The Goy Next Door (Girl Meets Goy #2)

Chapter 19 Flourless lunch

“We’re having a girls’ lunch to celebrate,” were Savannah’s first words to Leah after “good morning.” The statement came before more customary morning conversation regarding coffee and how good of a night’s sleep it was.

But, it made sense because it was barely morning by the time Leah headed downstairs to the kitchen. With a slight headache from the wine, Leah had stayed in bed as long as possible that morning until she decided that she absolutely needed coffee and couldn’t justify another hour in bed.

“There isn’t a lot of time, so you should get showered,” Savannah continued. “Asher’s mother invited us over at 1:00 pm.”

Leah nodded and made herself a cup of coffee from the Keurig machine. When the cup was filled, she poured in some milk and took a sip. “What is this?” she blurted out, almost spitting the coffee from her mouth. She opened the Keurig to see the pod: Island Coconut, it said on top. “What the hell is Island Coconut coffee? It’s disgusting! And why are you buying this?” She dumped the coffee in the sink and went back to find a different pod.

“We buy the assortment of flavors,” her dad responded. “It makes things interesting.”

“You woke in a bad mood today!” Savannah exclaimed. “Let’s try to turn that around before lunch.”

“I’m not in a bad mood! I just want a normal coffee,” Leah exclaimed as she slipped another pod, this one labeled French Vanilla, into the machine.

“Usually, Mom’s the one with heightened holiday emotions,” Shira said walking in the kitchen still in her pajamas. “Hey, good job, Mom! You got through yesterday without any breakdowns!”

“You’re only saying that because you missed her morning breakdown!” Leah retorted.

“I did? Really? Damn!” Shira laughed. “What happened this time? Were you breathing too loudly? Or did you insult her uncooked brisket?”

“Girls!” their father cut in. “That’s enough.”

“I did not have a breakdown yesterday!” Savannah stood up from her spot at the table and brought a coffee mug to the sink. “You girls just don’t understand. The holidays are important! And it’s my job to make sure they are! To make them special, so instead of making fun of me and the stress that causes, you could just be nice, supportive daughters! Leah, be ready to go for lunch in an hour!”

Savannah left the kitchen and Shira made herself a coffee. Their father finished his coffee and left the girls alone together.

“What’s going on?” Shira asked quietly. “Are you upset about something?”

“Me? Upset? Why would I be upset? I’m just tired and a little hungover and now I get to go have lunch with Mom and my future mother-in-law.” Leah didn’t know why she felt irritable that morning. It must have been the Island Coconut coffee. What kind of sadist invented that flavor and threw it in a box full of caramels, vanillas, hazelnuts, and donut shop classics?

“Are you contracting Mom’s holiday emotional drama?” Shira asked.

“What is up with that any way?”

“Bubbe once told me that Mom missed her dad’s last year of holidays,” Shira responded. “You remember her dad died when she was right out of college? Apparently, she didn’t spend any of the holidays with her parents that year and then her dad died.”

“That’s why she’s so emotional on holidays?” Leah asked, sipping her French Vanilla coffee. Vanilla, a flavor that was meant for coffee.

Shira shrugged. “Maybe it’s connected.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me that before?” Leah asked.

“I guess it didn’t seem important,” Shira said. “Bubbe just mentioned once in passing.”

The girls sat quietly drinking their coffees.

“Why didn’t she go home for the holidays that year?” Leah then asked. “Wasn’t she living nearby?”

Shira shrugged again. “I don’t know, I never asked Bubbe. I didn’t really think it was a big thing.”

Leah finished her coffee and left her mug in the sink. She then showered, put on a nice dress, and applied her makeup. She looked nice and classy, although still a little tired from the night before. At least her headache was gone after the coffee.

She met her mother by the garage and followed her into the car to drive to Asher’s house. They couldn’t go to a restaurant seeing as it was Passover and absolutely nothing at any restaurant fit the strict standards of kosher for Passover, meaning no bread, no grains, no corn syrup! So Asher’s mother, Michelle, invited them for lunch, promising the boys would be out golfing or something like that. It wasn’t a long drive, but there was enough time for a noticeable silence.

“Why didn’t you go home for the holidays the year after you finished college? The year that your dad died?” Leah just came out and asked the question that had been on her mind. “Is that why you are always so emotional about holidays?”

Leah watched her mom driving. Savannah kept her eyes straight on the road, but she pursed her lips gently. “I had a fight with my parents and so that’s why I didn’t celebrate any holidays with them that year,” she said. “And yes, it’s one of my biggest regrets that I missed those times with my parents. They always made the holidays special.”

Leah wanted to ask what the fight was about, but the drive was too short and before she could get the words out, they were pulling up to the driveway that Leah knew so well. She had spent countless days and evenings at Asher’s house. She felt at home there, knew where all the cups and plates were in the kitchen, and recognized if Michelle had changed something with the flowers outside or the towels in the bathrooms.

The flowers had changed slightly, Leah noticed when getting out of the car. Where once lay tiny purple flowers were larger pink ones. The small garden gnome who had always kept watch was still there guarding the flowers and greeting visitors.

Savannah carried a platter of Passover brownies and rang the doorbell. Michelle answered instantly, welcoming her guests inside.

“Make yourselves at home,” she offered and motioned to a pitcher of lemonade and cups on the counter. There were fresh flowers in vases around the room, something Leah wasn’t used to and she wondered if they were bought for this very specific occasion. “Leah, I hope you’ve always felt at home here!”

Leah nodded to assure Michelle that she did, even during the awkward teenage years of sneaking around the parents.

“We have so much planning to do!” Savannah started the conversation. “Leah, you’ll have to tell us everything you want and it will be our jobs to make it happen!”

“Have you and Asher discussed when you might like to get married?” Michelle asked. “We need plenty of time to plan, and since you’re both so young, there really isn’t a reason to rush. Maybe next spring?”

“Spring would be beautiful! If we do it late enough it could be outdoors, but not too late that there is a chance it will be too hot.” Savannah contributed.

“No one wants to be at an outdoor wedding in poor weather!” Michelle agreed.

The mothers ping ponged different ideas back and forth while Leah nodded and swayed her head at the different thoughts they had. An indoor wedding at a hotel? A country club? A place with an indoor and outdoor option that could be chosen last minute depending on weather? How many guests? That would influence which venues were even an option! And price! Don’t worry about price! You only get married once! Well, you will only get married once, because you’re marrying a good person (with a good family, and we all know what that means).

Michelle served a frittata and rolls made of potato flour, which made them kosher for Passover in some strange way Leah never understood. Why was flour not allowed on Passover? If the explanation for matzah was that the Jewish people did not have enough time for their bread to rise while they fled from Egypt, that meant they had eaten flour, just not risen flour. So shouldn’t the rule be that you can eat flour but not flour that has risen?

Instead, people come up with all different ways to make alternative breads without flour, even breads that puff up in the oven thanks to violently beating eggs or other make-shift ingredients that can create fluffy bread from strange alternatives like potatoes.

Leah nibbled at the potato bread and tried to think hard about the questions they kept asking her. She didn’t know if she wanted a cream or white dress, or what type of color scheme she’d be going for. It was all just too much too fast and her head was spinning. Maybe the hangover wasn’t fully gone yet.

When lunch was over, the mothers hugged and kissed and then hugged and kissed Leah and both commented about how lucky they all were and how this lunch was the first of many for years to come.

Leah followed her mother back to the car, but her head hurt too badly for her to continue the conversation from the drive over.