The Kosher Conundrum (Last Girls Standing #4)

Chapter One

Before

Naomi Nachman felt a spring in her step as she walked into her cousin Judith’s house.

Judith had finally begun making the decisions required to plan her bat mitzvah, and this was going to be the day that the event got nailed down.

“I cannot believe you’ve decided what you want,” she proclaimed as she stepped through the entryway…

Only to see a spread of food across the dining table, the likes of which she hadn’t seen in a very long time.

And of all people, Jason Greenblatt was presiding over it.

She’d seen Jason for years at events, knew he was from Michigan, and knew his family-owned Greenblatt’s Knishes on the Lower East Side. She’d also tasted his food, and she’d almost lost her mind when she couldn’t hire him for a client’s party.

He was too young and too…unproven as a private chef and small-batch caterer, at least that’s what Ida had said.

And considering she owed her career to Ida, what Ida said went. Ida was a pre-eminent voice in party and event planning, after all, having inherited a business opened when women, especially Jewish women, were unable to be business owners.

“I can’t believe you’re making house calls.”

“My indecisive cousin made a decision,” she replied with a laugh, Jason’s voice bringing her back to the present.

Of course, it only took the worst breakup of said cousin’s life to get her to that point, but planners on a tight timeline couldn’t be choosy, nor was she going to disclose information about her cousin’s personal life in front of a man who was best friends with the responsible party.

“We’ll figure the rest over lunch, which… wow.”

Jason bowed, his sense of humor and pride fully on display. “Thank you,” he said. Of course, those brown eyes caught everything, like the notebook she’d pulled from her bag. “You’re planning the bat mitzvah?”

Naomi nodded. “That I am,” she confirmed, giving Judith the side-eye. “For my cousin who refused to decide what she wanted until now.” Then she turned back to Jason. “I know you can’t cater.”

Because of course, Jason would be attending, in some capacity, the party held by the man Judith was forced to share her bat mitzvah day with.

In fact, the very same man was responsible for the horrible breakup that catalyzed her cousin’s sudden desire to plan this event: retired hockey player, aspiring youth hockey coach, man rumored to be starting a foundation for Jewish hockey players, Asher Mendel.

“Yep. Busy that day. But,” he said, tapping fingers on the table, “you know what I’m thinking?”

She didn’t know because she didn’t know him, not really. Not yet at least. She raised an eyebrow. “Who are you thinking? What are you thinking?”

Judith smiled, sat back, and grinned. “What?”

“There’s a guy who just might be able to do it,” he said. “Let me see what I can dig up.”

“Don’t get too excited,” Naomi said, putting two and two together with Judith’s request for barbecue and Jason’s excitement about the who.

It had to be Abe Neumann. “He’s a busy guy,” she continued, attempting to temper her cousin’s rapidly rising expectations. “He only does a small number of events.”

“But,” Jason interjected, pointing at Judith, “she’s got connections. And I’m willing to bet the guy who sent her my way would definitely have those favors.”

Clearly, the guy who’d sent Judith breakfast and lunch was Jacob Horowitz-Margareten—Judith’s boss. He had a bank account the size of a small country and a heart just as big. If Jason was talking favors to burn, those would absolutely belong to Jacob.

And as Naomi left the house, her phone buzzed. An email reply to a long-dead email address.

To: Naomi N

From: Jason G

Call me when you get home. We’ll figure this out.

And he’d included his number.

She was looking forward to using it.

*

Jason’s phone rang as soon as he walked into his older brother Steven’s apartment. “You ready to talk?” his brother asked.

He pulled the phone from his pants pocket, only to see it was Naomi Nachman on the line.

He’d been wanting to pick Naomi Nachman’s beautiful brain for years.

Now he was going to do just that…as long as he had the opportunity.

Conversations about the status he didn’t want to have in the family business or his brother’s future plans for it would have to wait.

“No,” he said and walked into the closest room, which was the bathroom, before closing the door. “Hello?”

“Jason. Naomi Nachman…”

“Right.” Playing it cool had never been his strong suit, but he was doing it now.

And he’d offered to help her with the bat mitzvah her cousin was sharing with…

his best friend. He’d say Asher was the closest thing he had to a brother, but that opened multiple cans of worms that he didn’t want to deal with.

So best friend was it. “Your cousin, my best friend…”

“Best friend?”

She seemed surprised; something must have gone on. But asking about his best friend and his love life wasn’t on his agenda. Talking to Naomi was. But more importantly, she had to be aware of who he was friends with. “Asher.”

And then the pause. “Oh.”

That was interesting. “Are you observing some kind of code?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a laugh. “What did you think I was calling about?”

“I wasn’t sure,” he replied. And then he decided to be honest—a very rare choice on his part. “Could be a bunch of things.”

And that was what cued the sigh. “I’m calling about the party, and whether you think it’s a good idea to…”

“Pull favors to try and convince Abe to cater?”

“That amounts to it. Would he do it?” she asked.

Jason paused, settled down on the tile floor of his brother’s bathroom.

Some of the information he had was private, some was public knowledge.

“Thing about Abe,” he finally said, “is that he’s learning he’s better off on smaller stages.

I think, at least. I don’t know for sure.

I don’t know him well enough to make that deduction. ”

“Makes sense,” Naomi said. “He would have opened the restaurant a few months ago if he was going to. I mean restaurants aren’t a permanent thing, but like…”

Jason nodded even though Naomi couldn’t see him.

He loved seeing up close and personal how her mind worked.

And as the conversation continued, there was a knock that didn’t sound like a polite investigation into whether someone was in the room.

This was something else. The kind of something else he had to answer.

And that meant he’d have to kill Steven.

But Naomi didn’t need to listen to him yelling at his brother about how he wanted nothing to do with his brother’s grand plan to take Greenblatt’s into its next era.

All he said was, “Siblings. Gotta go.”

She laughed. “You love them, you’re proud of them when they succeed, you know you can count on them when you’re in trouble, but they’re capable of making you feel the most guilt…”

Jason was so, so lucky she got it. “And,” Jason said with a laugh, “they have the worst timing ever.” He paused. “I’ll keep you posted on who says what.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I look forward to it.”

And as he ended the call, he found himself amazed that the conversation between them was so easy. He also looked forward to the next conversation they would have.