“Except for this.” Jonah held up his phone, as everyone in the room got a ping to theirs.
“Oh, Jo…the group photo!” Nora’s voice caught with emotion. “Sorry, everything makes me cry these days.”
“Thanks for keeping the tradition alive, Tzipi.” Talia said, eyes shining. She tilted her head against Nora’s. “Oh, look! Sylvie was the first to comment.”
Love this. But I’ll be back behind the lens next year!
“And there’s Eli’s heart. It’s almost like we’re all together again.” Nora smiled.
“Speaking of all…is Libby here?” Jonah asked.
“You just missed her,” Avi replied. “She wasn’t exactly in the partying mood tonight.”
Tzipi caught the glances the women exchanged; universal girl-code for trouble in paradise. She’d only glimpsed Jonah’s pastry artist friend from a distance last night, but she hoped she’d be able to meet her soon. And that whatever it was wrong, it would soon smooth over as perfect as her cookie icing.
“Oh!” Rebecca pulled something from her purse and offered it to Tzipi. “And that guy who was with Captain Ego all last night? He gave me his card to pass to you during your meet and greet. He said to call him.”
“Ugh, the ghostwriter?” She hastily pocketed it. He probably still wanted that autograph for his mom. Or wanted to fact-check all her interactions with Hannon over the course of the night, and that was not something she wanted to re-live any time soon.
Two men walked out of the kitchen, drinks in hand. She recognized the bartender instantly. The other she’d glimpsed during the chaos of the medical bay.
“Asher and Beck, meet Tzipi.” Jonah grinned. “My date.”
Beck looked at her, looked into his drink, and raised his brows. “Kidding, it’s a mocktail for Nora. But seriously, am I seeing things?”
“If my sister was here – and if Asher was pouring drinks – yes, you’d be seeing double.”
“I knew something was up.” Asher pointed a finger emphatically. “Kara Koff drinks Veuve Clicquot, and only Veuve Clicquot.” He scoffed. “Gin and juice, total giveaway.”
“Yeah, yeah, say Clicquot again, showoff,” Avi ribbed. “Admit it, she fooled all of us. But why?”
“Guys!” The Mahjong Muse strode into the room. “You’ll never believe this! It’s the wildest thing. I was just Zooming with my dad and some of the other residents at the retirement home, and you remember my friend Tilly…Tilly Ackerman? She said attended a livestream of a wedding this afternoon and you’ll never guess who – oh, hi! I’m Leah. Welcome! Are you a friend of Jonah’s?”
The entire living room burst out laughing.
“What?” Their hostess’ arched brows crinkled in confusion. “I’m not getting the joke.”
“We hadn’t gotten to the punchline yet,” Jonah deadpanned. “You were saying?”
Tzipi punched his arm for good measure.
“This is Tzipi. Kara’s twin,” Avi gently broke the news to his beloved.
“Oh…oh! Oh my God!” Her hands flew to her mouth. “I thought poor Tilly had lost the plot when she said her grandson and Kara just got hitched. That was you last night?”
“I took one for the team,” Tzipi admitted.
The group began to chatter over each other, swapping stories as recently as last night, and from Matzo Ballers past, about their encounters with Kara…or who they thought was Kara.
Everyone had their stories, even Leah, whose first Baller was last year. The year of Jonah’s fateful fall.
“Yes, I basically face-planted in her cleavage,” Jonah admitted, raising his voice over their laughter. “Memorable.” Against the shell of Tzipi’s ear, a lower confession: “I just wanted to find her this year on board to apologize…but I found a helluva lot more.”
Avi’s keen ears picked it up. “Yo, Jo…you want some cheese to go with that cheese? I think there’s still some brie left.” He nudged a cutting board their way.
“Yeah, yeah.” Jonah loved the roasting, she could tell.
“Girl, I warned you to watch out for this clown,” Jay hooted. “And you,” he said, pointing at Jonah. “I warned you to stay on your best behavior.”
