“I mean, yeah. It’s intimidating.”
His eyes softened. “Come on. I’ll walk you through it. You’ll be a pro in no time.”
We walked down the stairs together and he showed me how to pay the fare. I watched intently, clearly filing it all away for future reference.
The train car we got on wasn’t too crowded. We actually found seats. I had Luke on one side of me and on the other wasa mother sitting with her daughter on her lap. The little girl was wearing a pink knit cap with cat ears and she smiled at me.
I smiled back. “Hi there. What’s your name?”
The girl smiled shyly but her mother gently encouraged her. “Liana.”
“Hi, Liana. I’m Clara.”
Liana looked up at me. “I like your dress.”
“I like your hat,” I said.
The girl told me her father had gotten it for her. They were on their way home to see him. He made pork chops for dinner. It was cute. She and her mother got off a few stops later.
“Do you make friends with everyone you meet?” Luke asked me.
“Not everyone. Liana was a little cutie-patootie though.”
“Only you would find a buddy on the train,” he said, smiling. “New Yorkers are often as surly and grouchy as I am.”
I beamed at him. “So you finally admit you’re the Grinch?”
“I’m not,” he said. “I’m about to prove it to you.”
I giggled and leaned in to him. “Are you going to sing me a Christmas carol right here in front of everyone?”
He grinned. “No, you’ll see. We’re getting off at the next stop.”
We reappeared on street level, greeted by cold winter air. I pulled my coat tighter, and Luke put his arm around me, lending me his body heat. We walked a few blocks like that, and it was nice. I could have walked with him all night.
Then Broadway came into view and I was awestruck, seeing it at night. Tears stung my eyes. For a nerdy theater kid like me, this was the motherland. And Luke was so thoughtful bringing me here, knowing how important it was to me.
“Thank you, Luke. It’s glorious. A dream come true.”
He kissed the top of my head, sending a shiver through me that had nothing to do with the cold. “The best part is I’m taking you to a show at the Radiant Theater.”
My jaw dropped and I spun to face him. “No way.”
“I’m serious. I pulled a few strings and managed to score some decent tickets.” He wagged his brows at me. “Box seats.”
I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him with excitement. “You are incredible. Let’s go before we miss anything.”
Luke picked up our tickets from the window out front and we strolled in through the massive bronze doors. It was like stepping into Broadway history.
An usher took us to our private box, courtesy of Kerri Lipton of course. Luke had called her for the tickets. The woman was like a guardian angel, taking me under her wing. I needed to send her a thank-you card and a fruit basket or something.
The lights went down and the play began. It was a holiday classic,A Christmas Carol. But the sets and the costumes were anything but traditional. They had a stylized edge to them that gave a vibrant feel to the production. I was impressed, which wasn’t easy to do when it came to theater.
Luke was slightly less impressed, judging by the way his eyes kept drooping. A couple of times, his head bobbed and jerked back up, like he had caught himself dozing off. I would razz him about it later, which was only fair, but I didn’t wake him either. He had worked hard all day and he wasn’t bothering anyone. If he started snoring, I would elbow him.
I tapped his shoulder at intermission. He sat bolt upright in his chair and inhaled deeply. “I wasn’t asleep,” he said quickly.
“Good,” I said with a giggle. “We’re only halfway.”
