Chapter Twenty-Five
B ryce Emerson was easy to work with; Samuel knew that pretty well. Not only as an artistic collaborator, but now as a speaker.
As they headed into the JCC, Bryce turned toward him. “You ready for this?”
Samuel nodded. “Yep. Just like we discussed. Which I’m glad we did.”
“It was a good idea,” Bryce said. “Good to outline…” And then he paused, making Samuel wonder what was going on. “Asher, Good to see you.”
Samuel turned to meet Judith Nachman’s fiancé for the first time; he knew about the man from the information and the photos he was using to make the ketubah but had never actually seen him in person.
“Good to see you too, Bryce, Thanks for coming.”
“Not a problem. And I’ve got a collaborator.”
Asher Mendel’s eyes turned onto him. “I see that.” He paused. “We’ll talk later, after class because I think you’ve got some planning to do.”
He wasn’t sure what Asher was talking about, but he nodded all the same.
“Good. Nephew’s here, and we’re ready to go. Come on in,” Asher continued, ushering them into the room.
The beginnings, the attendance and other organizational things went quickly and then it was their turn. Of course, nothing ever went perfectly, but Samuel was enjoying every second of this class.
Arguably, his favorite part was hearing the kids say phrases like “That was fascinating,” or “I’ve never thought of it that way before,” as he spoke about certain aspects of his career that reminded him of the things these kids must go through when they were on the ice. This kind of conversation, and this kind of direct impact, wasn’t usually part of his job description, at least not for longer than the five minutes he met people at expos or cons, but it was…nice.
Seeing their eyes widen when his points were expanded by listening to Bryce Emerson talk about what he did was simply icing on the cake.
“What are your future plans?” Bryce asked him as a way of continuing the conversation.
And of course, there were a bunch of kids who raised their hands.
“Are you going to do more posters?” one of the kids wondered.
“Are you going to make a Torah?” asked another.
He laughed, both lucky and thrilled that his future career choices mattered to these kids in some way. “Well,” he said. “Definitely some more posters, because I love working with the teams responsible for them. And I’m not going to do a Torah just yet, but later on down the line for sure.”
And that was that, the end of the class.
“Great job,” Bryce said as the kids left the room.
“Thanks for coming,” Asher added. “They really enjoyed themselves.”
“So did I,” Samuel replied. “Glad I came.”
“And,” Asher said with a laugh, “this is how we do things. This is how we bring people together, and try to make him realize what kind of gold he has in my future sister-in-law.”
It took him a second to realize what Asher had said. “Uh…”
“Family gossip,” Asher said with a grin. “My fiancée is invested.”
“So that’s why you were at the practice a few weeks ago,” Bryce said as if he was putting it all together.
“Not really,” he said. “It’s how I learned about the practice and why Leah drove me to the mechanics after the art session.”
“So,” Asher said. “What’s up with you and Leah?”
And now the question he wasn’t expecting, but figured he’d end up answering anyway. “We’re figuring things out.”
Which was a general statement, and could be interpreted a billion different ways. Hopefully the look exchanged between Bryce and Asher wasn’t exactly the strange thing he thought it was.
“What’s there to figure out?”
Of course. “I mean…”
“You need to figure out how you’re going to get to Shabbat dessert on Friday.”
“Shim…really?”
The kid, Shim, had to be Leah’s nephew, little Ramona’s big brother. “Said goodbye to everybody so I’m ready, Uncle Ash,” the kid continued. “And why is this a surprise?”
“What do you mean?” Bryce said, because Samuel couldn’t figure out how to answer this.
“I mean,” Shim continued, “figuring it out means they’re fighting so he has to fix it. With babka.”
Asher and Bryce both laughed, making him feel really awful. “Very astute,” Asher said. “He right?”
Having decided that everything was going to be on the table as it was, he nodded. “We’re not fighting,” he said. “But I want to make it clearer where I stand so that she feels more secure.”
“Babka,” Shim said. “That’s the ticket.”
“How long have you known each other?” Asher said. “I mean my fiancée tells me you went to high school together? That you’re a Briarwood guy?”
