Robert and Mindy looked at each other in shocked silence.
“Moving your family here includes moving your boat,” I said with a grin.
“You don’t even know me,”
I asked, “Robert, are you wanted by the police?”
Mindy laughed and answered, “Not in this state.”
Everyone laughed and an ecstatic Robert said, “Let’s talk. Let’s talk.”
An hour later there were handshakes all around and the Cohen parents started planning a move to the Seattle area.
After lunch on Friday afternoon, the families decided to go for a walk in a park along the lake. Ari, David, and Ethan walked together following the other parents, while Megan and Sheryl followed a distance behind with Leah and Joan, and I brought up the rear.
“We wanted to ask you about something,” Sheryl asked Leah.
“For now, holding hands and hugging is enough,” Leah told them.
“How did you know we wanted to ask that?” asked Megan.
“Because I was twelve once too, and I see the four of you look at each other like Ari and I did at your age.”
“If you don’t mind telling us, when was the first time that you and Ari kissed?”
Leah glanced back at me, to see if we could overhear their conversation. I simply wore a neutral expression and melted into the background.
Leah blushed a little, but smiled and turned back to the twins. “We were sailing on the Ensign the week of Ari’s Bar Mitzvah when Ari kissed me the first time. I’ll never forget it.”
“Really?” the twins asked.
“Yes, really. But beyond that, we waited. It was the right thing to do. For you too. Why did you ask?”
Megan began, “Last summer at camp, David hugged me a few times and it was nice, but when he hugged me when we arrived this time, my body kind of reacted in a different way. What was weird, though, is when Ethan hugged me it was more like hugging my dad.”
Sheryl added, “Same thing happened for me. When David embraced me, it was nice but when Ethan held me—well, it was much better.”
“Look, here’s why it’s best to wait, you two are still young, and you don’t know what the future holds. For example, Samantha spent her whole young life thinking that her cousin, Nathan, was going to be her life partner. When she was eighteen, she found out he didn’t feel the same, and it was nearly another six years before she met Moshe. It may be awhile before you know.”
“But how will we know?” Sheryl asked.
“You’ll know in a thousand different ways—but mostly in your heart. For instance, it doesn’t matter what Ari and I are doing, we’re happy as long as we’re together. Sometimes I think I know we’re partners because of how we get along when life is hard—like when my sister, Marsha, died. I was an emotional train wreck.”
Joan squeezed my hand a little tighter when Leah started talking about that tragic time.
“Right after,” Leah continued, “our families thought I should move up here from Florida for a summer, to help Ari get our ForJonathan business off the ground. Ari was a rock for me. Sometimes I was so depressed I couldn’t do my share of the work, but he never complained. Instead he did my work as well as his own. The first few weeks living up here, I didn’t want to get out of bed, but I knew Ari would be waiting for me, so I did. By the end of summer I was almost back to my usual self. I mean, I’ll always feel a loss when I think about Marsha, but Ari’s support really helped me get over the hardest part, and I intend to spend the rest of my life paying him back.”
The three of them walked in silence for a few minutes then Leah continued, “Did you know that Ari doesn’t like sailing?”
The twins looked at each other in amazement.
“That’s right. He would give it up tomorrow without a second thought. Watch his face when we go out sailing again. He’ll be watching me enjoy something I love. See Joan and Meyer holding hands back there?"
They all turned back to look, so I pulled Joan in closer and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Leah smiled. “Joan loves to paint. Meyer has no interest in painting—but if you go to Joan’s studio, you’ll see a lounge chair with a table and lamp next to it. On the table will be whatever book Meyer is reading. It’s there because he gets a kick out of watching her paint, he wants to be in the same room with her when she’s doing what she likes.”
“Did you see how David and Ethan worked the soil in the flower beds for us?” Megan said to Leah. “All we had to do was wait until it was ready. Then we placed the plants where we wanted them. The boys even strung out hoses and watered them for us.”
Sheryl added, “And I was yelled at when I tried to move the two forty-pound bags of potting soil. I was mad at first, but then I realized they were watching out for me—protecting me. I love that feeling.”
“I’ll tell you a story about Ari’s great-great-grandfather,” Leah said. “He was a retired blacksmith whose wife died many years before and his best friend was a retired doctor. They shared a passion for peach, nectarine, and apple trees. They loved to be outside working in their orchard. Many days, the doctor’s wife, Rose, would have one of the men take a chair to the orchard where they would be working. She would sit and knit, and watch them. Ari’s Great-Grandmother Esther told me once, ‘Rose so loved to see those two old men, working together and debating about how best to take care of those trees, she used to pray there were orchards in the afterlife for them to work on—because that was truly heaven for them.’ Heaven for Rose was getting joy from what her dear husband was doing.”
“That sounds nice,” Megan said. “That’s what I want.”
“Well, it takes work to keep your relationship growing. I can only tell you what works for Ari and me. You’ll have to discover on your own what works for you.”
“Like what?” Megan asked.
