“Sounds good to me,” he said.“Let’s do this.”
But as they got off the subway, his phone started to buzz.
Who’d be texting him now?
Jason pulled out the phone and checked the number; he didn’t want to think about the expression on Naomi’s face.Because of course, it was a message from his brother.
J.Come to my place.
And he turned to Naomi, feeling pulled between being the worst person in the world and worried why his brother was being that urgent on a Saturday when they hadn’t made plans.It had to be an emergency; his brother never summoned him like that unless it was “I have to go.My brother needs me.”
She dropped his hands and looked up at him, concern in her expression.“Everything okay?”
He shrugged; it was the best he could offer her.“I don’t know.I don’t think it’s bad, but I’m not sure what’s going on.I’ll call you later, and if you’re up for it, I’ll come back to your place for a debrief?”
She nodded.“And if you need me earlier, you call me, okay?”
He nodded, let her pull him close.
“You sure you’re okay?”
He nodded into her shoulder and then pulled back.“Enough to get to my brother,” he said.“I appreciate it.I appreciate you and I adore you.Take the bagels and my regrets.”
She took the bag of bagels from his outstretched hands, and he wondered if she was going to kiss him, then ended all conversation by brushing his lips across her cheek.
“See you later?”
She nodded.“Keep me posted.”
And as he headed toward the source of his brother’s message, he realized he’d never felt so tethered in his life; the last thing he wanted was to deal with his brother and the business.Which, he decided, was the realization that he’d gone across the country to make.But as he headed toward the subway going downtown, it was taking him farther and farther away from the life he wanted.
All he had to do was figure out how to get it.
Chapter Nine
As we fix one leak, another starts…
Unofficial wedding scavenger hunt (N)
Object 1: New vendor contracts
Object 2: Signed contract for the sofer
Debrief (J): How do you deal with an impending family bombshell?
Saturday, May 3rd
The smells comingthrough the door of Leah’s apartment were amazing; just enough to clear out Naomi’s nostrils from the subway ride.
“You got whitefish,” she said with a grin as Leah opened the door.“I love you.”
“You love me for other things,” Leah replied, blocking her way to the kitchen, forcing her toward the living room.“And you get no whitefish until you explain why you’re here alone.”
She blinked as she sat down on Leah’s couch, stunned.She’d expected to be interrogated over the slowly building relationship that she was creating with Jason, in a way that was half serious, half joking, by her bloodhound of a cousin.
But not like this.
Not in a way that felt like the information was the literal price of admission.