“Born and raised,” he admitted. “Your fiancée is older by a few years, but Leah and I made our way through the Briarwood schools together.”
“So,” Asher continued, “what is the story between you and Leah? What’s been…the issue?”
And so, deciding that he needed to talk this through, he told Asher and Bryce most of the story, at least as much as he felt comfortable saying in front of Shim.
“So,” Bryce said. “Seems pretty obvious to me.”
“This I have to hear,” Asher said with a laugh.
But Samuel wasn’t laughing. He’d been trying to figure out what the best way was to convince Leah that he wasn’t going anywhere, wasn’t going to push, and wasn’t going to leave in a huff.
Unless that was what Leah told him she wanted.
And if Bryce had a suggestion, then he’d take it.
“Ash and Shim want you to come to Shabbat dinner on Friday. Go. Bring something symbolic. If it’s babka, it’s babka. If it’s something else, bring something else. Whatever it is,” Bryce said, “make it clear that you’ve been listening. Not just to her words, but the things she isn’t saying, or hasn’t been saying.”
“But,” Asher said. “Bring babka so that Shayna’ll let you in the house.”
And now he had a plan, but more importantly, he had allies.
*
The community room of the Briarwood JCC was decorated with twinkling lights, and Leah had no idea what to make of it.
“This is…”
“They have a thing,” Shayna said. “They’re not as…much as the Westchester ice unicorn herd, but it’s a thing.”
A thing it was, Leah thought, but managed not to say under her breath. Rainbow ombré reflected off the bar, attendees were in various states of glitter and jewels.
Was this a party or an exhibition?
And yet in that instant, Leah understood why Shayna’d asked her to come.
Naomi would be critiquing, Liv would be drowning, and Judith? Lord knew what her sister would do. She was Shayna’s safe choice, adaptable but not distracting. Helpful but not overwhelming. And on a night where she was attending as a mom, Shayna needed help.
“Okay,” Leah said, now confident in her role. “Let’s do this.”
Shayna smiled as they began to head through the maze of tables.
But the only thing Leah could think of as they walked through, seeing the range of items was: “This is one artist?”
Shayna nodded. “Supposedly. I know, right?”
“Like how much of a collection would one artist have to have if the exhibition space would be this big?”
“Let’s just say,” said a familiar voice, “that the last party I threw didn’t have Pictionary, and not for another reason.”
Jamie. “Hiii,” Leah said. “This is gorgeous.”
Jamie beamed. “Thank you. Didn’t expect to see you here, but I am very glad to see a familiar face.”
“I have to say that when my sister-in-law,” Leah said gesturing at Shayna, “suggested I come tonight; the fact that it was your collection was an incentive.”
“Yep.” Shayna grinned. “My daughter’s on the team, so Leah’s here as a proud auntie.”
“Oh that’s great.” Jamie looked between them, and Leah figured that there was going to be an invitation issued, probably to talk about Samuel.
“Are you going to have time to catch up in a bit? I want to know what’s going on with Samuel.”
Just as predicted , Leah thought to herself. But all the same, Shayna snorted. “Don’t we all.”
“I may need some help,” Leah said.
Jamie raised an eyebrow. “Oh really.”
And then she paused, making Leah wonder if something else was going on.
“Looking for something in particular in the meanwhile?”
Leah sighed. “I want to give someone something that will make this person understand that I don’t make decisions lightly, that I’ve always…had feelings, that I’m not going to change.”
She looked in between Jamie and Shayna only to realize from their surprised and thoughtful expressions that she’d either said too much, made the wrong decision or both. “Um,” she managed. “Never mind. It’s fine…”
“So,” Jamie said, breaking the silence and most likely going to barge past the tape she’d put on the door she’d opened. “You can always buy something new—I’ve got a few interesting pen-themed things, for example, but the biggest thing you can do is show him, whoever he may be, that you have been paying attention. Something older that might symbolize the fact that despite everything, all the water under the bridge between the both of you, your feelings have never changed.”
And as they walked through the showing, Leah realized there was something. She bought a pair of pen cufflinks and a pen tie tack, knowing all too well that the item she needed most was at her apartment, and she’d need help bringing it back to Briarwood.