A voice that sounded suspiciously like her kallah teacher’s hissed in her ear, “Smile! That’s your new husband. Smile!”

E

stee had four things she needed to do when she got home and three people to call. It was incredible how busy she was, considering she had the same job she’d had for the past year. But ever since she stood under the chuppah with Yonah, the hours in the day seemed to disappear, while her to-do list grew and grew.

She wiped down her desk, straightened her calendar and pen cup, and waved goodbye to Tammy. She loved leaving the school at this hour, just a little after all the girls left, and her footsteps could ring hollow through the polished hallways.

She felt good. According to the tracking number, her much-debated camera would arrive tomorrow, and the first thing she wanted to do was go down to the boardwalk with Shani and snap some photos at sunset.

Exiting the building, she felt the sun’s warmth on her face. Summer was here. The air was sweet, her sheitel was light on her head, and her ring kept catching the sunrays and throwing prisms on the ground. She clicked for her car, and there was… Yonah?

He was leaning against the hood, looking like an advertisement for chassan watches or something. No jacket, no hat, sleeves rolled up, lounging against their tiny Subaru at four fifty-five in the afternoon.

She blinked, and then a voice that sounded suspiciously like her kallah teacher’s hissed in her ear, “Smile! That’s your new husband. Smile!”