Page 49 of The Dreidl Disaster

One of them.

The elevator doors opened, only to reveal Liv standing there, just by the elevator. Gorgeous. He wanted to thread his fingers through her hair. He settled for a smile.

“You ready?” Liv asked as he walked into the antechamber just outside the elevator.

He shrugged. “For most things,” he replied. “Not sure what this is going to be.” Which was true, considering he had a feeling who was going to show up for the second half.

She laughed. That laugh was going to be the death of him.

“Let’s do this,” she said as she opened the door to the offices.

“You guys ready?” said a familiar voice. Well. Not that familiar.

Artur had seen Ash Mendel during his playing days, and had been out of the country when Ash retired. But the touch of gray in the man’s hair and the slight softening of the shoulders were the only real changes he could spot.

“Nice to see you,” he said.

“Nice to see you too, Artur. Liv?”

“Hey, Ash,” Liv said with a grin. “Shall we sit down?”

They headed across the office to a conference room, and Ash took out a bunch of papers and passed them over.

He skimmed the agenda, and the background information on the local mentorship program.

“This is for part two,” Asher said as Artur looked up. “My co-founder will show up for the second part and this agenda.”

Artur smiled; based on the tight format of the agenda and the bits of information it had, he had a strong suspicion who the co-founder was.

And most likely, he was a mutual friend.

“First part,” Asher continued. “I see you’ve got some kind of schedule settled?”

“We have a preliminary, two of them actually, that we’re looking at.” Liv in full mayor mode replied before passing the pages they’d prepared after meeting with Sarah to Ash.

“And I see a few places the JHPA can play along,” Ash replied, still clearly focusing on the papers. “The winter sports expo if the high school goes through with it, and some of the players can work with the youth group.”

But he could see the sparks flying in Liv’s eyes, the words on their way out.

“What about the blessings?” Liv asked. “I mean maybe some of the players can come and light candles with the town some of the nights?”

Artur watched the dynamic between them, prepping to step in before Asher nodded. “I like this idea. A lot. I think, depending on schedules, it’s important to have some of the players on site, celebrating the holiday even as this is an event co-sponsored by the Empires.”

Which was a cue if he’d ever seen one, but at the same time he was going to show his support for an idea and person he agreed with, cue or no cue. “I can see what I can do on that end,” he said. “A gentle push about diversity and holidays and the meaning behind what this is.”

“Good,” Asher said. Was there relief in his voice? “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Not a problem,” he said. “Anything else you want to cover before…”

There was a squeak of a door hinge, and then footsteps.

Very familiar footsteps.

“Ash, Mayor…poker this week?”

He laughed, and if he’d seen people stunned before, he couldn’t be even more surprised at the expressions on both Liv and Asher’s faces.

“I think I might be able to,” Artur managed, knowing the completely indirect invitation was, in fact, for him. “But not sure.”

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