Her Secret Valentine Part Five by Pamela Tracy

She hopped onto the sidewalk, one heel going into a crack and giving her pause.  What to do!  Usually, she would stop, carefully extricate the shoe, and be on her way.  Not this evening, though.  She was on a mission.  She attempted to yank her shoe free, but luck wasn’t feeling kind.

No, it wasn’t.

First, luck had been with the mysterious man who knew that the way to a woman’s heart was biscottis - he’d escaped.  Then, luck had sent a vicious sidewalk crack to reach out and grab Nancy’s shoe so that the heel came off.

Nancy tottered, but just for a moment.  A childhood of ballet lessons paid off.  She regained her balance, albeit with a somewhat clumsy twirl, and then found herself in a man’s embrace.

“Are you all right?”  Tall, with dark curly hair, and wearing a light blue button-down shirt plus khakis, a man she’d never seen before helped her regain her balance.

“I thought I knew everyone in Cupid’s Corner?” Nancy blurted.

“Not everyone,” the man said with a smile.

Great, just great.  Nancy didn’t know who her secret admirer was, and she didn’t know this man.  One thing she knew, he wasn’t the same man who’d disappeared down the street by the Cupid’s Corner Museum.  That man had been wearing dark pants and a light jacket.  

Plus, if this man had been at the cafe, Nancy had noticed him.  And, probably, Shanna would have noticed him first.

“Ahem,” came a voice.  Shana appeared next to Nancy, a smirk on her face.  “Are you going hug all night, or are you going to introduce me?”

The man released Nancy, not looking the least embarrassed.  

Nancy rescued the heel of her shoe from the crack, thinking that she had as much chance of figuring out who her secret admirer was as she had of ever wearing these shoes again.

The goodlooking stranger reached in his pocket, pulled out two business cards and handed them to Shana and Nancy.  

“I’m Garth Willowby, private investigator.  I wonder if you noticed a tall gentleman running down the street.  He matches the description of someone I’m looking for.”