“Like if Ari and I have a disagreement, we agree to disagree. Meyer and Joan try never to go to bed angry. My dad and mom go for a half day cruise on their antique boat every month, just to make sure they take some time for their relationship. It’s not always easy to find time, but they think it’s important, so they make time at least once a month.”
Up ahead David and Ethan began jumping up and down and looking back at Sheryl and Megan. David yelled out, “The Comedy Craft lives.”
“I think Ari may have told David and Ethan we just purchased a new sailboat. Our new boat is forty feet long and good for overnight cruises. Meyer was thinking of selling the Ensign, but Ari told him he should offer to sell it to the four of you. I think David was telling you what he thinks the name of the boat should be.”
Sheryl screamed at the boys, “Yes, the Comedy Craft lives.”
Ari and the boys stopped and waited for Leah and the girls to catch up to them as Megan asked Leah, “How will we pay for it?”
“Ari and Leah are going to be great parents someday,” Joan said.
“I do believe you’re right,” I agreed and smiled as Leah explained my plans for the twins.
“Meyer says the Ensign needs to be hauled out of the water and she needs lots of maintenance. He and Ari will teach you how to do the work. I assure you, the four of you will be busy for many days this summer working on renewing that little boat. Plus, his gardener, Javier, took a new job so lots of gardening will be needed this year.”
Ari warned them, “This is not all fun and games, guys and girls. There will be house rules about where and when the four of you can get together. If you don’t follow them you’ll be separated, lose the Ensign, and be prevented from seeing each other for a long time. When Leah came up here after her sister’s death, we were told that if we didn’t follow the house rules, we wouldn’t be allowed to see each other until we were eighteen!”
The four twins looked at each other with serious expressions, which gradually morphed into four smiling faces.
“We can do this,” said Ethan.
“It will test your togetherness” Leah added. “Some days you’ll be tired and sore and n
ot feeling like interacting with each other. The four of you will have to work at keeping up a good relationship even on days when you don’t feel like it. That’s the hard work I mentioned before.”
“But if we’re really meant to be together,” Ethan said, “it will be worth the effort.”
Megan and Sheryl looked at each other with huge smiles.
“Yes, I promise it will be worth the effort,” Ari told them smiling at Leah. “Nothing in life is certain, but please notice God didn’t just get you together at camp last summer. He brought you together again this week, and it looks like you may be able to spend even more time together. He’s giving you a chance to keep your friendship growing, but it’s up to the four of you to do it.”
Sheryl wanted to know if Ari and Leah would be around during the summer, to help them if they had problems getting along. “Sometimes it’s hard to talk to parents about this kind of thing.”
“Of course,” Leah told them, “We will make sure that the six of us to get together for Sabbath every week at Ari’s and my place. If not at our place, then we will arrange to meet afterwards to talk about how our week went. If anything comes up, we’ll talk about it together, or privately, as you wish.”
It looked like Megan had tears forming in her eyes as she asked Ari and Leah, “Why are you doing all this for us?”
Leah laughed and said, “Because Meyer and Joan, my parents, Great-Grandma Esther, and Ari’s sister Samantha did the same thing for us.”
Ari explained, “It’s our duty because other people did that for us. When you have the time, ask Ethan and David about why their mother Michelle, to this day, refers to my dad as her big brother. And you know how Jonah loves that red car. Well, my dad has already promised him he will be in front of their new home at Seven o’clock every Sunday morning this summer to take him out for breakfast in the red car. Sure, Jonah is excited about the car, but think about what Dad is doing. He’s building a relationship with Jonah so years from now, when Jonah has problems he doesn’t want to tell his parents about—who will he talk to? It will be easy to talk to my dad. When Leah and I were seven years old, we were at an amusement park in Florida. My sister Samantha took time out of her vacation to take us on all the little kid rides we wanted to go on. Samantha was the first one in the family to treat us like a couple. She made sure we talked and acted respectfully toward each other, even at seven years of age.”
“You guys did the same for David and me when we were that age,” Ethan reminded Ari and Leah.
“And someday you’ll do that for someone else and that’s how you’ll thank us,” Leah said.
Ari and Leah were thanking Joan and I, by showing what they had learned from us throughout their lives.
As we all started up the path to head back to the house, Ari and Leah were holding hands. I held my beloved Joan’s hand just a little tighter, thinking Grandma Esther and her beloved Manny were smiling at us.
What goes around really does come around—it’s true. The example that Manny and Esther set for their children trickled all the way down to what Ari and Leah were now doing for the twins.
Joan leaned into me and pulled me closer, as Ethan held out his hand to Sheryl and David held out his to Megan. It looked like, maybe for the first time in their young relationship, the two couples were walking hand in hand. Their young minds would be filled with the joy of knowing they would be spending the summer together, working together.
Just then, breaking into my pondering, Ethan yelled ahead to Ari and Leah, “Hey. What are you going to name your new sailboat?”
I could see Ari and Leah smile at each other as they shouted back to the twins, “Bashert, of course.”
~~~ The End ~~~
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ALSO BY ALLY RICHARDS
Have you read them all?
