Page 57 of The Dreidl Disaster

What? Was he spying on behalf of the chamber of commerce? Of Asher? Or…

But instead of acting like this was out of the ordinary, Naomi grinned in his direction.

“We ready?” he asked as he rolled down the window. “And this is a protection mission,” he continued. “We don’t truck with certain members of the chamber. I’ve got too many contacts to deal with that. So. You’re safe.”

Naomi blinked and shook her head, as if none of what Jason said had made sense. But more importantly, Liv did understand.

“I guess we are,” Liv said.

Liv got into the back seat of the car behind Naomi, who was in the front seat babbling at Jason in an extremely familiar manner that was puzzling in a way Liv couldn’t not notice; she was aware that something interesting was going on between the two of them.

At some point, she’d ask Judith if she’d seen any of this…growing relationship between Jason and Naomi, but if she had to guess, the person who would know would be Leah.

Leah, who Naomi actually confided in.

But for now, the order of the day was pondering how this whole party was going to go. Meeting Artur’s friends, navigating complicated webs of people. As they pulled her and Artur together, it worried her that they pulled them apart.

Chapter Eighteen

After a goodconversation with Abe, at about six thirty, it was determined that the time had arrived for the show to begin. All of the setup crew from the quiz bowl team had arrived, including Sapna who’d dropped off her and Leo’s daughter at a friend’s house for the night.

Now, the stage was set.

Sapna was pouring drinks to keep herself from the snack table that Batya was manning, Claire was preparing the dessert table, with her girlfriend Natalie in tow. Which meant he and Leo were sent to the front. Their job was to direct the arriving cars toward good spots. They wore safety vests with fluorescent strips and carried flashlights.

So far, it had gone well—there were open parking spaces along the street and the neighbors had been notified; some of them had offered either driveway space or space in front of their houses in exchange for some food.

Which was a price that Abe had been very willing to pay.

By 7 p.m., the first bunch of guests had arrived; Sarah and Isaac as well as Jacob and Anna went to the back, trying to help in some way. Tony Liu, an attorney who worked with Jacob and his wife Charlotte, a chef, restaurateur and baker who got to know Batya and Abe through the Latke Fry-off, were also there. If he had to guess, Charlotte was probably trying to help with, if not take over, the dessert table.

“It’s not work,” Charlotte had said as she carried the cake she’d been asked for.

But in the back of his mind, Artur inventoried cars and guests; a partner from Abe’s old accounting firm even showed up.

And yet Liv still wasn’t there.

Until, that was, an unfamiliar gray SUV arrived, the driver following Leo’s flashlight toward a space down the street.

“Must be her,” he thought to himself.

“Did you not complain about house duty because you were waiting for someone to show up?” Leo, who had returned to their post after directing the car, decided to respond to something Artur hadn’t actually said out loud.

But with his luck he’d actually managed to say it out loud, which meant he had to own it. “What if it was?”

Leo shook his head. “You ridiculous buffoon,” he said, an inch away of rubbing his head. “And you know thatifI don’t say it, someone else will.”

“Yes,” Artur replied. “I’m well aware that you’re not the only person willing to discuss my frailties and foibles.”

“Good.” Leo clapped his shoulder, punctuating the statement. “You deserve to be discussed and analyzed in all ways and forms. Because it’s important for your existence and morality.”

Artur shook his head. “Of course it is.” Because that was the sort of interrogation that came with friends who mattered. Who cared about him, and who he cared about in return. He’d kept them both in line over the years; he knew they’d do the same and didn’t expect any less.

And when Liv walked up the driveway behind a couple, he found himself shoving his hands in his pockets, not from the cold, but from the want of something to do with his fingers.

“Go get the girl you’ve been waiting for,” Leo said, jabbing him in the back like they were in fifth grade, trying to do something ridiculous.

The other part of having friends like Leo was they understood your language—spoken and unspoken, which is why he didn’t smack him like they were ten when Leo said to go find…her.

---