Chapter Five

Miriam tied the belt on her raincoat and turned to say goodbye to her two cats, Saul and Sadie. Ever since Phil's death, she had felt especially grateful for their company. A house could never really feel empty when one had pets; they claimed the space as their own and made the house feel lived in. Miriam was shocked at her own bouts of loneliness. She had always assumed, since Phil was older than her, that he would pre-decease her. She'd known that she would miss him, but she'd expected to love the solitude and independence living alone would bring her. That had not really been the case. There were definitely moments when the quiet of her household felt nice and welcome, but more often than not, she filled the silence with the television in an attempt to stave off feelings of isolation. Phil had been a good companion. Miriam was not sure if he was what the girls today liked to refer to as "soulmate material," but he had made her life better and fuller and that had seemed like more than enough.

Miriam heard Sarah toot her horn and she locked the door and walked out into the rain to get into Sarah's red SUV. The logo for Sarah's Sweet Cakes was boldly painted on the car's sides with a delicious-looking graphic of a chocolate cake.
"Where should we go for dinner?" Miriam asked. Sarah, the foodie, was always in charge of their restaurant choice.
"I've got an idea, mom. Just sit back and relax and you'll see where we're headed."
Miriam did lean back in the large leather seat, but she could not relax. She loved her daughter, both of her daughters, but Sarah was a bit of a mystery to her. Abigail had always seemed more like Miriam. She took life by the horns and got things done. Sarah was the dreamer; she was more like her father. If life was the ocean, then Sarah was like a beach ebbing and flowing, expanding and diminishing, dependent on the powerful water's force acting upon her. That made Miriam crazy. It also made Miriam worry. Sarah had always seemed vulnerable to her, the fragile daughter. Even after all these years of mothering her, Miriam was still not sure how best to help her. She had tried coaxing. She had tried nagging. She had tried circumventing Sarah altogether and trying to steer her life for her. She had almost lost Sarah's love at one point, at least Miriam had felt that it was a possibility, but that was years ago now. Miriam and Sarah had both tried to put that period behind them, and usually they succeeded.

Sarah expertly pulled her SUV into a parallel parking space in a neighborhood of the city that Miriam was not very familiar with.

"Where are we?" Miriam tried to keep any hint of judgement or displeasure out of her voice, but this was not her kind of place.
"Relax, mom. You'll like it. I promise.Try to be open-minded." Sarah sighed audibly and Miriam realized, yet again, that their relationship was always going to be like walking on thin ice. Miriam decided to step carefully.
"It looks...interesting. What kind of food do they serve?"
"The menu's pretty eclectic. It just opened last week. The head chef trained in Paris after working for about fifteen years as a pediatrician."
"He went to medical school for all those years and then just threw it down the toilet?" Miriam could not keep the disgust from seeping into her voice.
"Yup. That is exactly what he did. Come on in, I'll introduce you."
As they walked in the door, they were greeted by a lovely young woman, who lead them to a cozy little booth in the corner. The restaurant was really lovely. Even Miriam had to admit that the ambience was both chic and comfortable.
As both women were reading through the menu, a tall and very attractive dark-haired man walked over to the table. Miriam looked up and seemed genuinely startled.
"Jeff? What on earth are you doing here?"
Sarah laughed and jumped up to give Jeff a hug. "I knew you'd be surprised, mom."
"How on earth did you know he would be here?"
"Mom, you are so clueless sometimes! This is Jeff's restaurant. He's the Doctor turned chef I was telling you about."
"Oh, for heaven's sake. Why must everything be a surprise with you?" Then Miriam got her bearings and stood up to hug this lovely man from their past.

Jeffrey Gordon had grown up in the house across the street from the Steinbergs. When he had first thought about becoming a doctor, as a high school sophomore, he had asked to shadow Miriam at work one week during the winter break. That went so well, that he became a regular summer intern for Miriam and the other doctors in her practice. She had heard, through the grapevine, that he had left medicine to pursue a culinary career, but since he'd moved to Seattle after medical school, Miriam had not stayed in close touch with him. Sometimes, she imagined that if she and Phil had had a son, he would have been a lot like Jeff. He was in school with Abby, but they never really hit it off, even though Miriam tried her best to throw them together whenever she could. Abby and Sarah used to joke that Miriam was grooming Jeff to be Abby's husband.
"I hope you're not too disappointed in me, Dr. S." Jeff slyly winked at Sarah as he said this, alluding to the earlier conversation that they had had about that very subject.
"I'll admit its hard for me to fathom," Miriam said. "All those years of training and then establishing your pediatric practice in Seattle. Seems like a lot to give up."
"All depends how you look at it. To me, I was just embracing the next challenge. I was pretty good at being a doctor, but the future felt very predictable. I guess you could say that I wanted to spice things up."
"Very fitting culinary metaphor," Sarah interjected.
"Listen, I really have to get back to the kitchen, but I've prepared a special tasting menu for you two tonight. My treat. And don't be too hard on me Sarah; you're years ahead of me in this cooking business."
"No worries. I'm just hyper-judgmental about desserts.
Jeff winked at her for the second time that night. "Good thing we only serve yours here then."
"What?" Miriam perked up at the mention of Sarah's business.
"That's right, mom. Sarah's Sweet Cakes is now the official puveyor of desserts for The Urban Appetite."
"What a lovely collaboration, you two. Okay enough talking now. Bring us some food, Jeffrey; I'm famished!"
Sarah was thrilled that the surprise had worked so well and she knew that Jeff was happy that they were there to support him. She was also happy that the restaurant looked full and the diners looked like they were enjoying themselves. She knew how picky people could be about spending their dining out dollars, and she hoped that The Urban Appetite would find a niche here. It would be fun to have Jeff close by again.