"These girls are lucky to have you.” He hesitated as he stood by the sink, washing cup in his hand. Then he added, “Sometimes I’m a little jealous, that’s all”

Yehuda walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air. “Mmm, smells like apples and cinnamon.” He looked hopefully at the counter, which was filled with dirty bowls. “No cookies to taste? Am I off with my days?”

“They’re having a special pre-Rosh Hashanah shiur tonight,” she said, “So Cookie Thursday’s canceled this week. Instead, we have Omelet Thursday.” Tammy laughed as she nodded to the frying pan on the stove. “What you’re smelling is my attempt to be organized and get started on the Rosh Hashanah cooking.”

His face brightened. “Wait, does this mean we actually get to have a quiet evening together?”

The hopefulness in his voice made her heart twist. She pulled two dinner plates out of the cabinet and began dishing eggs and salad onto each plate. She sighed.

“Yeah, this job’s been taking up way more time than I expected.” She turned to look at him. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving it. But I’m not loving what it’s doing to our time together.” Yawning, she added, “Or to my sleep.”

“Me neither.” Yehuda cut some slices of bread from the loaf on the table. “I don’t know how you’re managing all those late hours. But you do seem to be enjoying it.”

“Oh, I love it! It’s so much fun, chilling with the girls late at night, I lose track of time.”

“It’s bringing you back to your own seminary days, huh?”

“You bet! And high school, and camp, and…” Tammy winced at the enthusiasm in her voice. “Hah, listen to me. Almost 30, and still thinks she’s a teenager. Like, hello, Tammy, time to grow up!” She made a face.

Yehuda carefully flattened his omelet between two slices of bread. “There’s nothing immature about what you’re doing. Your job has a lot of responsibility. You just relate amazingly well to people, and you’re a great listener. Of course they all love you.”

Tammy glowed. It was true that her past two Thursday night get-togethers had drawn crowds. And that when she walked into the dorm at night to do curfew checks, the girls flocked around her to schmooze. And that there were a few — such as Shani — who already saw her as someone they could confide in.

Shani. “A few real issues have come up. Some of these girls have heavy stuff they’re dealing with, and it’s an amazing feeling to be able to help them. I feel like I did in that teen mentoring program I was volunteering in back when we were dating. Remember that?”

Yehuda nodded as he stood up to wash. “Of course I do. It was one of the things that really impressed me about you. These girls are lucky to have you.” He hesitated as he stood by the sink, washing cup in his hand. Then he added, “Sometimes I’m a little jealous, that’s all.”