And as Jason folded napkins and placed plates and glasses on the table, he was fully aware that something special had begun that night.
Chapter Seventeen
As she cameinto the house after talking to Abe, Naomi felt comfortable, relaxed.“I know why my sister adores you,” she said to Batya.
Batya’s reaction was very much the kind that came from someone who’d never heard those words before, from anybody.“She does?”
Naomi nodded.“She loves chatting with you, and I’m glad I’m getting a chance to myself.”
Batya nodded, words clearly failing the other woman.“I’m glad to chat to you too,” she managed.“I wanted to know how you were after…”
She shrugged; the story of Ida was a story she’d been telling for three days—to Tom Walker, to Max Parker-Roth and now, apparently, to both Abe and Batya.But if anybody deserved that honest truth, it was Batya., someone who’d been a target of Ida’s ire.
“The whole thing took me by surprise,” Naomi said honestly, admitting her feelings for the first time.“I didn’t hear from her; I heard it from Samuel.And that I probably won’t…deal with all of the feelings that came from the surprise until after my cousin’s wedding.”
Batya nodded, extended a hand.“I’m sorry.”
“In one way I am, too,” she said with a smile.“But in another way I’m not.She was a horrible person and hard to work with.She treated people terribly, and so much of my time was spent cleaning up after her.Reminding clients I was working with that their choices mattered, even when behind the scenes Ida was laughing at them.Finagling meal choices from caterers the clients didn’t choose because Ida decided her personal choices were more important.”
Batya nodded.“I can see that about her,” she said.
“And the unspoken question was why I stayed with her for so long.The first answer is the most important: she gave me a chance.She’d been given a chance when Jewish women weren’t allowed to have businesses.Having her for a mentor at the beginning was an unbelievably exciting experience; the stories she could tell were absolutely mesmerizing.The history she had was inspiring.”
“And then what happened?”
“I think it got to the point where I continued to stay because I thought that I wasn’t ready to leave and so it was better to have a horrible boss than no boss.But also, in the back of my mind, there was some part of me that hoped she’d give me the business.That,” Naomi finally said, “or all of those.”
Batya nodded.“I’m sorry.”
Naomi shook her head.“No,” she said.“I know you might be using the empathetic sorry, but I’m the one who should be sorry.She was horrible to so many people, including you.”
“Naomi,” Batya said, “it isn’t your…job to make apologies for someone who threw you away like yesterday’s bathwater.You weren’t actively a part of her garbage; you did your best to…create an oasis, for lack of a better word, in the middle of her trash heap.And now you’re free of her.You know what you need to do?”
“What?”she asked.
“Write your own story, fix your cousin’s wedding.Be the kind of event planner you want to be, and honor people’s choices.Create your own legacy—you’ve already made fans in my husband and me.And there’s something else,” she said with a smile.
“What?”
“I have it on good authority that Charlotte Liu is going to take pity on you.”
And if that wasn’t a mind-blowing thing, she hadn’t seen one.Ever.“What?”
“Come,” Batya said as she ushered Naomi into the living room.“Let’s get comfortable and I’ll tell you the story.”
Naomi followed her, across the hardwood and the carpets, into a very, very cozy space.“So…”
“Right,” Batya said.“Charlotte Liu is one of the sweetest people I know, and she will absolutely take pity on you.”
“Why take pity?”
“Because if she agrees to help out, she’s going to have to basically do the equivalent of crashing a wedding cake.”
Which, Naomi realized as she thought about the time between now and the wedding, was absolutely true.She’d talked to Abe about potential alterations to the menu, but not once had she thought about how difficult it would be for a celebrity chef on Charlotte’s level to find the kind of time needed to design and create the kind of wedding cake Judith would want.
“Charlotte is actually my cousin’s dream cake maker/designer, so my cousin will be thrilled with whatever she’s willing to do—in any capacity.”
“Really?”Naomi asked.“Did you do some kind of cake tasting?”
