Page 78 of The Dreidl Disaster

Fascinating.

Apparently Artur had put his money on the wrong man. Either way, he would get a kick out of this one.

She couldn’t wait to tell him.

*

On the driveto Manhattan, Artur had gotten a call from Emily Gould-Smythe. “Just a heads-up,” she said. “I’m hearing the sculpture is not holding for whatever reason. Which means it actually might not survive transport. And yes, our consultant has spoken to the sculptor about the power of fastening agents, but he is not listening. Which means you’re going to have to fix this.”

Artur nodded, thoughts running through his head.

The problem needed to be fixed from the bottom up.

“I’m going to have to get a consultant of my own on site immediately,” he said. “As well as find a facility big enough to hold both the sculpture and the tools my consultant’s going to need to pull everything together.”

“Good. I like the fact you have a good bead on the situation. And remember.”

Emily’s warning didn’t have to be articulated. This was becoming a larger problem, and he was coming up against that NDA.

Which meant he was going to have to find a solution for that…as well as the dreidl.

But would Liv understand? Could he create a situation where the fragile trust they’d started to create would survive an NDA?

And that afternoon, when he listened to Liv as she talked about how important the event was going to be, as she told him how the political eyes were going to be on her as she moved from Briarwood Mayor to County Legislator representing a larger district, he hoped he could.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dinner at Abe’shad basically been a briefing/planning meeting for the kickoff party; he had been testing out recipes and Liv ate waaaay too much. Artur’s friends were a hoot up close; she knew how lucky he was to have them. It was also fun to realize that both Ash and Samuel had spilled the beans about the relationship to her aunt and had both taken responsibility in different ways.

Naomi had done makeup for Liv, Leah, and Judith. In the dress she’d bought for the night, Liv felt like a queen.

And the party itself was gorgeous. The kids from the mentorship program mixed with members from the chamber of commerce, the temple sisterhood and the Empires; there were best-selling authors, sports agents, artists and heads of huge charity funds as well as members of the county legislature.

Liv was in her element.

And the auction was the hit of the night.

“And if you like these,” Sarah, the Hanukkah planner, who had been convinced to act as auctioneer, yelled, “you’re going to love the sculpture when it arrives this week.”

As Liv stood and watched the festivities, finding pride in how much the auction was raising for the program, a few of her new colleagues in the county legislature came up to join her.

“I cannot wait to see the sculpture,” said her new colleague who represented the district that included Hollowville. “I love seeing other communities celebrate their Jewish populations.”

“The sports team angle is fascinating too,” said the new colleague who represented a district that included Rivertown. “I love seeing local teams involve themselves in village events.”

The caucus leader said, “And I am looking forward to chatting further with you. I’m really enjoying the way you see issues.”

Liv felt like she was flying. “Thank you,” she said.

“I’m absolutely looking forward to the impact you’re going to make on county policy,” Artur had said as they headed out to the car at the end of the evening.

And, she decided, she was looking forward to seeing the impact that he was going to make on her. As it was, with Artur by her side, she’d felt stronger, more confident. If she had to put a finger on why, she’d say that because he was so uniquely himself, she felt comfortable being herself.

And she couldn’t wait to see what they would become together.

*

After he droppedLiv off, Artur paced his bedroom in Abe’s place. He needed to find a location where he could get the sculpture fixed safely and carefully. He’d been putting this off for way too long and he needed to get started.

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