Chapter Twenty-Two
A fter the planning meeting, Liv found herself setting into a routine with Artur. Work got done; she would call him or he would call her and they’d have lunch together. Over lunch, they’d tackle some of the problems popping up for the festival and then made time to kiss more.
When the work day was over, they’d do the things that were required of both of them; first, they’d inspect the blueprints that had been pulled together based on the suggestions given by the residents, followed by a lovely make-out session where his hands found their way under her sweater.
As construction began on some of the vendor spaces and the artists began to turn the chess tables that sat by the stage space into dreidl tables, they went to inspect the work. And then made some time for more kissing, where she discovered he was ticklish in the middle of his back.
She was enjoying every second of this.
Every hour, which meant that she was entirely not surprised when she got the phone call from her mother.
“So,” her mother said, switching to video, not wasting any time. “I’ve heard from Debbie.”
Debbie was her aunt; Judith and Leah’s mother. Debbie gave her mother gossip when she was in town.
But it wasn’t a big deal.
Not at all.
“Oh really,” Liv said, desperately trying to keep the tone casual. “How is she?”
“She’s fine. Worried because there’s been a lot of conversation in town about you being with someone.”
“In town?” she asked, for clarification purposes. Because it could be her cousins or some random sisterhood informant.
“A little bit here and there,” her mother replied. “Enough where it’s cause for concern…in that she’s worried about you.”
“Okay,” she said, having organized her mental ducks in the rows they required. “She’s worried about what? My reputation? My life? My…”
“I don’t quite care what she’s worried about,” her mother said. “Debbie has her own reasons, but you’re my daughter. And I am worried about you.”
“I don’t understand,” she managed, desperately trying to follow the lines of the conversation as they shifted and moved away from her.
“You keep yourself locked away because you think you need to meet some impossible standard of behavior since that awful McManus boy acted like a political campaign was the best place to air grudges he’d had since nursery school. Not to mention your father and I are aware of the double standard women face, as well as the influence of the patriarchy whether it’s on our own Jewish culture or on Western Christian civilization.”
And there her mother went, tying the conversation to her (and her father’s) field of Jewish cultural study. “Yes, Mom,” she said. “My life isn’t my own; I love what I’m doing, don’t get me wrong, but every single thing I do matters.”
“So as your mother,” her mother continued, “my concern was the toll all of these hoops were taking on you in ways that was unhealthy. It’s not right or…safe to have to do that to yourself, even though I do understand why.” Her mother smiled back. “But now, now there is someone who makes you want to take chances, to be visible.”
She nodded. That was true, no matter what angle it was coming from.
“Why is he different? Why are you willing to spend…quality time with him, and open your emotional boundaries? Why are you risking this?”
Why are you risking this, indeed?
Her mother’s question got to the heart of her thoughts. But there was one and only one answer she could give her mother. “He gets it. He gets me.”
There was a second as her mother nodded once again. “So when is he coming to Shabbas dinner?”
“I have to ask him,” she said. “I don’t know what his schedule is like…”
“If he gets you,” her mother said, “he’ll get that this is important to both you and your family.”
And when she ended the call, it was clear Liv had another call to make.
*
Artur was filled with happiness; he’d practically bounced into Abe’s place on Tuesday night. Granted, Liv had been in the middle of her digitization project, so he hadn’t felt so bad about leaving her behind.
But at the same time, he knew his mood was too good to last; his haze of a bubble floated too close to the sun that night, and when he’d settled into his seat, having dropped off both the wine and the dessert, Abe turned toward him.
“Nu,” his best friend said. “What is this I’m hearing about you and Liv making an appearance at Jacob’s for that poker night meeting I couldn’t make? Especially considering I’ve heard neither hide nor hair of you except for breakfast and bedtime, and even that’s a rare specialty.”
Yep. The hazy bubble had broken, the air had been let out and it was now time to deal with the earthly consequences of his actions. He was well aware that he’d been living on gossip/inquiry-related borrowed time for weeks at this point, and he knew he was lucky. Yet at the same time, he was going to lose his mind.
