could form her plan of action. She looked around the diner. “So, you work here.”
“Manager, cook, bouncer, owner,” he said glibly.
Oh, so was he the Max in the business name? “Where’s your guitar?” she asked out of curiosity. Was that a side gig for him?
The light in his eyes dimmed a bit at her question, and she saw a change come over him, evident in the sudden tension in his frame. “I don’t need that to flip burgers.”
Hmm, seemed like a touchy subject to him. Perhaps this was part of the issue. She latched on to it
