Recap: Evie’s mother brings Jake and his daughter to Friday night dinner at Rikki’s house. It turns out that Maggie is his adopted daughter. Junie is still not found, but there is a good possible clue.

 Rikki took the phone. “Oh, I see. Okay. Thank you.”

“Where? Where’s Junie?” I asked.

“I’m happy they found your dog,” Sarit said.

“They saw her being taken in a car. They’re following her.”

“Where was the car?” Sarit asked.

Why did she care? I wondered.

“It was on Main Street, headed south.”

Sarit excused herself. “I just remembered an errand I need to do before the Sabbath. I’ll be back soon.”

Candle-lighting time came. I davened that Herb would rescue Junie.

I hoped the person who had her in the car had honorable intentions.

“How will we know if he got her back?” I asked. I knew Rikki wouldn’t use the phone on Shabbos.

“We’ll find out. Herb might come to tell us. Just daven.”

We lit candles. My mother lit, too, and then she smiled at me. The flames sparkled. Watching them, I felt something stir inside. A peaceful feeling swept over me that I’d never experienced before.

“I’ve never done this before. Thank you,” my mother said to Rikki.

Rabbi Berson took Mr. Cohen to shul with him.

Rikki handed me a siddur and showed me which parts to daven. Maggie said she’d prefer to just say her own prayers.

Rikki whispered in my ear: “I know I shouldn’t say this, but I really hope Sarit doesn’t come back.”

…

When Rabbi Berson returned with Mr. Cohen, he brought another family with him. Rabbi Berson introduced Lisa and Edmund Jonas and their baby girl Jodie.

“She’s so cute,” Rikki said. “Can I hold her?”

Lisa handed the baby to Rikki.

“We just moved here from Washington State. It’s so pretty here. We love it.”

My mother chatted with Lisa about Utah.

“If you like to skate, we opened a rink nearby.”

“Oh, that’s lovely. I’m actually a dancer. I should say I was a dancer. I danced professionally before I met Edmund. Then, well, things happened, and we both became interested in Judaism. Edmund became close with the Chabad rabbi in Montana, and we both began learning. It’s been a year now since we became shomer Shabbos.”

“Don’t you still dance?” I asked.

Rikki’s grandmother ushered everyone into the dining room where the candelabra still glowed.

“I do love to dance. I am starting a dance program for Orthodox Jewish girls. We’ll perform in front of Jewish women and raise money for tz’dakah.”

“That sounds nice,” I said. Still, I had a question I was embarrassed to ask her.

I went to help with serving the fish. Rikki handed me a tray to put the fish plates on. I whispered, “I don’t understand why Lisa had to give up dancing professionally when she became religious?”

“Well, my father will explain to you. It’s not tz’nius. There are a lot of problems.”

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Sarit stood in the doorway. “I’m so sorry. I know I’m late.”

“No problem,” Rabbi Berson said.

Sarit ambled into the kitchen. “Can I help serve?” she asked.

Rikki handed her a salad bowl. I could see from Rikki’s expression how disappointed she was that Sarit had reappeared.

Just then, there was another knock at the door. Herb appeared. “Sorry to disturb.”

“Come in, have some chicken soup,” Rikki’s grandmother said.

“Thank you, I’m on the job. I wanted to let you know that we think we may have located your dog.”

Sarit stepped towards Herb. “Where, sir?”

Herb glanced at Sarit and then turned towards me. “I’ll call you after the Sabbath.”

To be continued…

Susie Garber is the author of  Captured (Menucha 2025), an historical fiction novel,  Please Be Patient (Menucha 2024),  Flight of the Doves (Menucha Publishing 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha Publishers 2022) , A Bridge in Time (Menucha Publishing 2021), Secrets in Disguise  (Menucha Publishers 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha Publishers, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials and features in  Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine and  “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021-2022) and Alaskan Gold ( 2023-2024).