Valentine's Dream. Carmen Green

she was fulfilling her responsibilities for the evening. When she finally switched from black, high-heeled pumps to her winter boots and put on a stylish black wool overcoat, Grace realized she had a mere thirty-five minutes to catch her commuter train. She said good-night to the last of the cleanup staff and exited the building through a side security door.

      Despite the late hour, there was plenty of traffic on the Midtown Manhattan street, and Grace had no qualms about walking the six blocks to Grand Central Station alone. But she’d gone no more than a few yards when the driver’s door of a town car double-parked near the corner suddenly opened and out stepped Carter.

      Grace slowed her steps, astonished to see him again.

      “You’re not waiting for me, are you?” she asked.

      “Are you done for the night?”

      He stood with the car door open and the engine running. He wore no coat over his tuxedo, and his breath vaporized in the late-January air. The streets still had piles of dirty snow from a heavy snowfall the previous weekend.

      “Yes. I’m on my way to Grand Central to catch my train. I’ve really got to run.” Grace waved casually to Carter as she walked away.

      He beckoned to her. “Get in. I’ll drive you home.”

      She shook her head. “That’s nice of you, Carter, but crazy. You don’t want to go all the way up to Westchester at this hour.”

      “It’s my invitation, my decision. All you have to do is say yes. Unless you really want to ride the train alone this late. Or maybe it’s me?”

      Grace was forced to stop completely. She regarded him with wary embarrassment. To her, Carter sounded neither angry nor hurt, but was simply speculating.

      “That’s not true,” she said quietly. But even to her ears, her disclaimer came across as insincere. “I just assumed you’d want to hang out awhile with some of your associates.”

      “That’s why we all attended the dinner. I’m off the clock now. This is my time.”

      “Right. But you don’t have to spend it with me every time you come to the city,” Grace said, trying to walk away.

      “Benson was my best friend, Grace. I was there at your wedding. I’m godfather to one of your kids. So far it’s fair to say I haven’t really been here for you when you’ve needed anything, especially after Benson died. And he did ask me to keep an eye on his family if anything ever happened to him.”

      Grace faced him squarely. She also remembered Benson making that request. It had come right after Carter, the best man, had given an eloquent toast at their wedding reception.

      “I can’t hold you to that, Carter. It was eight years ago....”

      Two men passed behind her, deep in conversation. A lone woman on a cell phone passed in front. Grace was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, and it was cold.

      “Come on. Get in,” Carter repeated and waited.

      Grace took a deep breath and slowly walked toward the car. By the time she’d reached the passenger side, Carter had come around the front of the vehicle to open and hold the door for her. She settled herself in the front seat and waited for him to get behind the wheel. In the few seconds it took for him to climb in and put on his seat belt, she had accepted the situation. Besides...the car was deliciously warm, with a luxurious leather interior, and she was grateful that she’d been spared a grim late-night Metro-North train ride to the suburbs.

      Neither said anything for several blocks, as Carter navigated traffic and headed to the east side of the island and the FDR Drive. It was the quickest route to the Major Deegan Expressway and north into Westchester County.

      “Are you warm enough?” he asked, making a turn at an intersection.

      “Yes, thank you,” Grace said, pulling off her gloves and stuffing them into her tote bag. She noted that Carter knew his away around the city like a native. She stole a glance at his profile, noticing the familiar firm set of his jaw and his unconscious habit of flexing the muscles there. Her gaze went to his hands, curved around the steering wheel. His nails were clean and his fingers were long, tapered and capable. She stared out the windshield at the traffic and the city lights as they sped along. “I’m sorry I was rude to you tonight. I didn’t mean to be, Carter.”

      “Not consciously, maybe. But I don’t think you were particularly happy to see me.”

      “I didn’t expect to see you. It’s been a long time.”

      “Only seven months.”

      “You came in for a quick meeting before flying over to Germany.”

      “It was also Becca’s birthday. We’re going to go through this every time we see each other.”

      It was a statement, not a question. Grace felt bad that she’d given him the impression that she didn’t want to see him, but she also felt that she’d been put on the defensive.

      “I was working. I was distracted. There was so much going on at the gala, and...”

      “Relax, Grace. Apology accepted, okay?”

      She glared at his profile. “That wasn’t an apology.”

      “Look, I’m going to rewind the tape back to the beginning of the evening, and we’re going to start over.”

      Grace was surprised at how relieved she felt that Carter had adroitly smoothed over the awkwardness. It also annoyed her that he didn’t seem nearly as unsettled as she felt.

      “If you want,” she agreed.

      “You first,” Carter said, giving her a brief glance.

      “Carter! It’s so great to see you,” Grace exclaimed with exaggerated excitement. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be in New York? I would have baked a cake.”

      He grimaced and shook his head. “Be careful. Don’t overdo it.”

      Grace stared ahead. “I’m being real now. I was shocked to suddenly see you. And it is nice to see you. Honest.”

      He chuckled, his wide smile showing white, even teeth, and his eyes almost squinting in amusement. “Okay. I’ll accept that. Sorry I didn’t let you know I was coming, but I didn’t find out myself until early this morning.”

      “Why so last minute?”

      “Actually, not so last minute. I knew a few days ago that the firm was offering me a new position that would mean moving to New York.”

      “Oh.”

      “There was a lot to consider. Do I want to move to the city?”

      She waited, not hearing any definitive answer. “Did coming to the dinner tonight have anything to do with the offer?”

      “As a matter of fact, yes. I flew in early enough to meet my new colleagues, to see my new office, to look over a few apartments I can choose from to lease until I decide on more permanent housing.”

      “Oh.”

      He started laughing. “Oh? I can’t decide if that means you’re surprised, happy, disappointed or what.”

      “It just means oh,” Grace said noncommittally.

      “Fine. Anyway, once I knew I was attending the gala, I called your office. They said you were busy getting ready for an event this evening, so at least I knew you’d be on hand. I thought I’d surprise you.”

      “Well, you certainly did that,” Grace murmured a little dryly. She glanced at him. “Are you really going to move to New York?”

      “Looks like it,” he said, glancing her way again. Silence spread between them for almost a full minute before he spoke again. “Is that going to be a problem?”

      Grace shrugged. “Why should it?”