“The words?Is it okay I said them?”
She nodded.“Yeah.I’m not ready to say them yet, but you’ve seen my dirty laundry.”
He laughed.He was around to see the mess that had been her sister’s love life.
“That’s true,” he said.“But you’re not being recorded.”
She shook her head.“I’m not.”
“But are you ready to go on a drive to Long Island with someone who has been under public scrutiny?Recorded?Watched, I mean?”
“More than ready,” she said, reaching up to run her hands through his hair.“There’s nobody I’d rather go on this drive with than you.”
And with that, at least, partially settled, Naomi followed Jason to his car, and hoped desperately that the traffic would help them and not hurt them.
*
Jason could havekicked himself as they walked down the street to the parking lot to retrieve his car.Not only had he dropped ‘I love you’ in the middle of the night, but had basically managed to insist on some kind of answer before they left his apartment.
Granted, there had been logic to his choice of subject matter; with or without traffic, the drive to Long Island wasn’t short.Which meant the prospect of making that drive with her, that bombshell hanging over them and stealing the air, was about as appealing as diving into a vat of Roquefort.
But the response she’d given, though it was trademark Naomi, emotional deer in headlights, wasn’t exactly as encouraging as he had expected.Of course, she could have also told him to go to Hades and that she didn’t want to talk about emotional issues at all.
So, it was a…positive, maybe?
Either way, they’d gotten the worst of that conversation out of the way and at least they could breathe around each other.There were buds growing that would hopefully flower at some point.
More importantly, the music was good, the sun was bright and there wasn’t much traffic on the expressway.At least when they approached it, and it was pretty much a straight shot between that part of the expressway and Rockliffe Manor.
May made t green, gorgeous and bright; the Long Island Expressway wore the impending summer well, it seemed.The exit was also nice, not as curvy as the Rivertown or Hollowville exits off of any of the major highways.
And Rockliffe Manor?Was gorgeous, as if it had been drawn by someone who wanted a cross between brand-new suburb and historic town.
“This is nice,” Naomi said as they drove through the downtown in search of a parking space.“I’d love to come back when things are less stressed.”
“Yeah,” he said, deciding to pull into one of the municipal lots instead of staring down the main streets in search of a spot he’d have to parallel park into.He noticed that there weren’t meters, especially in the spots at the edge of the lot near the historical society.“I really like the way everything is laid out.I think they have a gorgeous waterfront.”
“They also have a summer festival,” she said with a grin.
“You noticed that?”
She nodded and the sparkle in her eyes made him smile.“I love small-town summer festivals I don’t have to plan.”
He raised an eyebrow.“Really?”
She nodded.“Once you start planning festivals in small towns, you’re reminded of how much parking these festivals take up.You can’t help but notice how much parking, whether metered, lots or both, a town might have.So, every small town that has a festival or an opening or whatever, the first thing I look for is parking.”
“That is just exhausting,” he said.“I mean I don’t have a base cuisine, but I’m always watching people as they’re cooking in restaurants or catering wise.I’m always seeing what I can learn.Is that the same in certain ways?”
She didn’t answer immediately.“Somewhat.I mean I haven’t planned that many festivals, because it was one of those things that Ida turned her nose up at, but after Briarwood’s Hanukkah opening, I was contacted by some people from a Committee of the Hollowvilles, and I’ve been helping them plan aFestival of Autumn, going from Sukkot to Halloween that’s going to start this coming year.”
“Wait,” he said.“Hollowville now is going to have a Halloween festival and a Hanukkah festival?”
“It’s complex,” she replied.“North Hollowville started the whole thing a few years ago, with a Halloween festival.But as Hanukkah became huge for Hollowville and Halloween became unwieldy for North Hollowville, the North Hollowville committee asked Hollowville if they wanted to join the festivities,read: help plan, with an autumn-themed holiday.And because the Hollowville committee was exhausted, they suggested their contribution would be Sukkot-themed, never thinking North Hollowville would agree.But, they underestimated how desperate North Hollowville was to share the planning, so they agreedimmediately.”
“Which is where you came in?”
Naomi nodded.“Pretty much.It’s been wild, with the Sukkot-themed events in Hollowville.I think they’re taking inspiration from the kinds of things Briarwood does with Hanukkah.Not as…”
