Dream On: Chapter 24
| May 11, 2021“It’s not about the money,” Yehuda said quietly. “It’s about wanting you to understand your true value”
Tammy stood in front of her bedroom mirror, admiring the way her new scarf made her skin glow. Devoiry’s creation was certainly exquisite, and Tammy still couldn’t get over the fact that she was Mrs. Edelman’s daughter.
But right now, she was regretting her impulse purchase. Yehuda had triumphantly informed her this morning over breakfast that after pricing around repairmen, he’d managed to find a guy with “heimishe” pricing to fix the leak in their fridge. Tammy wasn’t so sure she wanted a guy with heimishe pricing touching her fridge, but decided not to say anything. She knew what a thrill Yehuda got from finding a bargain.
Well, I got a bargain on this scarf, too, she told herself, though, somehow, she didn’t picture Yehuda seeing this luxury purchase in quite that light. Not when he was talking about going vegetarian with their cholent for the next few weeks to pay off this repair bill.
She turned to examine herself from a different angle. Maybe if he saw the tichel on her, and agreed that it looked nice…
A sound in the living room made her jump. It was too early for Yehuda to be home for lunch; who was in her house? She opened her door the tiniest crack — and saw Yehuda ushering a young chassidish man into their kitchen.
She ran outside. “Yehuda! You scared me!”
He glanced at her. “Hi, Tammy. Yochie called to tell me he could squeeze our fridge in this morning. Sorry, I should’ve called to warn you.”
She stared at him. “But… you’re missing your learning for this?” Yehuda didn’t even like taking five minutes from his seder time to answer her phone calls.
He shrugged. “The guy was offering such a good price. I didn’t think I could insist on my preferred time.”
Tammy’s heart melted. Yehuda was such a wonderful husband. So caring. So responsible.
“Thanks for working so hard to take care of this,” she said.
He nodded and smiled. “Hey, is that a new tichel you’re wearing?”
“You like it? I bought it last night.” And then Tammy added in a rush, “It was a little bit more than I’d normally spend on a tichel, but she gave me a discount, and this is just so special, you know? The girls in the seminary will go crazy over it!”
Yehuda’s brow puckered. “What do the girls in the seminary have to do with this?”
Tammy laughed lightly. “Come on, to make it in the seminary world, you need to come off as cool. With it.” She twirled around. “Think of this as a business investment!”
But Yehuda was shaking his head. “Tam, even the most expensive scarf in the world won’t make someone cool if they’re not. The girls love you. You don’t need to buy a scarf.”
Tammy stopped twirling and stared at him for a moment. At last, she muttered, “Such a man! You’re just saying this because you want me to return it and get back the 150 shekels.”
“It’s not about the money,” Yehuda said quietly. “It’s about wanting you to understand your true value.”
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