I hope all my FanStory friends had a wonderful Christmas and it is my prayer that you have a very blessed New Year. Thank you for all the support you give me.


ENDING OF PREVIOUS POST:

Shana stood at the den's door. The three men glanced at her as Michael pointed to a chair. "Shana, how can we help you?"

"I need to borrow Drew for a minute, do you mind?"

Anderson stood. "Of course not. You look like you have a burning question."

In the hallway, Shana took a deep breath, her cheeks tinged pink, and then she blurted, "Do you mind if my bedroom's close to yours?"

Anderson laughed. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry. Why would I mind?"

"Sound doesn't travel well in the house, but it does travel. It would only be until I move back to Peoria. Are you sure you don't mind?"

He took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. "My suggestion would be to put twin beds in your room and a king-size bed in mine, for our wedding night."

Shana backed away. "You're ..."

"Incorrigible, I know."

TODAY'S POST:

Chapter 33 part 2

Susan watched as Shana silently sat beside her. "By the look on your face, I'd say Drew didn't exactly answer your question." She offered the kitten to Shana.

Shana accepted it. "He answered it. He just added his own comment." She petted Malachi's head. "I have no idea what to do."

"Are you struggling with the decorating? Maybe I can help. What's the problem?"

Her eyes met Susan's. "The decorating is coming along great. It's Drew. He refuses to understand I can't return the feelings he has for me."

Susan took two water bottles from the refrigerator. "I see. Would you like one?" She handed Shana one before she continued, "I think, and I could be wrong, but the problem is that Drew feels, no he knows, you have the same feelings for him, and he doesn't understand why you keep denying them." She touched Shana's hand. "Sweetheart, I know you care a lot for my son. It's obvious."

Tears welled in Shana's eyes. Susan handed Shana a tissue and continued, "I understand your concern about the faith differences. I also know Drew's willing to work around that. I was told he's going to try to honor your Sabbath tonight at sundown. I don't know too many men who would be willing to do that."

"You're right, but..." Shana hesitated.

"I can tell you're upset over this. I'm Drew's mom so I'm not the right person to talk to. Is there anybody you can discuss this with? Can you call your friend?" Susan stood. "Let's go outside. We'll have more privacy."

Once they moved the chairs to shade, Shana said, "Hannah has always been my best friend, but I can't bother her with this. Sarah, her baby, is so sick. My problem is mild compared to that." She glanced toward the patio doors. "Lately, Drew's been my confidant on so many things, but he's definitely not the right person to talk with about this. He doesn't understand that I can't ignore that I'm Jewish."

"He's not ignoring it."

"True, but that's the big elephant in the room we can't ignore."

Michael opened the patio door. When he saw the ladies talking, he retreated. "Oops, excuse me," and closed it.

Susan glanced at her watch. "I better fix lunch before the men commit mutiny."

Shana stood. "I'll help."

"No, stay. Maybe some quiet time will help. You haven't had any down time since you've been here. It always helps me."

*****
About a half-an-hour later, Jeff stepped onto the porch. "Shana, lunch is ready." After he noticed her tear stained face, he said, "I'll get Drew."

"No! Please don't." Shana hesitated. "I'm fine."

Jeff came closer. "Little lady, you don't look fine. You appear to be sitting by yourself, crying. That's not fine in my book." He scanned the area. "Are you sure you don't want to talk with Drew? I have no problems getting him. I know he'd want to help."

She whispered, "He's the problem."

"I see." Jeff sat beside her and took her hand. "This isn't anywhere close to my expertise, but how can I help?"

"You can't. There's nothing anybody can do about this problem. There's simply no solution."

"You know Drew loves you, don't you?"

Shana put her hands over her ears. "I don't want to hear it." After she released a deep breath, her eyes met Jeff's. "I know Drew loves me or at least he thinks he does. That's the problem."

"I've known Drew for a number of years. I'm pretty sure he loves you." Jeff tilted his head and studied Shana for a few moments. "Why don't you want a man like Drew to love you? I don't get it."

"I know he's perfect. Every girl's dream man." Shana watched Jeff grin. "By the way, you're pretty dreamy too. I haven't figured out why you, Philip, or Drew haven't been snatched up."

Jeff laughed. "Thank you, but back to the subject. Why does him loving you, upset you so much? I know you..."

