Chapter Two
Sunday
G enerally speaking, as the mayor Liv’s time was valuable. Extremely valuable, and after consulting her five planners, two electronic and three paper, on Saturday night, all of them said the same thing.
Nothing.
Which meant the agenda included coffee over the new members’ manual for the County Board of Legislators and any other errands she needed to take care of as she started to form her framework for the office she was going to take in January.
But after she’d gotten back from a run and was heading to take a shower, she heard the distinctive ringtone that belonged to her sister. “Hey, Naomi, what’s going on?”
“Where are you?”
She blinked. Naomi sounded…strange, as if something was wrong. “Just got home from a run. I’m heading into the shower and then I’m going to spend the rest of the day starting to read the legislators’ manual. Why?”
Instead of an immediate answer, there was something else. A sigh that sat somewhere between disappointed and sympathetic. “You don’t rest enough even after that committee meeting from Hades and the election,” Naomi began. “This is me reminding you that you need to be at Levitan’s Deli, in the next few hours.”
Levitan’s…
The mayoral part of her brain reminded her of the facts. Levitan’s was a kosher-style Jewish delicatessen that had opened in the center of town during her tenure, in the space once occupied by McManus’s pub under circumstances nobody talked about. It included a barbecue menu inspired by a chef from Rivertown.
Which wasn’t helpful.
Dammit.
And that’s when the lightbulb went on. Judith had called a cousins meeting to discuss wedding prep, and the phone call had come in right around the time Flaire had filled her brain, and the Monday night special committee meeting with the horrible, bad, no good Hanukkah event proposal. And Judith’s phone call, which had not been followed up by an email, had slipped her mind.
“Dammit,” she said.
“You forgot,” Naomi replied, sighing again, suddenly organizer and not sister. “Which is why I’ll call you again when you need to leave.”
“Which,” Liv returned with a grin, “is why I love you.”
“Shower now,” Naomi continued, still in organizer mode. “Don’t let yourself fall into work before I call again without showering and getting ready.”
“Right,” she said. “I’ll organize myself and then dive into the materials.”
“Good,” Naomi said. “Talk to you soon.”
“See you later,” Liv replied and she ended the call, resolved not to dive into the manual, but instead headed into the shower.
*
As Artur got off the highway at the Briarwood exit, he called his best friend. Abe Neumann had held that position since Artur arrived in Rivertown from Brooklyn when he was in fifth grade. Artur had been a lonely, snot-nosed kid, who got enveloped in the arms of a ridiculous group of friends and gained brothers—Abe and Leo.
“What’s up?”
“Going to Briarwood for an assignment,” Artur said. “Can I stay with you?”
Because they’d been friends for so long, Abe didn’t ask him anything other than, “When are you coming?”
“Later,” he said. “I’m doing a walk-through before I meet the mayor tomorrow.”
There was a pause. “Good. Meet me for a late lunch.”
He raised an eyebrow; meals with Abe were usually a space in front of the stove where problems were spewed like a geyser—his or Abe’s, it didn’t matter. But out?
What was going on.
“Nu?”
“Finished a stage,” Abe replied in what most likely was horribly accented French. “And Chef wants me back to relish the spoils of my work.”
Stage. Internship. While Artur had been in Eastern Europe, Abe had been working at different places, learning the restaurant business. He’d get random phone calls where his best friend updated him about the things he’d been learning, and the choices he was making. It kept them close.
“Where?”
“Levitan’s.”
Levitan’s, a Briarwood staple, was the last place Abe had been working. “Busman’s holiday?”
“B’s out of town, filming upstate. Hanukkah history at a Christmas tree farm,” Abe replied, because Abe and his wife Batya were in love and still adorable. “So, it’s just us. And yes,” his best friend continued because Abe knew him well. “I’ll meet you there.”
As he ended the call, he felt excited.
Of course, a few hours later, he’d learned one of the most important lessons—never play cards outside without gloves in November. Chess was different; there was time and space to put your hands in your pockets. But cards?
Completely different story. As comfortable in the cold as he was, his hands were a mess and needed warmth stat.
The game was fun; the ten guys who were playing were hilarious. They liked his fortitude but not enough to give him any information about Hanukkah.
A quick stop at the Cupcake Stop gave him warmth in the form of a gelt latte but no information.
He then headed to the comic book shop, where he was starting to see the pattern.
A smile, his food, or service and then nothing when he started to talk. Politeness to the extreme, as if they’d recognized he wasn’t local.
Which did something to his insides he wasn’t ready to discuss publicly, if ever.
A few more stops: a quick knish, and then the skate shop where he talked about new skates, but was stopped when he mentioned Hanukkah.
Finally, at around three, his phone buzzed, telling him that Abe was on his way. Which meant he headed over to Levitan’s.
*
Thankfully, Liv only had to pull herself away from the manual and head to the car when Naomi called later that afternoon, and there was a parking space right near the front of Levitan’s private parking lot. She pulled in, and ran toward the restaurant.
Of course, before she went in search of her cousins and their table, she wondered if she should actually give herself a look in the mirror, maybe stop and…
No.
She was avoiding them, or rather avoiding the prospect of dealing with what her cousins and her sister would say when she arrived.
And that she needed a shield for, which meant her first stop would be the bathroom.
“One sec,” she said as she passed Naomi, heading toward the back of the restaurant, past tables and people into the corridor where the happy, boisterous noises from the kitchen emerged.
