Page 87 of The Dreidl Disaster

Emily nodded and beckoned over one of the player reps who’d lit the candles. “Artur Rabinovitch, this is Carly Emerson. Our backup goaltender for this coming season.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said.

And as they continued to talk, all Artur could think about was how excited he was to tell Liv.

*

After the dreidlwas unveiled and the candles were lit, Liv found herself in the middle of many conversations, but none of them the one she really wanted to have.

With Artur.

As she finished up her business and headed toward the food vendor section, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“If you’re indulging yourself, I’d like some, too.”

She turned around and met his eyes with hers. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

From the expression on his face, it felt like his words had intertwined with hers. “Can I go first?”

He nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I will always listen to you no matter what you need to say.”

“I’m sorry for presuming. I’m sorry for not listening to you and taking the fact you couldn’t tell me what was going on personally, and I’m sorry for not understanding,” she managed.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give you the right words…”

She looked up at him. “I’m intrigued, but you have to explain.”

“I should have let you know that in my line of work, there are things that might sometimes be hidden behind NDAs or orders not to tell people things.”

She nodded. “In the future you’ll tell me that there are things you may not be able to tell me?”

He nodded. “Not disclosing that piece of information to you was my biggest mistake and I’m sorry.”

The benefits of time and waiting. “But you did trust me enough to get me the information that I needed to know, and I very much appreciate that.”

“I appreciate that you didn’t tell anybody other than me this,” he said with a laugh.

“But seriously,” she continued. “I won’t ask you to break NDAs with anybody and I won’t even consider the information necessary for me to know…but…”

“Yes,” he said, answering her unfinished question. “I will let you know, always, when there is an NDA, or any facsimile involved.”

“Good.” She didn’t kiss him yet, because she knew if she did the conversation would be over, and she didn’t want it to end. “I’m counting on that. And you.”

“Very, very glad to hear it.”

“Also,” she asked, “did you finish the conversation with the woman you were talking to? I vaguely recognized her name from something, but I wasn’t sure.”

“That was my contact within the organization for this job,” he said. Which she should have remembered because she’d been introduced to Emily Gould-Smythe earlier that day. “And yes, I finished the conversation.”

“So…if it’s not private or confidential information,” she continued, resting her arms on his shoulders. “What happened?”

“Well,” he said, “I’m going to be working with the team to help one of your cousin’s clients. Going in-house.”

She looked up at him. “Really?”

He nodded.

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