The Family You Choose

The Family You Choose

Book Two of The New Pioneers

by Deborah Nam-Krane

Smashwords edition | © 2013

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http://writtenbydeb.blogspot.com

Miranda Harel
—A college senior in
Boston who has lived with her guardian Alex Sheldon since she was
orphaned at the age of five.

Alex Sheldon
—A successful self-made
financier. He lives up to his ruthless reputation…with everyone but
Miranda.

Emily Graham
—Miranda’s good friend,
newly wed to Mitchell Graham. Loyal to a fault and unafraid of
bullies.

Mitchell Graham
—Emily’s husband. He
hasn’t forgiven Miranda for preventing him from getting Michael
arrested.

Zainab Oginabe-Kensit
—Emily’s best
friend. She knows firsthand how loyal-and stubborn- Emily can
be.

Richard Hendrickson
—Zainab’s boyfriend
and Michael and Jessie’s unofficial caretaker. Finally ready to
begin his solar car company.

Jessie Bartolome
—Richard’s cousin,
Lucy’s niece and Miranda’s oldest friend. She’s never understood
why Richard put up with Michael-and she understands even less after
what happened last summer.

Martin Shepard
—Mitch’s best friend who
got him through Ireland the year before.

Michael Abbot
—Richard’s other cousin
who has lived with Alex and Miranda since his parents died. Whose
life does he want to make worse, Alex or Miranda’s?

Lucy Bartolome
—Richard’s mother. As
cold as Alex is ruthless.

The dearly (and not-so-dearly) departed

Tatiana Hamilton Harel
—Miranda’s
mother

Asher Harel
—Miranda’s father

Tom Bartolome
—Jessie’s father

Josie Bartolome
—Jessie’s mother

Stephen Abbot
—Michael’s father and
Alex’s best friend

Annabelle Hendrickson Abbot
—Michael’s
mother

Jim Hendrickson
—Annabelle’s brother,
Lucy’s husband and Richard’s father

Michael Abbot Senior
—Stephen Abbot’s
father

Helen Hamilton
—Tatiana’s
grandmother

To Karen Idra Kaiser, who has always combined
sweetness and compassion with a spirit that never says die.

It was Israel 1984, another long summer
night. The summer heat was so comforting and dry, unlike the
oppressively sticky heat of the Massachusetts beach town he had
left just a few weeks before. He smiled. Not that he'd paid much
attention to the humidity.

The Jeep rolled through the sand, bouncing
and jarring every few feet. But Asher Harel hardly noticed. The
other guys in the Jeep were cursing under their breath about having
to take the night shift, but Ash just kept feeling the letter he’d
just read and then fingering his ring.

He still needed to pinch himself when he
thought of Tatiana. She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.
She was like something out of a fairy tale with honey blonde hair,
the greenest eyes he’d ever seen and skin that remained luminous
despite hours in the sun. She was a miracle of nature.

He'd thought so when he first saw her in
Faneuil Hall that first day. Spring was just starting—at least,
what they called spring in Massachusetts. Ash had felt a chill and
looked down at his tee-shirt. Most places, he could get by with
only a tee-shirt in the spring. He didn't want to buy one more item
he'd have to pack up, but he needed another layer. "Excuse me?" he
said to several of the passersby before they walked away, ignoring
him. Ash snorted a little bit. People were much nicer last year
when he had been in New York. He looked around at the stores,
unsure of which one he should go into.

"Are you lost?" someone asked quietly. He
turned around and there she was. The first things he saw, of
course, were her beautiful eyes; and then her confident smile. He
automatically smiled back as he took in the rest of her perfectly
oval, perfectly smooth face.

"I think so," he said after a moment. "Lost
and a little out of my element. I didn't realize it was going to be
so cold today."

"I guess not," she laughed. Her laugh was
huskier than her voice. "You were looking for a clothing
store?"

"Yes, but nothing too expensive. I'm a
tourist…"

"Really? I never would have guessed by the
accent."

"Oh, aren't you smart? So can you tell me
where I'm from?"

She winked one eye and wrinkled her nose.
"Germany?"

"Ha!" Ash involuntarily laughed. "No, not for
some time."

"Then where?"

"Israel."

"Oh." She nodded knowingly. "I guess that
would do as well."

"But where is your accent?" he asked. "You
don't sound like the other Bostonians."

She giggled. "Thank you. My grandmother will
be very pleased to hear you say that. I'm not from Boston."

"Then where are you from?"

"You haven't heard of it, I promise."

"So tell me now and the next time someone
asks me where the prettiest girls live, I can tell them."

"And why would anyone believe you about
anything when you can't even bring a sweater to Boston in the
middle of winter?"

"It's supposed to be spring!" he laughed.

"Never listen to the weather reports in
Boston—everyone will believe you about that."

By the time they had walked down Congress
Street, he had told her his name. By the time they walked down
Washington Street to Filene's Basement, she had told him his. They
learned each other's life stories as he picked out his sweater, and
by the time they were at the checkout he had decided he wanted to
spend the rest of his life with her.

"When do I get to meet this grandmother you
speak so highly of?" he asked as they got a cup of coffee at a
Dunkin Donuts.

"She doesn't always like strangers; it might
take a little time."

