Recipe for a Happy Life: A Novel (34 page)

Somewhere between the gazpacho and the steaks, my grandmother tells Nate that he should go ahead and marry me so that she can give us the Mattress King’s estate as a wedding gift. Nate wonders aloud whether or not said gift would come with the staff of five, and I tell Nate under my breath that we’re not getting married.

I mean for only Nate to hear it, but Hunter hears it, too.

“So, you two are just going to live in sin?” he asks, and then takes a huge bite of corn.

“Yes,” I say. “We’re going to live in sin. But don’t you live in sin.”

“Why can’t we live in sin?” Skylar asks.

“Nate and I are much, much older than you,” I say. And then, just for emphasis, I say again: “Much.”

“She’s thirty-four,” Hunter whispers to Skylar, and she tells him that she knows.

“So, you’re not going to marry me?” Nate asks, mouth full of corn. I look for that tiny smile on his lips, but it’s not there. There’s a slight wrinkle to his brow, and I realize he is serious.

“Why,” I say with a laugh, “are you asking?”

“Not yet, but soon.”

“I can’t marry you,” I say. “You know that. Marrying me would be the kiss of death. In fact, you should get as far away from me as you can. Hasn’t anyone told you about our family curse?”

“There is no family curse,” my grandmother interjects, half to Adan, the other half to Nate’s parents. “I don’t know where she gets these crazy ideas.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Nate says, and his face breaks into a huge grin. He leans over and kisses me gently on the lips. I try not to think about the fact that our entire families are around us, watching us, but I still do. I pull away after a second and take a sip of my iced tea.

All this talk about marriage makes me think about walking down the aisle, about the last aisle I walked down, at my mother’s funeral.

Nate’s mother breaks my train of thought.

“That’s okay,” Nate’s mom says. “There’s no pressure to get married. Whenever you’re ready, we can just have a little garden party to celebrate your union. Nothing big. Just a few friends from the neighborhood.”

“You can put together a wedding in a few weeks?” my grandmother asks. This question is clearly a test. I know what she’s thinking: that she and her team of experts can put together a wedding in one.

“We’re not getting married,” I say. “There’s no wedding to plan.”

“Yet,” Nate says. He doesn’t even bother to say it under his breath.

“When a mother is motivated,” Nate’s mom says, “she can do anything she sets her mind to. But for the record, I’ve put together bigger parties in less time.”

I look over at my grandmother and she is beaming from ear to ear. And just like that, Nate’s mom and my grandmother are best friends.

“I love a good garden party,” my grandmother says.

“Who doesn’t?” Nate’s mother responds, and they both dissolve into a fit of laughter.

I’m not sure if they’re laughing at me, or laughing because they’re so happy to have the families get along so well, since it’s clear we’re all going to be a part of one another’s lives for a very long time. It doesn’t really matter, though. I’m just glad they’re getting along.

I used to think that my grandmother and I were cursed. I don’t believe that anymore. Now I try to take life day by day, to enjoy every moment. I’ve learned to savor an afternoon spent poolside with my grandmother where we discuss nothing more than the color of our toenails, just as I enjoy an ordinary Monday night when Nate and I stay home and do nothing but balance our checkbook. Because, as it turns out, life is made up of these little random moments, and appreciating them is the recipe for a happy life.

Acknowledgments

Words are not enough to thank my agent and friend, Mollie Glick. It has been so wonderful to be on this journey with you. Thank you for your amazing insights, endless support, and thoughtful guidance. You always have time for me and I am so grateful. And Katie Hamblin, it’s been so fabulous to have you on my side. Your constant help and attention were just what I needed. Big thanks go out to the entire Foundry family, especially Kirsten Neuhaus and Stéphanie Abou.

To my editor, Brenda Copeland, I am so happy that
Recipe
found a home with you. Your insightful edits made this book what it is—every suggestion of yours made this book better and stronger. I knew that the power of Brendas was a very powerful thing, indeed! To Laura Chasen, I’m so thankful you are on my team. It’s been wonderful working with you, and also getting to know you.

