Chapter Sixteen
Wedding scavenger hunt (N)
Bonus object: Contract for a tax accountant for NN events
Debrief (J): How to capitalize on your abilities in order to create the life you want, not the life people think you’re supposed to have. The benefits of sympathetic media.
The first sign that something was going weird was the text that Liv had sent.
We’re running late
They’re expecting you.
It was weird for a bunch of reasons, primarily because it came in the form of a text. Liv rarely texted important information because it was important to her to have the reaction to the person she was sharing the information with.
But this was the second time she’d texted in relation to this dinner.
The first time Liv had texted, the text came with the promise of a call.
This did not.
It felt, to Naomi, like the equivalent of dropping the information and running.
Cowardice or subterfuge, Naomi wasn’t sure.
And knowing her sister, she wasn’t going to answer her phone if Naomi called to get more information.
“What’s up?” Jason asked as they continued down route 9 to the Rivertown address, following the GPS. “That sigh doesn’t sound good.”
“Liv texted. She’s running late.”
Jason made a hmm sound deep in his throat. “I see the reason for the sigh. Your sister’s up to something.”
“You think they were ever going to come?”
Because with Jason, she didn’t need to filter, didn’t need to share the information bit by bit before expressing the thoughts that information inspired.
“I don’t know,” he said as he continued driving, turning off the highway just past the Rivertown exit. “Chances are on both sides of the situation, but regardless, there’s something planned. I think.”
“You think my call with Liv and the conversation with Artur you had this morning was their way of letting us know that they were going to somehow ensure we had time alone with Abe and Batya? And by somehow ensure, I mean either by coming late or not coming at all?”
Jason shook his head as he pulled into the driveway. “I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine. What I do know is that I’m glad to be doing this with you.”
Which was unexpected—not because of what was going on between them, but what had and hadn’t been said since the day before. How they just…lived in each other’s presence without really discussing what was going on or what they meant to each other.
“I’m glad you’re doing this with me,” she said. And as he leaned over for a kiss, she leaned in to the way he brushed his lips against hers.
“Okay,” he said as he broke the kiss. “Let’s do this.”
As they headed up the walkway, she took his hand. He squeezed it, grounding her. He also knocked on the door with his free hand, almost like he knew she needed him to do it.
But what Naomi didn’t understand, was what had happened between the car and the front door of this house that brought on her nerves.
Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? She was a professional, a planner who was good at her job.
Speaking to new people and feeling them out was part of her business.
If she couldn’t talk to people, she could neither find clients nor vendors.
What was so different about this situation than any of those?
If she had to guess, it was because when she got into the car, she’d expected to have dinner with her sister, her sister’s boyfriend and friends of her sister’s boyfriend.
Now that she’d gotten out of it, the scene she was walking into was entirely different.
She hadn’t prepared for not having a buffer that wasn’t just Jason.
Or more specifically, she hadn’t prepared for what felt like a setup. Or what kind of setup this was going to be.
The whole thing smelled funny in weird and strange ways.
Fishy.
And that was why Jason was knocking.
The door opened to reveal a dark-haired woman with bright brown eyes, thin-framed glasses and a huge smile.
Batya.
She’d met Batya in person once before when she’d come to serve as buffer for her sister at a party Batya and her husband had thrown.
She also knew the woman’s day job was as host of a Meal Network TV show about the history and traditions of Jewish food, a show that Ida had spent hours complaining about.
Naomi herself enjoyed it.
And Batya too.
“Nice to see you, Naomi, Jason,” Batya said, moving to the side to let them in.
“Thank you so much for having us,” Naomi replied, letting go of Jason’s hand to lean in to the other woman’s embrace.
“Naomi,” Batya said as she stepped back. “Sorry to cut the chat short, but Abe wants to talk to you; he’s out back and dinner is at a delicate stage.”
Naomi nodded. “Thank you,” she said.
“Not a problem; I’ll show you the way. Jason?”
He looked up, smiling. “How can I help you?”