"I can't love him. My Jewish faith won't allow me to love a Gentile."

"Now, we're getting somewhere. I can't believe you're the only Jewish person to fall in love with a Gentile. There has to be some exception somewhere for this."

"My best friend, Hannah, married Paul. He's Gentile, but has Jewish heritage. They're making it work."

"Has anything bad happened to Hannah because of this? Was she kicked out of the Jewish faith because of it?" After Shana shook her head, Jeff continued, "So what's the problem?"

Shana studied her hands in her lap. "Papa."

"I met Benjamin in New York City. He seemed like a very nice and polite man. Are you saying he's not?"

"No," shouted Shana, before she lowered her voice, "Sorry. Papa's wonderful."

"Good. I'd hate to have to readjust his attitude toward you," teased Jeff. He grinned at her smile, before he asked, "What's the problem?"

"I'm not sure how he'd react to me marrying a Gentile."

"Have you asked him?" When Shana shook her head, Jeff continued, "Why not? It seems to me you're worrying about something that you're afraid of and haven't got all the facts."

"I don't think I need to ask. While I was growing up, all Papa talked about was me marrying a nice Jewish man and raising a nice Jewish family. I'd be disobeying his wishes. A Jewish mother is the heart of a Jewish family."

"The way I see it you'd still be a Jewish mom. Your children would still be Jewish. I can't imagine Drew not wanting any children. He'll probably want a houseful."

"But would he want them brought up in the Jewish faith?"

"That would be a question for Drew. I can't answer for him. But if it were me, I'd have no problem with them being exposed to the Jewish faith, but I'd also want them to be exposed to Christianity. I guess they could go to the synagogue on Saturday and church on Sunday. I'd honor their choice when they were adults." Jeff's stomach growled. He put his hand on it. "Sorry."

"I've kept you from lunch too long."

"Little lady, you can take all of my time you need. I just hope I've helped."

Shana leaned over and hugged him. "Thank you. You've given me a different way to think about things."

Jeff hugged her back and teased, "Drew just might kick my butt for hugging his gal."

Shana smiled. "I doubt it. I'm not his gal." When he raised his eyebrows, she said, "Let's just go to lunch."



Thank you to youtube for 'Tradition' from 'Fiddler on the Roof'. Shana's family traditions are not this traditional, yet they still play a role.











Characters so far:

Shana Kohlberg -- a 25 year old high school English literature teacher -- she's trying to get her family's painting back
Anderson Sharp -- often called Drew -- 31 years old -- works part-time on Wall Street -- a billionaire from Texas oil wells
Dmitry Bezrukov -- one of three Russian men in black suits
Jeff Burk -- takes care of Anderson's cars and important security details.
Helen -- Anderson's cook
Jane -- Anderson's housekeeper
Philip -- Anderson's butler -- close friend
Kyle -- Anderson's dog walker
Axel -- Anderson's lead German shepherd
Thor -- Anderson's second German shepherd
Romeo -- Anderson's third German shepherd
Aaron Kohlberg -- Shana's older brother
Ivan Kuznetsov -- formally Ivan Morozov, I accidently chose a real person, so I have changed it present day owner of the painting.
Patricia -- Anderson's ex-wife
Emily -- Anderson's five year old daughter
Isaiah Glassberg -- Anderson divorce/custody attorney.
Jeremy -- Jane's second-cousin twice removed, NYC undercover cop.
Hannah Jacobs -- Shana's cousin, the same age and best friend. Married within the past year and just had a baby, Sarah. Her husband, Paul. Sarah was just diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease.
Joshua Colton -- Art Museum's curator
Benjamin Kohlberg -- Shana's father
Eliana Kohlberg - - Shana's mother
Maxwell Gaines -- Lawyer hired to retrieve the painting
Erich Berger -- Manager of the Dorotheum art auction house in Austria
Mary Pritchard -- The lady Anderson hired to help Hannah while she's in Boston with Sarah.
Zachery Sharp -- Anderson's younger brother
Michael Sharp -- Anderson's father
Susan Sharp --Anderson's mother
Leon Sharp - - Anderson's grandfather
Grandma Sharp - - Anderson's grandmother
Oscar - - Team Leader of the security detail
Detective Rollins - - Austin police detective
Agent Allan Ryan - - FBI agent