ENDING OF PREVIOUS POST:

"The way I see it you'd still be a Jewish mom. Your children would still be Jewish. I can't imagine Drew not wanting any children. He'll probably want a houseful."

"But would he want them brought up in the Jewish faith?"

"That would be a question for Drew. I can't answer for him. But if it were me, I'd have no problem with them being exposed to the Jewish faith, but I'd also want them to be exposed to Christianity. I guess they could go to the synagogue on Saturday and church on Sunday. I'd honor their choice when they were adults." Jeff's stomach growled. He put his hand on it. "Sorry."

"I've kept you from lunch too long."

"Little lady, you can take all of my time you need. I just hope I've helped."

Shana leaned over and hugged him. "Thank you. You've given me a different way to think about things."

Jeff hugged her back and teased, "Drew just might kick my butt for hugging his gal."

Shana smiled. "I doubt it. I'm not his gal." When he raised his eyebrows, she said, "Let's just go to lunch."

TODAY'S POST:

Chapter 34 part 1

Late Friday afternoon, Shana walked into the den, holding a notepad, and both dogs followed. Drew and Jeff glanced up from a stack of files. The dogs sat when Shana stopped.

Jeff stood. "I'll leave you two alone."

Shana touched Jeff's arm. "Please don't leave. Your input is probably needed." She sat in the chair Anderson offered, before she continued, "I'm ready to order furniture and I need to know what the plan is for delivery. I'll need the painters in before the furniture's delivered. I'm sure with the security issues all of this is going to cause problems."

Anderson and Jeff looked at each other, before Anderson answered, "Those are really good questions. I hadn't thought of that. Jeff, how about you?"

Jeff ran his hand through his short hair. "I haven't considered it, either, but you're right. It could present a problem." He glanced at his buddy. "Why haven't I thought about this?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Anderson grinned. "I don't know. I guess our brains have taken vacations."

Both men laughed, as Anderson said, "Can you give us a few minutes to figure it out?"

"I'm sure you have more pressing decisions to make, so how about..." Shana glanced at her watch, "thirty minutes. No, I'll give you an hour." As both men's eyes widened, she stood and smiled. "I'm teasing. I've always wanted to know what it felt like to be important. Take as long as you need. I'll leave you to your work."

Anderson followed her from the room. "Sweetheart, you're always important. You and Emily are the most important people in my life."

Shana studied his eyes for a few moments before she said, "I know that. I really do know it."

Bending over, he kissed her cheek. "I'm glad you've figured it out. Would you like to come back and help us find a solution to this problem?"

"No, I need to decide between pink begonia and pink flamingo for your room," teased Shana. "I almost forgot. I do have one more question." She searched her phone. "I can't decide between these two colors for the main theme in the house." She pointed. "This one is ocean air and this one harbor haze. They both have a hint of blue."

Anderson took the phone to get a better look. "I like them both. Maybe I like the ocean air a little better, but I don't think you could go wrong with either." His eyes widened. "Do I get a choice between pink begonia and what was the other color, cotton candy?"

"No. It was pink flamingo. I'll go with pink flamingo." Shana started to walk away.

Romeo had Malachi in his mouth and laid the kitten at her feet.

"If my room's pink flamingo, do I still get a king-size bed?"

"You're incorrigible." There was silence and then Shana answered, "No. You get a twin bed in the shape of a racecar. I need to feed the kitten."

As Anderson returned to the den, Jeff grinned. "Do I even want to know what that's about?"

"As of right now, I might have a pink flamingo bedroom and a racecar twin bed." Anderson looked into the hallway. "Maybe I should quit teasing her. What do you think?"

"I'm going to remind you that you're a multi-billionaire oil-baron, who has fallen madly in love with a young Jewish lady from rural America. She could care less about your money or your power. You just might have met your match."

"I think you're right. Isn't it wonderful?" Anderson turned toward the stack of files. "We need to finalize the plans for tonight and tomorrow, and then figure out how we're going to get painters in and furniture delivered without a threat to security. Both of those would be great opportunities to plant an assassin or two."

"I know." Jeff chewed his lower lip.


*****
That evening as Shana walked into the dining room tears filled her eyes. "Drew, I said you didn't need to do this."

"And I told you, since you missed the Sabbath last week, I would do my best to make it happen." Anderson scanned the room. "Since we don't know all the traditions, you'll need to take over. I had the meal catered from a Jewish caterer so it should be kosher." He used his thumb to dry her tears, kissed her cheek, and held a chair for her to sit.

Shana set the kitten on a blanket next to the dogs and breathed deeply. "I'm overwhelmed. I don't know what to say."

Jeff adjusted his silverware. "Little lady, I'd say do whatever it is that needs to be done so we can eat. I'm hungry."

Susan smiled, "Dear, take all the time you need. Jeff's like Zack, he's always hungry."

"Okay, the first thing we do." Shana glanced at Jeff. "I'll hurry the beginning as fast as I can."