"No, I have only a little time to convince
her that she should let you come back to Israel with me as soon as
it’s safe. I want to meet her as soon as possible."

"Do you want....?" She smiled and looked
away. "Never mind."

"I'm sure I want it, whatever it is."

She looked back at him. It was a look he had
seen when he was younger, meant for others, but one he never
thought he’d ever get for himself. "The train leaves in two hours.
I suppose you could come with me…"

"I think that's a great idea," he said
quickly.

"…But it will be really late when you have to
take the return train, and you won't get back until about eleven
thirty tonight."

"Is that considered late?"

"It is here."

"I'm willing to take my chances."

"Don't worry, I'm not very dangerous."

"I don't believe that's the case," Asher said
with a wink.

Ash wound up staying at Tatiana’s house for
hours; talking long into the night with her and her grandmother
Helen. She was not easy to draw a smile from, but by the end of the
evening she wouldn't hear of him going anywhere at such a late hour
and set up a bed for him on the couch. When the women awoke the
next morning, they found Ash had already made breakfast for them.
(He was suddenly very grateful to his mother for all of those times
he had to make breakfast while she got the younger children ready.)
After that morning, Tatiana’s grandmother didn’t object when
Tatiana wanted to leave with Ash, and she didn’t mention anything
later when they didn’t come back that night. Her smile was enough
for him to know that she approved of him.

Helen
, he repeated to himself.
That's a nice name
. So was Judah, his brave, stubborn
grandfather who’d survived on will alone for himself and his only
surviving son to live through the Hell of a concentration camp.
Tatiana had cried when he’d relayed how his grandfather and father
had lived through the Nazi horrors. She promised that she would
never forget.

She cried again when he told her he would
have to return to Israel, and the war. He couldn’t bear to see her
cry, so he made his decision then. "We’re getting married," he said
simply. "Stupid idiot war—I’m going to do what I have to do, then
I’m coming back and we’re never going to be apart again."

Her pretty eyes were bloodshot. "You’re just
saying that. You’re never coming back again after you leave."

"How can you say that?"

"Because no one ever comes back."

"I swear on my grandfather’s life, I’m coming
back for you."

"Don’t swear anything. Just do something! If
you want to marry me, take me back to Israel with you."

"Are you crazy? There’s a war going on
now."

"Didn’t you say there was always a war?"

"Yes, but this one is new. Please, Tatiana,
it’s so much more dangerous now."

"But that’s where you’re going! And you’re
going into battle!"

"I am not going into battle, alright? My
father has well-placed friends...I’m not proud, but I’m on patrol
duty, not infantry. It’s much safer."

"Fine, then take me with you," Tatiana
pleaded.

"God, my grandfather will love you. You’re as
stubborn as he is."

"Is that a yes?"

"No, you crazy fool. I’d kill myself if
anything happened to you there."

"Oh really? And you want to marry me? So
where do you suppose we’re going to live if Israel isn’t safe?"

"Darling, the war isn’t going to go on
forever."

"There’s always a war..."

"Yes, fine, but it will be safe in a few
months, and then you’ll come over."

"And do you have a date for that?"

"Yes—right after Yom Kippur."

"I don’t believe you."

He put his arms around her and kissed her
softly. He meant every word. She kissed him back and gazed into his
eyes, holding them with hers. "So marry me now," she whispered.

"I think my family is going to want a bigger
wedding, and I’m not sure we have enough time to sort out all of
the arrangements before I have to leave…"

"We can get married again and everyone can be
with us, but if you want me to believe you, then you have to marry
me now."

He racked his brain to see if there was
anything wrong with what she was proposing. And there wasn’t. So he
kissed her again. "Alright then, let’s get married. We'll do it as
soon as the sun comes up."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and
grinned. He realized that at this late hour, they had the beach all
to themselves, and they used it to their advantage. Ash smiled at
the memory.
Of course, that must have been when it happened
,
he thought.

Ash returned to the present as the Jeep
stopped and he automatically began to check his weapon.
Good
call getting married,
he thought. Now no one would count on
their fingers around his child, not that those things should matter
anyway, but he worried about what his family would say about his
wife if they thought she had "trapped" him. Now the baby made
things a little easier. His parents, he knew, were not so crazy
about his marriage to an American but he also knew that they
couldn’t and wouldn’t deny their own grandchild. And his
grandfather… as long as the baby was raised as a Jew, he’d be
happy.

"Ash, look out!" Ash had been too preoccupied
thinking about his pretty new wife and the child they’d have by
next year to move out of the way quickly enough. He died instantly.
Tatiana’s face was the last image in his mind.

Miranda Judith Harel was busily putting the
final touches on Mitch and Emily’s belated wedding reception.
They’d been married for over a week but they’d spent three days in
Rhode Island and another two on the Cape. And then there was a
little black hole in time which they both refused to account for.
Miranda had snickered with Zainab and Jessie about it. Who knew
that Mitch’s little basement studio could be so romantic?

It was all the more time for Miranda to plan
and set up for her fabulous reception. Most of it was easy enough.
It was nothing to pick up the phone and order food, flowers
(although finding a caterer who could provide good vegan options
was surprisingly difficult), and labor to help with the physical
setups. It was managing her guardian, Alex, which was a
challenge.