Eli was about to say something when his mother steamrolled over him.
“Andyou,” she said to her son, “I was so worried that you were never going to figure your life out.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You’re so dense,” she told him. “How did I raise such a dense child?”
“Mother, have you lost––”
“Why do you think I never asked Anna to set you up with a friend of hers? Why did I never ask if you were seeing anyone? Huh? Why?”
“I––”
“Because Cel was the one for you. He was right there. Always right there. I thought you’d never figure it out, and I was hoping it wouldn’t take you too much longer because Cel’s a catch. I was terrified someone else was going to fall in love with him before you woke up. I prayed so hard.”
Eli did not look happy, and I took hold of his hand.
Barbara continued, “You have a good head on your shoulders and an even better heart, so I knew you’d figure it all out someday. I just didn’t want it to be too late for you; I didn’t want you to miss your opportunity to be in love. I love you so much—I’m your mother, after all—and my only wish is for you to be happy.”
“You thought I only had one shot at true love?”
“Yes, dear, we all only have one. You can love a lot of people in your life, but there’s only one true love of your life.”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “Okay.”
“But now you have him, so you don’t have to worry.”
“No, I don’t have to worry.”
I was breathing through my nose so I wouldn’t cry.
“Yes, dear, I can see that,” she snapped at him and then brightened when she turned back to me. “Now, I don’t know if Rabbi Melamed will marry two men, but we’ll worry about the civil marriage first and the religious marriage later.”
Marriage. She was bringing up marriage already. From Eli, it was romantic, but from her, surprising from a timing perspective. We’d been together a second, and she went right there. I didn’t dare turn my head and look at the man I loved.
“Yes,” Eli agreed and squeezed my hand.
“Oh,” she said suddenly, “Cel, remember to say ‘Mi Shebeirach’ for my friend Mr. Torro. He’s still in the hospital, but I spoke to him this morning and he sounds better.”
“Who?” Eli wanted to know.
“Her friend,” I told him. “They have coffee together and go to the movies and have dinner at the Italian place she likes.”
“They what?”
“You’ve seen me do it,” she said, then explained the process of “Mi Shebeirach” to me, which I already knew. But being respectful, I kept quiet and listened. “After the rabbi finishes reading off the names of people the congregation is aware are sick, then he’ll give those in attendance the option of adding names of others. You just stand up and wait for him to call on you and—”
“Who is this man?” Eli persisted.
“Never mind. Cel’s taking care of it for me,” she said dismissively, giving me a big smile. “And make sure you don’t smile at Mrs. Silverberg. You’re so friendly, you might forget.”
“No, ma’am, I’ll only glare at her.”
“Let me see.”
I gave her my darkest scowl.
“Oh, that’s good. I like that.”