Yaakov went into the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror, shaking his head slowly, astonished. How had it all gone so wrong? He washed his face with cold water, patting it dry. She was waiting for him alone in the living room. The flowers, he saw, had already been carefully placed in a large glass vase of fresh water.

“They’re gorgeous, Yaakov. Thank you! What’s the occasion?” she said, reaching for the chocolates and smiling as if the whole wretched scene with the children had never happened.

He exhaled gratefully, smiling back. “Remember the days of our courtship when I tried so many times to bring you flowers and candy?”

“‘Goyish romantic presents,’ you used to call them.” She chuckled. “I always found some way to pretend they weren’t actually meant for me.”

“You’d leave the flowers for us for Shabbos and let the kinderlach eat the chocolates.”

“Not all of them,” she protested with a wry smile. “Well, I admit I only allowed myself one or two.”

“Should we open it now, while it’s quiet?” he suggested hopefully.

She hesitated. “Don’t you want to kiss the children good night first?”

The children. Of course. Always the children.

“Just this once, can’t we just…? I’ll talk to them in the morning.”

She shrugged unhappily. “Okay, if that’s what you want, but there is something else that just can’t wait,” she pushed on, even though it was perfectly clear to her that now was not the time. She couldn’t help it. She simply needed to know, without delay, what Yaakov intended to do about Yoel Grub. It was something that just couldn’t be put off, however wise.

This burning urgency was more for her own sake than her stepdaughter’s, she admitted to herself. What she needed, without delay, was an iron-clad reassurance that he wasn’t “one of them,” those Boro Park sheep who did whatever their community machers told them; that he was going to think for himself, especially where his own daughter was concerned. Most of all, she needed uncontestable proof that she and he really were part of a free, sincere, devout religious fellowship of individuals trying to live a good and pure life and not mindless members of some cult. Only his immediate and unwavering indignation over Yoel Grub would silence the voices of fear and negativity in her mind, dispelling once and for all her budding doubts over her decision to become part of this community.

“What’s so important it can’t wait a minute?” he asked with sullen impatience, feeling ill-used.