She was afraid to look at Amram — and with reason. As she’d suspected, he was shaking his head fiercely

Grand Annual Herzog Family Barbeque, here we come.

Had it really been a year since the last one? Leebie mused as she threw together the salad she’d offered to bring along. She was actually excited for this trip. She enjoyed her sisters-in-law, and it was nice to get in a bit of summer, even if it was only for a few hours.

Amram’s brother Shmuel would be hosting, once again. Shmuel Herzog had probably been one of the first frum guys to buy a proper summer home back in the day. Which made him seem really cool at the time — and completely uncool now, when guys 25 years his junior were installing geothermal heating in their brand new open-floor-plan summer homes, and had designers match linens to wallpaper colors and draw up their lighting plans.

Still, it was a house in the Catskills, a really big one, with a tremendous wraparound deck — a recent upgrade. The deck alone was large enough to host the entire Herzog family for their annual barbeque.

And entire meant entire; from Zeidy and Bubby down to the youngest great-grandchildren, and all reluctant teenagers in between.

It definitely meant Amram and Leebie — who were among the rare few Yidden who did not spend their summers in the Catskills — and both of their married couples.

Leebie was frantically trying to get all the Shabbos laundry done before they hit the road. Amram, meanwhile, spent the entire Sunday morning on the phone, working out the best mileage deals for bein hazmanim travelers. At two-ish, when Leebie passed him in the hallway with a stack of folded laundry in her arms and asked if he was ready to go pick up the boys from yeshivah, she detected a strange flicker of resistance in his eyes. “I don’t know,” he said. “I really need to be at Grunners’ by three. They’ve started their Yom Tov production schedule and asked me to do the afternoon shift. Does it make sense to get someone to cover for me so I can go and eat steak?”

“It’s not —” she floundered.

What didn’t make sense was that he was asking her this question. Did he really care what she thought?