And made a left, heading toward the bathroom and smacked into…something hard and soft at the same time.
She inhaled sharply, musk and joy rising up her nostrils, and when she looked up, she had to brace herself from the shock of hazel eyes. “I’m sorry,” she managed, pulling herself together, trying desperately not to fall into the constantly changing autumn of those eyes, and cheekbones cut like glass.
“It’s okay.”
She nodded, again, trying not to let herself succumb to…him. “Fine, thank you.”
The silence wasn’t uncomfortable; it felt dangerous. She couldn’t explain or trust the pull he had over her, and she had a mad impulse to kiss him.
“Livvy…”
Naomi. Saved by her sister. “I have to go,” she said, though she really didn’t want to.
He nodded. “No worries…” he said. “Livvy.”
And there wasn’t any assumption that he knew who she was in his voice; she was anonymous, which was a gift in itself.
Which meant before she acted on her worst impulses, in a place that was there to remind her why it was a horrible idea, she smiled, turned on her heel and started to follow her sister toward where her cousins were waiting.
*
Still slightly floating on the scent of the woman he’d bumped into, Artur headed back to the kitchen where Abe was waiting with Paul Levitan, the owner of the restaurant and Abe’s mentor for this period of his education.
“Look what the cat dragged back in here,” Abe said with a laugh as he entered the room.
“Meow,” he replied, grinning. But at the same time, he was doing his best to envelop himself in the smells of the kitchen—the meats in various stages of cooking and preparation. The scents of friends, of home.
“I am absolutely amazed,” he said.
“You should be,” Abe replied. “Paul is a certified genius.”
“Abe gives me too much credit,” Paul replied. “And himself too little.”
“Same day different speech?” Artur wondered as he ushered some of the smells closer. “Oh yes,” he said. “Joy.”
“His matzah balls don’t sink,” Abe proclaimed.
“Well yes,” Paul replied. “Baking soda does the trick every time.”
“This one,” Abe said with a tone Artur knew too well, “is trying to convince me to defile my matzah balls with seltzer.”
“He’s right,” Paul said before Artur could tie words together. “About matzah balls, but not about Briarwood.”
“Oh really?” Abe asked.
“Just make sure you don’t meander around town to places that aren’t interested in talking,” Paul replied before Artur had a chance to answer. “This isn’t Hollowville or Rivertown where snooping is accepted. This is a place that does not like outsiders looking for information, especially the kind of information you’re looking for.”
Abe raised an eyebrow, but Artur nodded.
“Which is very good timing,” Paul continued, clear in his expression that the message was heard, “not for an interrogation, but instead for eating.”
And as Paul brought out the food, Artur found himself wondering what Monday, and the official beginning of his assignment, would bring.
*
Thankfully, Naomi was able to be convinced that Liv needed a quick refresh, which meant she had a bit more time.
In the small bathroom, Liv took a deep breath and went to work. A splash of cold water on her face followed by a quick reapplication of her makeup and she was able to leave the bathroom, back straight, smile on her face. This was a glitch; it wasn’t anything more than that.
Especially considering the walls of the former McManus’s pub were there to remind her of past mistakes; even if Levitan’s, the current inhabitant of the space between those walls, reminded her of home as much as the table of her cousins and sister did.
“Hello, everybody,” Judith, her first cousin and closest to her in age, said as Liv settled into her seat. “Glad we all could make it.”
Which was, of course, directed at her.
“I wanted to update everybody on the progress we’ve made in the last six months.”
“You mean,” interjected Judith’s younger sister Leah, “on your wedding, our love lives, or both?”
Judith laughed but Liv knew the expression.
“So,” Judith continued, clearly not giving up control or her agenda, “aside from Leah, does anybody have any exciting romantic developments to discuss?”
In the moment, Liv’s heart stopped, knowing that it was possible her sister was going to tell the group about her recent encounter and the very last thing Liv wanted to do was dissect not only the incident but also the reaction. Especially considering how extreme it felt; this was a normal hot guy and she shouldn’t be…
“I’m quitting the dating scene completely,” Naomi announced out of nowhere. “I have a very demanding job and an extra client that’s driving me out of my mind.”
Judith snickered, which was a relief, considering the woman was, in fact, Naomi’s extra client. “Fine, fine,” her cousin said once she composed herself. “Liv?”
And once again, the spotlight of family was on her.
“Liv’s busy trying to find us a place to celebrate Hanukkah,” Naomi interjected, once again inserting herself. Whatever was going on, she had no idea.
“Which is all well and good,” Judith said, “but there’s more to life than Hanukkah and office planning.”
Liv snorted. “Every time I think about dating someone, I’m reminded that a guy I had feelings for at one point in my life turned a mayoral race into a personal attack. No thank you.”
“Not everybody’s like him,” Judith answered. “You should…”
Liv raised an eyebrow. “Are we here for your wedding or for an optional interrogation?”
“Well,” Leah said with a laugh, “considering my love life is professionally intertwined with Judith’s wedding, I think maybe both.”
“Since our last wedding meeting,” Naomi said, “we’ve gotten progress on the ketubah, flower girl dresses, we’ve gotten bridesmaids dresses, I’ll deal with the caterer and ceremony design…”
And as her sister ran through the wedding checklist she’d prepared for Judith, Liv found her mind drifting.