He winked at her. "Take your time. I won't starve for at least another ten minutes."

"The Sabbath is a day of rest in Jewish tradition. It lasts from sundown on Friday to the first star Saturday evening. Not every recipe is suited for serving on Sabbath because meats have to be cooked in advance, kept in the fridge, and then reheated the following day according to Jewish cooking laws. I'll begin in a minute by lighting the candles and saying a prayer in Hebrew. After the prayer, I'll wash my hands, say another blessing over the challah bread, and then pass it out."

"What does challah mean?" asked Michael.

"Challah is derived from the Hebrew word portion. We're commanded to give the Lord the first portion of the dough. Don't speak until you've taken a bite of the bread. The bread is braided to resemble intertwined arms to symbolize love." Shana stood, picked up matches and said the prayer, before she left to wash her hands. When she returned, she gave each person a portion of the bread.

After everyone ate a piece, Susan said, "This is good. I didn't expect it to be sweet."

"Do you know how to make it?" Jeff grinned. "We found out last night that this little lady knows her way around a kitchen."

"I do. It was the first thing Grandma taught me to bake." Shana scanned the table. "Everything in Jewish tradition has a certain order. Now for the gefilte fish. It's like an appetizer."

"I've been fishing all my life and I've never heard of gefilte fish," interrupted Michael. "What is it?"

"Good question. It's not a certain type of fish, but a special way to prepare it. Various kinds of fish, carp, pike and whitefish can be used. Gefilte is Yiddish for stuffed. We remove the skin, grind up the fish, and mix eggs, spices, ground onions, and carrots with it." She hesitated. "Have I scared you off, yet?"

Anderson motioned toward the gefilte fish. "Please continue."

"The mixture is stuffed back into the skin and baked."

"Pass it here. I'm ready." Jeff took the first helping and tasted it. "It's good."

After everybody had eaten the gefilte fish, Shana explained the next course. "Now, for matzo ball soup and a salad. I think you know about salad."

"I see dumplings in the soup." Michael pointed to the bowl of soup.

"You're right. Chicken soup is a Jewish comfort food and the matzo balls are basically dumplings. I'll dish you all some."

Anderson stood. "Let me help."

Shana smiled. "Thank you for everything."

It wasn't long before everyone was ready for the main course. Shana studied the baked chicken. "Our main course is baked chicken and kugel. I know what kugel is, it's a casserole. Since I didn't make this one, I don't know if they used noodles or potatoes. It looks like potatoes. Grandma used potatoes, cheese and other vegetables. Sometimes it has fruit in it. It can be savory or sweet. I'll find out when you do."

The family passed the dishes around the table. As everyone finished, Anderson stood. "There's dessert." He looked at Shana. "Do you know how hard it is to find a bakery that uses pareve recipes?"

"I'm sure." Shana answered Michael's questioning look. "On the Sabbath, due to Jewish cooking law, desserts can't contain dairy or meat products."

As Anderson carried the dessert into the dining room, an explosion sounded.



Characters so far:

Shana Kohlberg -- a 25 year old high school English literature teacher -- she's trying to get her family's painting back
Anderson Sharp -- often called Drew -- 31 years old -- works part-time on Wall Street -- a billionaire from Texas oil wells
Dmitry Bezrukov -- one of three Russian men in black suits
Jeff Burk -- takes care of Anderson's cars and important security details.
Helen -- Anderson's cook
Jane -- Anderson's housekeeper
Philip -- Anderson's butler -- close friend
Kyle -- Anderson's dog walker
Axel -- Anderson's lead German shepherd
Thor -- Anderson's second German shepherd
Romeo -- Anderson's third German shepherd
Aaron Kohlberg -- Shana's older brother
Ivan Kuznetsov -- formally Ivan Morozov, I accidently chose a real person, so I have changed it present day owner of the painting.
Patricia -- Anderson's ex-wife
Emily -- Anderson's five year old daughter
Isaiah Glassberg -- Anderson divorce/custody attorney.
Jeremy -- Jane's second-cousin twice removed, NYC undercover cop.
Hannah Jacobs -- Shana's cousin, the same age and best friend. Married within the past year and just had a baby, Sarah. Her husband, Paul. Sarah was just diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease.
Joshua Colton -- Art Museum's curator
Benjamin Kohlberg -- Shana's father
Eliana Kohlberg - - Shana's mother
Maxwell Gaines -- Lawyer hired to retrieve the painting
Erich Berger -- Manager of the Dorotheum art auction house in Austria
Mary Pritchard -- The lady Anderson hired to help Hannah while she's in Boston with Sarah.
Zachery Sharp -- Anderson's younger brother
Michael Sharp -- Anderson's father
Susan Sharp --Anderson's mother
Leon Sharp - - Anderson's grandfather
Grandma Sharp - - Anderson's grandmother
Oscar - - Team Leader of the security detail
Detective Rollins - - Austin police detective
Agent Allan Ryan - - FBI agent