“A gentleman to the core,” Batya said with a smile. “Anyway, there are a few drinks on the kitchen table. Pour yourself one, and I’ll be right back to talk to you, okay?”
Naomi met Jason’s expression with her own, wondering what was going through his head as he nodded. “Okay,” he said.
At which point there was nothing else to do but follow her hostess through the house; hardwood and carpet floors, books—cookbooks, recipe books, textbooks, travel guides and novels everywhere—and pictures of smiling faces.
It was the house of foodies, of people who loved each other and their friends.
A home.
The kind of house she’d want, maybe, in the future?
“He’s through there,” Batya said, chasing the thoughts from Naomi’s mind. “He’s looking forward to talking with you.”
Once again, the only thing she could do was nod. “Thank you.”
Batya smiled. “You’re welcome.”
And as she walked through the sliding glass door to the backyard, Abe turned her way. “Hello,” he said as she crossed the grass, following what looked like a path that had been walked so often, it was almost permanent. “Welcome to my domain.”
Naomi laughed; she couldn’t help it. “Thank you for having me.”
“My pleasure,” he replied. “Actually, I have a few questions for you—some personal, some professional. That okay?”
Naomi nodded, ears perking. Yep. This was a setup of a sort. But all she said was: “Yes, absolutely.”
“What do you think of my best friend and your sister? You think they’re okay?”
That was the easiest question she could answer.
“I have never seen my sister as happy as she is when she’s with Artur,” she replied, the words Niagara Falls out of her mouth.
“I don’t think there’s been anybody who inspires her, who really sees her as well as he does.
And she sees him too, in ways that I don’t think he’s been seen in a relationship before. Is that what you were getting at?”
Abe nodded, and this time it was grave, serious. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Which meant Naomi had made the right choices and had said the right words. “I’m glad to be able to say it,” she replied.
Abe eventually said, “If Artur made moves that meant he saw a future in their relationship, what do you think your sister would say?”
And those were the undertones she heard in Liv’s question. Abe wasn’t going to invite her and Jason to what he was calling a ‘family dinner’ without thoughts that the relationship between Liv and his best friend would soon make them family.
But Liv? What would Liv say?
The fact that Liv knew well enough to warn Naomi that something might be coming said everything. But how could she explain this?
“I think he knows her well enough that they’ve discussed things,” she finally said.
“I also think they’ve started to make choices together.
And plans, because that’s my sister—the queen of planners.
She doesn’t move without an outline and at least three others.
If he’s making these noises, now, so comparatively early in the relationship, I’d be thrilled for them. ”
Abe nodded, clearly on the same page. At least Naomi hoped. “Good to know. Okay. So. How are you doing…professionally?”
Again, right to the point, going from one topic to the next, cutting to the heart of the matter. “I actually have a new company, registered, organized. Filling out contracts.”
“You’re up on your 1099s?”
Naomi understood the primary concerns of a true tax accountant involved having all the documents associated with a business filled out and ready to go, so the question didn’t really faze her that much.
“I have the basics done for the three contractors I’ve brought into the situation. One vehemently objected.”
“Samuel?”
Naomi nodded; how Abe knew of Samuel’s potential objections, she wasn’t sure. Apparently information traveled fast in certain family circles. Regardless of who passed the information on, the facts didn’t matter.
Because Samuel’s objection didn’t come from the fact she was creating a new business.
It was simply Samuel’s way of saying that he trusted Naomi enough to continue his obligation to provide a ketubah for the wedding, even if there wasn’t a written contract dictating its terms. To Samuel, Judith, and by extension Naomi herself, were family.
To Samuel’s way of thinking, deals between family members were sacrosanct.
But that didn’t matter; she wanted the paper. She needed it, if not for Aaron, Samuel’s brother and business manager, but for her own piece of mind. And that was the important fact Abe needed to know. “Yeah,” she said. “But I sent it to him anyway. I wanted to cross the t’s and dot the i’s.”
“Good. It’ll make organizing your taxes easier later.”
She nodded. And because she didn’t want to assume anything, she smiled. “I actually got an email from Max Parker-Roth this morning. He says you do his taxes?”