Additional detailed blurbs and purchasing information available on Amazon.com
Finding a Soul Mate
When a Vietnam vet and a single mom reconnect, can they form happiness from hardship? If you like family sagas, quests for connection, and the strength of the human spirit, then you’ll love Ally Richards’ heartwarming novel. Finding a Soul Mate is the first book in the Meant to Be Together series of contemporary romances.
The Couples
When opposites attract, will their differences ruin their chance at true love? If you like the serendipity of life, poignantly intertwined characters, and explorations of the human heart, then you’ll love Ally Richards’ compelling family saga.
Finding Each Other
A father’s legacy. A son’s burden. Is keeping a promise worth endangering the woman he loves? If you like risky romances, page-turning dramas, and determined characters, then you’ll love Ally Richards’ generational saga.
Growing Together
She’s running to safety. He’s running from loss. Will their love overcome their fear? If you like relatable characters, emotional sagas, and enduring family connections, then you’ll love Ally Richards’ heartfelt finale.
MEANT TO BE TOGETHER Complete Series
All Four Fantastic Novels!
1095 Pages of Enjoyable Escape into the World of New/Young Adult Contemporary Romance
First Chapters of Book 2, The Couples
Chapter One ~ Anna Cardozo
MRS. HEATHER DRUMMED her fingers on the counter. She was still on hold waiting to talk to her insurance company after forty-five aggravating minutes. It was a gorgeous morning with an azure-blue cloudless sky and bright yellow sunshine. This was a typical March day in southern New Mexico.
Through the window, she eyed her front yard where she had placed her artists’ crayon pastel pencils on a small card table and had set up an easel. Today she would attempt recreating the marvelous view she enjoyed from her home in the Organ Mountains.
When the call finally ended, she noticed a little girl standing on the sidewalk that led to her front door. It was five-year-old Anna Cardozo, the daughter of the restaurant owners up the street.
Anna was standing barefoot, looking down at the sidewalk with her head tilted to the side, as if she were studying something. She was wearing a cream-colored shift that came down almost to her ankles with a matching wide-brimmed hat. Both were wrapped neatly with a bright pink sash. Her lovely auburn hair tumbled out from under the hat.
Anna got down on her hands and knees, and much to Mrs. Heather’s horror, she realized that Anna had taken her expensive artists’ crayons and was drawing on her concrete walkway.
As she hurried outside, her thoughts were focused on how difficult it would be to get that stuff off the walk. Mrs. Heather scurried out. “Anna, stop that.”
Startled, Anna quickly stood up. She looked like she was entertaining the thought of running away, but with the crayons still in her hands there was no denying what she had done.
Mrs. Heather ran up to her. “Anna, it will be impossible—it will take—those are very expensive.”
Mrs. Heather was taken aback at what she saw there on the pavement. “Oh, my word. Anna, that’s marvelous.”
She became speechless as she regarded Anna’s drawing. It was notebook-page sized, with a deep blue, almost black, background. Anna had created what looked like a night sky with the outline of a leafless tree in the lower-left corner.
After a few moments’ pause to take in Anna’s drawing, she asked, “What are you drawing, Anna?”
“My bedroom window.” “Is that what it looks like?”
In a quiet mouse of a voice Anna told her, “I had to get up to pee after I went to bed and this is what my window looked like.”
Mrs. Heather was shocked at the accurate view of the night sky. She even recognized some constellations. “Anna, I love to have company when I’m drawing. I could se
t up a portable easel on the table over there and we could draw together. Would you like to do that?”
“Sure!” Anna jumped up and down with enthusiasm.
So, Mrs. Heather brought out more art supplies and a tall glass of lemonade for each of them. Anna seemed to love the attention, not to mention an opportunity to draw another picture.
The little easel was parallel to Mrs. Heather so she really couldn’t see what Anna was drawing, but as Mrs. Heather talked, she kept pointing out the different textures in the distant mountains and how the sun created shadows across the landscape.
Anna seemed to keep pace with the running account of the mountains that, she too, was so familiar with. Every now and then she giggled for no apparent reason.
After a conversation-filled thirty-minutes, Anna said in a laugh-filled voice, “Oh no, another one is running away.”
“What’s running away, dear?”
Anna’s cheery voice replied, “Another tiny drop.”
Mrs. Heather was confused, so she positioned herself to be able to see Anna’s drawing. She had expected something good after seeing Anna’s sidewalk drawing, but still she gasped. “Anna, you have an amazing amount of artistic ability.”
There on the small canvas, Anna had drawn a picture of her glass of lemonade. She had included the sweating moisture on the outside of the glass, and the ice cubes with the sun sparkling in some of them. She even drew the droplets running down the side of the glass, leaving a trail in the frost.
Anna had indeed portrayed the mountains, with a few strokes of color, behind the lemonade. Mrs. Heather could see the distorted view of them depicted through the glass.
“Lemonade needs a lemon,” Anna said, giggling again. Then with only a handful of color-filled strokes, a slice of lemon appeared, perched on the edge of the glass.
“Anna, that’s beautiful. That looks so real I can almost taste the lemonade and feel the wet glass.”
Finding a Soul Mate (Meant to be Together Book 1) Page 21