Page 84 of The Dating Contract

“I mean…” she said, because if she was going to confide in Shayna, she might as well go for the gold. “Would he listen to me? Would he accept my invitation? Would I be too late? Am I too late?”

“You can’t say for sure,” Shayna said. “And nobody can ever say anything definitively for sure.”

Which was helpful.

Not.

“But,” Shayna continued after Leah realized she hadn’t said anything. “I would bet on the fact that someone who’s wanted someone and something for so long isn’t going to give up on it easily. Nobody ever does. He may drive a hard bargain.”

“Like what hard bargain?” Because if she knew nothing else, it was how to negotiate and bargain. She’d been doing so for most of her professional life.

“Probably not kneel like some books I’ve read, but like probably make you actually admit you were wrong. Or something.”

“So like some visible grovel?” she wondered, just to make sure.

“Audible grovel,” Shayna said. “Some clear indication. But you’ll be fine. I think.”

She hoped. Except how she’d be able to bargain with him on a grovel was beyond her; this wasn’t Passover and the search for the afikomen when she was a kid, but something else.

This would, as they said, be the bargain of her life.

How she’d manage that, she had no idea. But that at least gave her a goal.

But Shayna was still on the other end and she’d done a big favor, even if it didn’t feel so big. “Thank you,” she finally said. “How can I repay you?”

“First,” Shayna said. “Thursday night you need to come and visit; I’ve got a thing to go to. It’s a jewelry designer’s thing for the Unicorns.”

Which meant her sister-in-law needed a partner in crime for a girls’ night out. “Okay.”

“Designer’s a Jamie Sawyer…”

The name sounded familiar and Leah let it play over and over in her mind.

Sawyer. Jamie…jewelry designer…Sawyer.

And then she had it.

The conversation at Liam’s party, where she stood and laughed with Sarah. “She was at the party I went to with Samuel.”

Jamie would know how to fix this; if nothing else, she was friendly with the group.

“That’s good,” Shayna said. “Even better idea to come to the showing.”

And as she ended the call with her sister-in-law, Leah felt excited and energized for the first time in days. She was going to figure this whole mess out.

Somehow.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Bryce Emerson waseasy to work with; Samuel knew that pretty well. Not only as an artistic collaborator, but now as a speaker.

As they headed into the JCC, Bryce turned toward him. “You ready for this?”

Samuel nodded. “Yep. Just like we discussed. Which I’m glad we did.”

“It was a good idea,” Bryce said. “Good to outline…” And then he paused, making Samuel wonder what was going on. “Asher, Good to see you.”

Samuel turned to meet Judith Nachman’s fiancé for the first time; he knew about the man from the information and the photos he was using to make the ketubah but had never actually seen him in person.

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