Page 70 of The Dreidl Disaster

“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.

Chapter Twenty-Three

For Artur, thingswere getting what he considered…tangible.

The cycle of events were getting clearer, on schedules and timelines starting in two weeks. And as for his life? He was going to Liv’s parents for Shabbat dinner the next Friday, after she came to Abe’s on Tuesday.

Which meant he was making plans and ideas and wondering about going to go visit the garage. His car needed cleaning and this was about the only time he was going to have. Abe had grinned at him when he mentioned it.

But not just a normal grin; the ‘there’s something you’re missing’ grin. “Spill it,” he said.

Amidst breakfast dishes and coffee cups, Abe made his proclamation. “You know, you should really think about taking her for a drive.”

He gasped, almost dropping his coffee mug.

“I mean seriously,” his best friend pointed out. “If this woman matters to you, then you’re going to have to eventually tell her about your car and maybe let her inside.”

“But I…never.”

“Never doesn’t matter when you’ve got someone like her. Remember. This isn’t something I care too much about, but you do. And she will.”

“Why would she care?”

“Because she cares about you, you ridiculous pinochle,” said Batya from the other room as she came to join them. “I care about his smoking and his sauces. She’ll care about your car and taking a drive with you.”

Looking from Abe to Batya reminded him that they might know something about relationships and how important it was to build strong foundations with truth and not secrets.

“Okay,” he said. “You’re right. I’ll call her.”

In an hour he was in front of her house, glad she was free on this Saturday morning. “You ready?”

She nodded. “I am.”

Of course, there was traffic. “We’re driving to the city to go for a drive?”

He nodded. “I have…another car,” he said. “This is…my usual day-to-day car. The car we’re going to take a drive in is…my stress relief. It’s… I’ve always been interested in cars as a hobby. Driving, going places. For whatever reason.”

“Okay?”

“Anyway,” he continued, “when they sold the Rivertown house, my parents gave me part of the money because of a birthday or whatever. Something. I got this one…the one that’s waiting for us, I mean, when I got back to the States after the project I was doing.”

She nodded, sat back against the seat as if she was going to analyze what he’d said and make it part of her own thoughts. “Okay,” she said finally, making him nervous.

When they finally pulled into the owner spot in the climate-controlled garage, next to the vehicle under cover, his heart got stuck in his throat.

“You ready?” she asked.

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