Martin frowns. “Not that lawyer who sent in a cake on your birthday?”

“That’s the one.” Penina does have other friends, but none are quite as considerate as Rivi, who had wanted to make sure that Penina had a kosher cake for her office party. “I’ll be back in an hour and a half. She’s just a ten-minute drive away. And I have a script running to test the security of John’s new system in the meantime.”

Martin gives her a thumbs-up. “Bring her some of our office cookies,” he offers. Penina nods and thanks him, but doesn’t take any. Martin claims that he’s had Jewish coworkers since his pre-tech days running security companies, but he still hasn’t quite gotten the hang of hechsherim.

She makes the drive to Rivi’s in record time, then drags her feet a little when she gets inside. Gabe sees her immediately. His eyes always seemed to find her in crowded rooms when they were dating, which she’d liked at the time. Now, it invites a little spark of resentment. She doesn’t acknowledge him but goes straight to Rivi. “Quiet day?”

“They’re all quiet days,” Rivi says, flashing her a smile. “You really didn’t have to come. I’m sure I could have kept busy.” There’s a laptop closed in its case on the piano, and Rivi glances longingly at it. “I know I’m missing so many work emails—”

“Did you know that I don’t check my work emails when I’m home with Daniel?” Penina drawls. “If I take a day off, I don’t even log on.” She puts a hand to her chest in exaggerated horror.

“I sometimes don’t check my emails for days when I’m doing fieldwork,” Gabe says helpfully.

Penina studiously ignores him. Rivi mumbles, “I know I can’t work right now. But the work isn’t going anywhere. If I’m not working, it just waits for me. Wednesday afternoon is going to be endless.”

“I’m sure Ezra will keep the kids busy.” Ezra is good at that, keeping the house intact while Rivi works herself to the bone. But Gabe and Rivi both shift at that and look uncomfortable, and Penina frowns. “Everything okay?”

“It’s fine,” Gabe says quickly.

“Not a word from you,” Rivi says, shooting him a glare. “You don’t get to tell Penina how I’m doing. You gave that privilege up years ago.” Penina raises her eyebrows, simultaneously impressed and gratified. Rivi has always been spitting mad about Gabe leaving the way that he did, but Penina hasn’t seen that ire turned directly on him before.

“Everything is fine,” Rivi says to her, lifting her chin. “Do you want some lunch? I think three different neighbors brought dinner last night. The kids just ate pizza.”

“I can get something for both of you, too,” Penina volunteers, gracious now that Gabe has fallen into abashed silence. There’s a veritable feast packed up in the fridge of Rivi’s large kitchen, and Penina finds a lasagna and heats up a few pieces in the microwave. By the time she’s finished, there’s another visitor.

It’s the new sister-in-law, the one who hangs around Rivi in wide-eyed worship. Eliana, maybe? She’s young enough that she’s still in college, and she’d breathlessly asked Penina once, at a Shabbos meal, what it’s like being a frum professional woman. Penina thinks that it’s not a bad thing for Rivi to have a sister-in-law on her side, though Rivi never seems to know what to do with Eliana.

Penina pops another plate of lasagna into the microwave and brings them all out together. She passes the biggest piece to Rivi, who wrinkles her nose at it and gives it to Gabe. “Thanks. I was just telling Eliana that I don’t think I’m going to make it to this upstate retreat.”

“Upstate retreat?”

“Our in-laws are having their fortieth anniversary at the end of the month.” Eliana’s round face lights up as she talks about it. “We’ve all chipped in to rent out a big house in upstate New York with enough space for everyone. We’re going to do Shabbos together and do some winter activities on Friday and Sunday. It’s a whole big thing. It was my idea. My family did it once, years ago, with my mother’s siblings and all the cousins. The best part was Shabbos — no distractions or phones or work, just time spent together. And even Suri and Atara are in! Rivi, you’ve got to come along!”

