Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
L eah took deep breaths to steady herself. All was okay; she had just been caught off-guard. Buck up, buttercup. It’s not like you haven’t had a bat mitzvah party crashed before.
She laughed at that thought. Besides, she had had Avi pretty much to herself on the boat for almost eight hours. Plus three days.
Still, it felt like reality had caught up.
It was way past midnight, and if there was any sort of pumpkin coach waiting, it had probably oil-spotted her by now.
She was here without the rugelach. With barely any of the mahjong sets. Without even the carefully planned outfit she’d packed in Ohio. She felt like an imposter.
She hadn’t pitched one investor. And she still had yet to find Dr. Ackerman, explain away the rugelach, and offer to make more. She’d see if she could borrow space in Talia’s kitchen, maybe. She’d have to return the dress anyway.
Leah wrapped her arms around herself, guilt gnawing at the edges of her thoughts. She thought about her dad, at Bramblewood without her. What was she even doing here without Jaz, chasing vague business prospects she wasn’t even ready to pursue? This isn’t real. This isn’t sustainable.
The entire road trip had been a fantasy. Three days of running from reality. Avi had been dreading dealing with Sylvie, and she was… pretending you had your life together when you clearly don’t?
Guests were streaming past, saying their final goodbyes of the evening to friends.
“Letty!” It was Jonah, weaving through throngs of people, occasionally clanging against someone like a pinball against a bumper. “Lez do your pitch!”
He stepped a big foot toward her. A food server breezed across his path and through a swinging galley door. Reflexes slowed, Jonah didn’t move fast enough as the door bounced back, and took it full to the side of the head, causing him to crumple a bit on his legs. Leah gasped.
“I’m good. I’m good.” He touched his temple and winced. “Is there a Jewish doctor in the house?” he called.
Jonah had been doing improv all over the boat most of the evening, and was apparently still in joke mode. A few people laughed as they walked by, tossing looks as Leah rushed to his side.
“Let’s sit you down, big guy.”
At least one person had heard his call. Glittery hands helped Leah maneuver Jonah to a sitting position. Kara Koff.
The actress was even more stunning up close. A dusting of glitter graced her forehead and the slope of her nose, and her large green eyes barely needed a hint of liner and shadow. Leah got a front row to the boob show from the low-low cut of her outfit that indeed, stayed fast against her chest. “What’s your name, honey?”
“You’re an angel,” Jonah marveled.
“It’s Jonah,” Leah supplied.
“Shel, come take a look at Jonah.” Kara beckoned the guy who had been dancing with her at the impromptu bat mitzvah. Her date crouched and furrowed his brow as he tilted Jonah’s chin toward the moonlight.
“Follow my finger,” he said, sweeping it side to side. Jonah tried to track it with just his eyes. “Pupils look fine, no obvious signs of a concussion, but it’s tricky when alcohol can mask symptoms.”
Leah moved to standing, relieved to hear a professional opinion. Even if the guy had glitter on his cheeks from sucking face with Kara Koff.
He looked up at Leah. “Can you watch for any sign of nausea till we dock? I know that’s a tough ask when it’s a drunk skunk on a boat.”
“Yes, of course. I am a friend of a friend. I can keep watch.”
Kara rubbed Jonah’s shoulders, her laugh throaty and endearing. “Too bad you don’t have a lollypop for him, Shel.”
“Jonah, I’m Dr. Ackerman. I think you are just going to have a nasty bump, so you should sit somewhere stable and ice it, okay?”
Leah gave a startled laugh, thinking of Libby’s comment earlier about throwing a latke and hitting a doctor on board. What were the chances of hitting the doctor who had kicked off the entire rugelach road trip?
“Hersh?”
His ocean blue eyes blinked her way. “Grandma Tilly’s friend?”