Worth the Risk_ A Contemporary - Megan Hart Page 0,220

you to look over,” said Mrs. Gold from across the table. Her bracelet clinked on her water glass as she reached to hand Josie a folder. “Daddy and I thought we’d go ahead and order the stationary now so you could get a head start on addressing your thank you card envelopes.”

Josie caught Jack’s glance and almost heard his words in her head. At least she was asking them before she ordered it.

Josie took the folder. She’d always thought Mrs. Gold was pretty mild-mannered, until the wedding plans began. She’d seen her and Jack in their share of arguments, but it wasn’t until the past few months she’d appreciated why.

She took a deep breath and put a smile on her face. “Actually, I was just going to pick up some plain cards from the store…” She pulled out the first set of samples. Creamy ivory paper with embossed letters of raised gold. She brushed it with her fingers. “This is really pretty. Oh, but this one wouldn’t work.”

She held up the card with the ornate ‘G’ on the front.

“No?” Mrs. Gold frowned and looked over her glasses. “Too fancy?”

“No.” Josie chuckled and sifted through the other samples. They were all ornate. “The letter. My last name starts with ‘L.’”

“Sure, it does now,” put in Mr. Gold. “But after you’re married it won’t.”

Josie shot a look at Jack, who gave the faintest of shoulder shrugs and the minutest of eye rolls. She frowned. He hadn’t told them.

“I’m not changing my name,” she said, figuring it was best to be upfront.

You’d have thought she’d said she was going to sacrifice a virgin by the expression on their faces. She bit her lip against a smile. It wasn’t funny, nor was it unexpected. It was just…melodramatic.

“Not? Why? What, what, what?” Mrs. Gold’s voice made the diners at the other tables turn to stare.

“Ma,” Jack said impatiently. “Calm down.”

“What, you don’t like the name Gold?” Mr. Gold’s tone was blustering and teasing, but Josie knew he was serious.

“I love the name Gold,” she said soothingly. “But my name is Levine. It’s the name I’ve had all my life. I like it.”

“It’s a fine name,” said Mrs. Gold in a wavering voice. “But you’re getting married, Josephine.”

Oh, shit, there it went with the Josephine thing again. “Francine,” she said gently, “lots of women keep their names after they get married.”

“Jack?” Mrs. Gold asked.

At least they hadn’t graduated to Jacob, which showed her they weren’t blaming him for her waywardness. At least, not yet.

“Josie is allowed to call herself by any name she wants,” Jack said firmly. His hand found hers under the table and squeezed. “It’s her name.”

“But what about the children?” Mrs. Gold cried.

“They’ll have Jack’s name,” Josie replied quickly. Not that they were thinking of kids any time soon. “No worries.”

Mrs. Gold’s fingers plucked at her napkin. “Well, then I suppose I’ll have to use that stationary for myself.”

“Ma!” Jack cried. “Why’d you order it without talking to us first?”

Her mouth thinned as she glared at him. “How was I supposed to know she wasn’t going to change her name?”

“You could’ve asked,” Jack shot back. His hand tightened on Josie’s, crushing her fingers together against the metal band of her engagement ring. She winced.

“Jacob,” said Mrs. Gold.

And that was it, Josie thought. It took a lot to make Jack mad, but when he got there, it wasn’t a pretty sight. She just sat back and kept her mouth shut, sharing a commiserating look with Mr. Gold, who’d certainly suffered through enough of the battles between his son and his wife to know what to expect.

“I only wanted to do something nice for the two of you,” Mrs. Gold was saying plaintively.

“No, Ma. You wanted us to send thank you notes on the cards you picked out. You had no intentions of finding out what we wanted to use.”

“What, it’s so wrong to want to buy you a gift?”

“Then you should’ve just given us the box, Ma, instead of pretending you cared what we liked.”

Mrs. Gold sniffed. “Well, it’s a good thing I did ask, isn’t it? Since you can’t use them anyway?”

“Then don’t complain about the fact you bought them,” Jack snapped. He let go of Josie’s hand and pushed his chair back, lacing his fingers behind his head. “God, Ma, you can be so sneaky sometimes.”

Even Josie gasped at that line. She bit down on her exclamation, not because she didn’t agree with him, but because saying it sounded so harsh. But