I’m so incredibly lucky to be at St. Martin’s. I can’t offer enough thanks to the whole team—this has been such an outstanding experience, and I’m so fortunate that
Recipe
is just the beginning of our journey together. Endless thanks go to Adrian C. James, Matthew Shear, Sally Richardson, Eileen Rothschild, and Laura Flavin.

Special thanks go to my parents, Bernard and Sherry Janowitz, and the rest of my loving family—Janowitzes and Luxenbergs alike. I couldn’t do it without you.

Lynda Curnyn and Tracy Marx, you read through countless first drafts of this book and your smart observations helped to set me on the right track. You are wonderful friends and even better writers!

Shawn Morris, Jennifer Moss, Danielle Schmelkin—my first readers and my dear friends. Your constant love and encouragement help me to keep writing. You are exactly what every writer needs.

My wonderful writer friends who have been a constant source of support, encouragement, and advice: JP Habib, Kristin Harmel, Debbie Honorof, Ellen Meister, Lynn Messina, Saralee Rosenberg, Allison Winn Scotch, Melissa Senate, Alex Sokoloff, Alix Strauss, and Anne Trubek. And especially Karin Gillespie, Melissa Clark, Maggie Marr, and everyone at the Girlfriends Book Club.

And to my readers. Well, I just couldn’t do this without you. Thank you!

Finally, the biggest thank-you goes out to my husband, Douglas Luxenberg. As Ben says, you are my honey. You are also my everything.

And to my children, Ben and Davey, you have taught me so much about what it is to be a mother, what it is to love, but even more about how to live a happy life.

A Reading Group Guide

1. Vivienne gives Hannah a lot of advice throughout the novel: about men, about beauty routines, about how to be happy. At the beginning of chapter eleven, Vivienne tells Hannah that “It’s all about figuring out what someone wants and giving it to them.” Do you agree?

2. Vivienne tells Hannah that for a marriage to work, the man must love the woman more. Why do you think Hannah was so upset by this advice?

3. Do you think Hannah and Nate should get married? Will they?

4. Vivienne offers to let Hannah stay with her and support her financially. If a close relative gave you such an offer, would you consider it?

5. Vivienne is a widow six times over. Hannah jokes that she is cursed, but part of her believes it’s true. Do you?

6. Hannah finds out that Vivienne has been hiding an enormous secret for years. Did this change how you view Vivienne?

7. Gray tells Hannah that she gave her the name “Hannah” because it means Grace, and in many ways Gray views Hannah as an extension of her. But Hannah tells us, “I’d much rather resemble my grandmother.” Do you think Hannah is more similar to Gray or Vivienne?

8. What is your recipe for a happy life?

For more reading group suggestions, visit
www.readinggroupgold.com
.

Also by Brenda Janowitz

Jack with a Twist

Scot on the Rocks

About the Author

BRENDA JANOWITZ attended Cornell University and Hofstra Law School, where she was a member of the Law Review and won the Law Review Writing Competition. Janowitz has worked as a lawyer, and as a career counselor at two New York City law schools. She is the author of
Jack with a Twist
and
Scot on the Rocks.
Her work has also appeared in the
New York Post
and
Publishers Weekly.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE.
Copyright © 2013 by Brenda Janowitz. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Cover design by Olga Grlic

Cover photograph © Jim Franco/Getty Images

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

    Janowitz, Brenda.

    Recipe for a happy life: a novel / Brenda Janowitz.—1st ed.

        p.  cm.

    ISBN 978-1-250-00786-5 (trade pbk.)

    ISBN 978-1-4668-4022-5 (e-book)

  I.  Title.

    PS3610.A584R43 2013

    813'.6—dc23

2013009321

e-ISBN 9781466840225

First Edition: July 2013