“I’ll definitely chip in our share,” Rivi promises, and the weariness seems to settle on her face, making her seem suddenly older than she is. Penina feels a stab of sympathy. “And Ezra and the kids will be excited to go, too. But I’ll be an avel—”

“I asked a sh’eilah,” Eliana assures her. “You can go to a family event, and of course, we won’t play music or have any kind of big party. I know how hard this must be for you.” Her eyes shine with sympathy.

Rivi plays with her lasagna, twisting her fork and slicing a noodle into thin strips. “It’s just… I can’t give up two workdays so soon after shivah. And I’ll probably be working Motzaei Shabbos and Sunday, too. I was just telling Penina how everything is piling up.” She manages a smile. “Anyway, Ezra and the kids are the big entertainment here. No one’s going to be bothered if I’m not there.”

Eliana’s face falls. “I will,” she says, and she sets her own lasagna down, untouched. “You’re the only sister-in-law I really talk to.”

“Suri and Atara and Chaya love you,” Rivi promises her. “They’ll be happy to have you without me there to distract you.” She sits back in her little chair. “I would have loved to join you. It’s just going to be such a busy time….”

“I understand,” Eliana says, but Penina can see from her disappointed expression that she really doesn’t. She keeps her own opinions on the matter to herself. Rivi works too hard — everyone knows it. A few days away won’t make her caseload worse.

But Penina is here to be a supportive friend, so she chats with Rivi and Eliana until Eliana runs out, offering to pick up the twins from playgroup.

“She’s very sweet,” Penina observes.

“She’s very young. If she really does decide on a law career, she’ll learn.” Rivi sighs heavily.

Penina pokes her. “Don’t act like you don’t love it.” Nothing gets Rivi more animated than talking about her clients, people who’ve been wronged by the powerful and are finally fighting back. “If you really stay home from the retreat, you’ll work eighteen hours a day and have the time of your life.”

Rivi allows herself a grin. “Probably,” she concedes. “But still—”

The doorbell rings, and Penina calls, “It’s open!” Strange, for someone to ring the doorbell during shivah. But the men who poke their heads through the front door aren’t visitors. Penina recognizes one of the officers from the cemetery, though the man beside him is new.

Gabe straightens. Rivi freezes. “Yes?”

“Tomas Jimenez,” the officer introduces himself. “Detective with the Lenape Falls PD. We met last week?”

“Right, of course.” Rivi stands. She’s on the taller end of average, but she’s half a head shorter than the officer. Still, she carries herself with authority. “What can I do for you?”

“We’ve had some strange DNA results,” Detective Jiminez explains. “We were able to compare it to another Cohen whose DNA we have in our database. Must be a cousin of yours. A decently close match, too — enough that the body might actually belong in the mausoleum.”

“I see.” Rivi looks less than thrilled. Penina doubts that she wants to hear any more about the body. “My father was an only child and very reclusive. We definitely had some distant relatives, but none that we knew well. Just our grandmother, and she passed away when I was nine.”

“Yes, the grandmother,” Detective Jiminez agrees. A strange expression crosses his face before he seems to gather his thoughts again. “Well, we haven’t been able to track down exactly how they’re related. The results have been… odd.” He doesn’t elaborate on that, just nods to Rivi and Gabe. “We’d like your consent — both of you — to take cheek swabs and match them to your DNA. It might be enough for us to solve this mystery.”

Rivi opens her mouth as though she might decline, but Gabe says, “Oh, come on, Rivi. We’ll be wondering about it for the rest of our lives.” He puts a comforting hand on her back. “Besides, the sooner we get this over with and figure out how it happened, the better.”

For a moment, Penina remembers how supportive and sweet he’d been when they were dating. He had been so attentive, so thoughtful, and Penina had been sure that he’d make the perfect husband and father. Instead, he’d made the perfect heartbreak.

But his words are enough to convince Rivi. She looks at Penina’s encouraging face, then Detective Jimenez, and she swallows. “The sooner this is over, the better,” she repeats.

To be continued…

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 902)