Playing With Matches Read Online Free PDF Page B

spoon in hand.
    I cleared my throat. “Um … how was shul ?”
    Jeremy lowered the magazine to his lap. “Well, I guess it was —”
    There didn’t seem to be an elegant way of doing this. “I think … I might have met someone for you,” I blurted out. I could feel my face flush. The words fell out like they were trespassing private property. “A single woman who is just awesome.”
    His eyebrows shot up. “You mean your sister?” It felt like my eyeballs were turning red now.
    I cleared my throat. “No.” I shook my head. “There’s no way that she’s dating yet.”
    “Yeah, I was wondering about that,” he said, dropping the magazine back in the rattan basket.
    “This one is really special.”
    Jeremy nodded slowly. “I’m listening.”
    “She’s a financial consultant,” I said. “She’s really pretty. And sweet.”
    “Age?” He was actually considering this.
    “Twenty-eight.”
    “She lives in the city?” he asked.
    “Yes.”
    “From Toronto?”
    “No, Vancouver.”
    Jeremy grasped his chin and squinted in concentration for a moment. Leah walked past the doorway with a dish towel in her hands, her eyes flicking at me. I squirmed in my seat until Leah returned to Aunt Mira. Her breakup with Ben was fresh enough that she didn’t need to hear about any set-ups going on around her.
    “And you personally recommend her?” Jeremy said.
    “I do,” I said, feeling tension draining from my body. “I really, really like her.”
    “Well, you’re Mira and Eli’s niece and they mean a lot to me.” He leaned back in the recliner chair and gazed at the ceiling. “Give me a day to think about it.”
    I wanted to pump my fists. “You’re open?”
    “I’m open,” he said with a nod. “And thank you.” He sauntered to the dining room, leaving me alone in the den where I leapt to my feet and danced a private jig. Jeremy and Tamara — I might have pulled this off!

    Who knew that matching up two people could be so oddly thrilling?
    After dinner the following Thursday, the smell of Mira’s meatloaf hung in the air like mustard gas. I couldn’t wait to get to the library. In the six days since my conversation with Jeremy, they’d seen each other four times !
    My bus rides with Tamara just weren’t long enough to give me what I craved more than anything.
    Details.
    I needed details.
    “Aunt Mira, can I use your car to go the library?”
    “Why not,” Mira said as she wiped down the granite counter. “Just be back by nine.”
    Uncle Eli wandered over to the dishwasher and tucked his plate inside. “Did you hear that Jeremy is dating someone?” he said.
    I swerved around to him. “I know! It’s so —”
    “What?” Mira yelled.
    “It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” Eli said. “Maybe that’s why we haven’t been seeing him all week.”
    Leah’s mouth hung open, and a tiny croak came out. She spun around and fled from the kitchen.
    We stood in silence until Eli spread his hands. “What did I say?”
    Was Leah still that raw from the break-up?
    Mira slammed the dishwasher door shut. “He was supposed to go out with Leah .”
    He was?
    Eli palmed the side of his head. “Me and my big mouth.”
    This was obviously the work of the Jewish grapevine. If I had to describe that grapevine I’d say it was what the internet was dreaming of becoming one day. “Fast” doesn’t even begin to describe it. From the kitchen table, where I thought I detected a slight chortle, Bubby was watching events unfold.
    “Why would Jeremy do that?” Mira said as she flung the dishrag into the sink. “He knew I wanted to fix him up with Leah. She was interested too.”
    She was?
    So is that why the Bernsteins kept inviting him over? How was I supposed to know that Leah was ready to date again? If fixing Jeremy up with Leah had been the Bernstein plan, then I was in some deep trouble here.

    I dropped into Aunt Mira’s Camry with a blend of conflicting emotions brewing in my head. I should have been