Koby said, “I brought a magnifying glass if it would help.”

“It’s not that small. It’s not small at all. What is it? A carat?”

“One point four, actually.”

“Shiny little bugger, isn’t it?”

“It is a very good stone—E flawless. I could have gotten bigger, but your daughter wanted quality. I have good friends in the diamond bursa in Israel.”

“I’ve been there, so don’t even try to pull rank.” He stared at Koby, his expression sour. “Does this mean you’re going to be a fixture here?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Dad broke into a grin.

Then he hugged Koby.

Not me. Koby.

I tapped my father on the shoulder. “Uh, remember me? Your daughter?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He broke away from Koby, hugged me hard, gripping me with his fingers. As soon as his eyes moistened, he averted his gaze. “Come on in.” To me: “Did you tell your mother?”

“We just came from there. We told her first.”

“Smart girl. Set a date?”

“Mom’s working on it,” I answered. “She’s thinking about squeezing us in somewhere between her trip to the Far East and the Food Is Life banquet.” I laughed. “I’m being mean. She offered to cancel her trip to the Far East, but I told her to work around it. We’re flexible.”

Koby said, “Actually, I wanted to marry in Israel, save you time and money, but Cindy said Jan would kill her.”

“She would have,” Decker concurred.

“So now you are stuck with my family coming out here. With all of my siblings and step-siblings and cousins and their families, it will be between thirty and sixty people.”

Decker opened and closed his mouth. “Okay.”

“His father and stepmother are real, real, real religious, Daddy,” I said.

My father looked ill. “More than Rina?”

Koby thought about it. “Not more religious, but Rina is more … sophisticated. My stepmother is Canadian, but my father is very, very old-fashioned. He doesn’t speak English all that well.”

“He doesn’t speak it at all,” I corrected. “But he understands. He’s very cute. He’s really, really skinny. And his stepmother’s a doll. When they come out, can they stay here? Rina not only knows the religious etiquette, but she also knows Hebrew. If they stay with Mom, it’ll be a disaster. She won’t know what to do with them.”

“Uh … of course.” Decker smiled weakly. “But only if it’s okay with your mother, Cindy.”

“I thought I’d set her up with some of Koby’s English-speaking, less religious siblings. Maybe a few could stay with Grandpa.”

“Your mother’s father?”

“Yes, Dad. I wasn’t thinking of your dad in Florida.”

“You’re going to sic Jack Cohen on Koby’s relatives?”

“Stop that!” I scolded. “I love Grandpa.”

“I love Jack, too,” Dad answered. “He was the best part about your mother. But he’s different.” He shook his head. “Have you really thought about this?”

I noticed my father turning a slight shade of green. “Maybe we should discuss this later and just celebrate my promotion tonight?”