Batya raised an eyebrow; she could thankfully be counted upon to defuse a situation if necessary. “It’s pretty obvious what’s happening, Abe,” she said. “Whatever you did or put in the brisket at the party did its job.”
Artur, for his part, tried not to spit out his very good, very well cooked, dinner. “Um,” he managed. “I…”
“Of course that’s what happened,” Leo said with a snicker. “Dude’s got it clear on his face.”
He blinked. He needed to get this train back on the tracks and not circling him with conversations he wasn’t in the mood to have or gossip that wasn’t in any way helpful.
“Can we not consider ways to talk that won’t besmirch…”
“He said besmirch!” Abe. Dammit. “He absolutely said besmirch, which means…”
Batya nodded and he consigned them both to applesauce. “So when is she coming to dinner?”
“You’ve already fed her,” he said, knowing the words were flimsy and…well…slightly ridiculous. “I mean…”
“Yeah no,” said Abe. “Here is different from the love fest you had back there in my sukkah, and whatever you did to make a bris on Jacob’s Briarwood house. This is real, true dinner. In Rivertown. Tuesday night, full group, here where she is expected to participate and eat.”
And technically really meet the people whom he considered family. But she wasn’t ready for this group at full throttle. “No. Not happening.”
Leo raised an eyebrow. “I directed cars in a vest that looks like a highlighter so that you could have your love fest, not to mention the fist fight I almost got into with Frank Maricelli in the middle of Briarwood. My reputation deserves protection, which means the very least you can do is get her to one of these.”
And having clearly no other choice, considering once Leo got a hold of something, the man wouldn’t stop, Artur nodded.
“Okay. I’ll see what her schedule looks like.”
*
That night, Liv and Artur were going over the projected list of story times and readers for the dreidl stage. But other information was spinning around in her head.
Was it too early to ask him to Shabbat dinner?
“You’re distracted,” he said, looking into her eyes. “What’s going on?”
The way he was looking at her made her think he had something on his mind. “I could say the same.”
He sighed, took a long drink from his glass. “I guess I have a question?”
She nodded. “Go ahead,” she asked. “Ask me.”
She watched the emotions play across his face, watched the storm gather. What did he want to know?
“Do you want to…go to a Tuesday night dinner at Abe’s?”
His question was deceptively light but she knew how important it was; talking with Anna at the planning meeting was beneficial in that regard. This was as important as a family dinner. “Sure,” she said with a grin.
“Just like that?”
She nodded. “Just like that. It’s important to you.”
The smile on his face was perfect. “But you wanted to ask me something?”
“Yeah,” she said. The goal was to keep it cool, make it easy. “I take it it’s not too early for you to consider Shabbat dinner at my parents’ place?”
He laughed, but the laugh was nervous. “Uh, maybe I…”
“No,” she said, realizing she’d asked too much of him at this point in their…understanding of each other. “It’s fine. I’ll tell them you’re too busy, and then kill my cousins.”
“Your cousins?”
“Could be Leah, who was at last night’s event with her boyfriend.”
“The agent and the guy who’s running the dreidl giveaway?”
“That’s them,” she said with a smile.
“Plausible,” he said. “But not who I’d put my money on spilling the beans.”
She laughed; this was the fixer doing his best to calm the situation And the fact she knew him well enough to know his moods at this point…
“You think it’s Judith? She was also at last night’s event with her fiancé?”
“Judith works with Jacob at Mitzvah Alliance, right?”
Liv nodded. “That’s the one.”
“Her fiancé is the most plausible culprit,” he said with a smile that warmed her toes. “So…you…want to do these things or…?”
Aaaah. She realized Artur defaulted to the impartial fixer when he was nervous. She nodded, both to his question and then to her deduction. “Yes,” she said. She grinned at him. “I guess we could call it a launch?”
He closed his eyes for a moment before leaning toward her. This time she caught his lips with hers, not pausing to talk, not pausing to analyze even as he probably wanted to. She’d analyzed enough.
All she wanted now was her reward.