Josh reached for the paper, cutting her off. “Thank you.”
Megan’s mother gave the clerk a strange look. “What did you start to call—?”
“Mom,” Megan interrupted, putting an arm around her mother’s shoulders and squeezing as she pulled her away from the clerk. “How about you and I get a photo together?”
“Really?” she asked, sounding shocked.
“Of course,” Megan said, her tone softening. Josh was surprised by how happy the older woman looked.
The photographer shook his head and grimaced. Two days ago, Josh might have reacted the same way, but now he was learning to take things in stride. The photographer snapped several shots—Josh joining halfway through—before Megan dropped her hold on her mother.
“Thank you, Mr . . . ?”
“Steve,” the photographer supplied, picking his bag up off the chair.
“Thank you, Steve.”
“See you tomorrow,” he said, waving as he walked out the door.
Josh saw Megan’s slight flinch, and he knew it was from guilt. How could he get her to agree to carry this on through tomorrow?
Before he was even out the door, Knickers looked Megan and Josh up and down, her disapproval returning. “The rehearsal’s in two hours. You two better hurry home if you’re going to be at the gardens by six.”
She grabbed the corner of the folded license in Josh’s hand and tugged, but Josh didn’t let go. “I’ll hold onto it until tomorrow.”
“No, that’s okay.” He tugged back. “I’ve got it.”
She pulled harder. “I think it’s better if I take it.”
Josh didn’t want to get into a tug-of-war with Megan’s mother, but there was no way in hell he was letting Nicole Vandemeer take the marriage license, which included his full, proper name, with her. He pulled back. “No, Nicole. I insist.”
The clerk stood behind the counter, her mouth hanging open. She shook herself out of her stupor. “If you rip that up, you’ll have to pay for a new one.”
Josh and Megan had barely scrounged together the money to pay for the first one. He gave a hard jerk and pulled it free. Knickers gasped as she stumbled backward, righting herself before she fell over.
Megan just watched the wrestling match with wide eyes.
Holding the paper to his chest, Josh said, “Megan, your mom’s right, we better go if we’re going to get to the rehearsal in time.”
She nodded, still speechless, and rushed toward the door, snagging Josh’s hand as she bolted. Nicole still hadn’t moved an inch—apparently frozen in place with shock—but she came to her senses as they hurried out the door.
“Whatever you do, do not lose that paper.”
Josh slowed down once they were halfway down the hallway, and Megan gave him a questioning glance.
“She does realize we’re adults, doesn’t she?” His disbelief was bleeding into irritation. “Professional, fully functional adults.”
Megan laughed as she opened the door to the stairwell. “Hello. Have you met my mother?”
Josh followed her and let the door close behind him. “She accused me of potentially losing our marriage license, Megan. Who would lose their marriage license?”
She stopped and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his. “You’re pretty cute when you get all indignant like that.”
He laughed, pulling her to his chest. “Cute, huh?”
A playful grin spread across her face as she looked up at him and said in a mock serious tone, “Okay, you looked so sexy wrestling that paper from my fifty-eight-year-old mother.”
He leaned his head back and laughed. “It wasn’t easy. She has an iron grip.”
“Well, I’m glad you hung in there and won. I almost died when she tried to take it. That would have been a disaster.”
His smile fell, and he searched her eyes. “What if she had gotten it?”
She turned serious. “But she didn’t.”
“What if she found out I wasn’t Jay?” He held his breath as he watched her inner battle play out on her face. He wasn’t sure why he was asking, except he still held out a cockeyed optimistic hope that they’d figure out a way to make this work when it was all said and done.
She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his shoulder. “Josh.”
His hand slid up her back, rubbing in slow circles. “It’s okay. Don’t answer that. I just . . .” His voice trailed off.
“I know.”
He leaned back and offered her a smile. “Let’s go get ready for our wedding rehearsal.”
“You mean our breakup.”
He didn’t answer. He’d lied to her enough. He didn’t feel like lying anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Hours later, Josh was frustrated for so many reasons. He and Megan hadn’t counted on how badly Friday rush hour traffic would delay their drive to her parents’ home. Knickers had shown up only minutes behind them, along with everyone else, to get ready for the evening. Everyone congregated in the living room as Knickers barked out last-minute orders, as if she were in the marines with Kevin. Megan was already on edge, thinking dinner would be ground zero for their breakup, so when Knickers announced that he needed to pack his belongings because he wouldn’t be spending the night at the Vandemeer home, Megan flipped her shit.
“What?”
“Megan,” Knickers had said in her snooty, condescending tone. “It’s the night before your wedding. You can’t spend the night together.”
Megan stood at the base of the stairs. “I’m a grown woman! I can make my own decisions!”
Her mother pursed her lips with determination. “It’s already been decided. Your father and I have booked a hotel room for Josh.”
“You can’t just decide on something like that without asking us first!” Megan shouted.
Josh was proud of her for finally taking a stand, even if it was for a cause she had to see as pointless. She thought he was breaking up with her tonight, in which case he wouldn’t have stayed at the house anyway. But he worried that she was going to spill everything. That couldn’t happen yet . . . not when he and Noah were so close to getting the answers they needed.
Josh put a hand on Megan’s arm. “Megan, it’s okay.”
She turned to look up at him, tears in her eyes. “No, it’s not, Josh.”
Then it hit him. She was upset that he was leaving. Period. Relief seeped through him before the aftertaste of guilt bit in. While he was grateful for the confirmation that she wanted more with him, he hated to see her this upset.
He pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay, Meggie,” he whispered in her ear as he stroked the back of her head. “We’ll work everything out. I promise.”
She clung to him, and in that moment he wanted nothing more than to run away with her. But he couldn’t, as much as it killed him. His employees were in trouble because of someone else’s wrongdoing, and they needed his help. “Nicole,” he said over the top of Megan’s head. “It’s fine. I’ll pack up before we leave, and I’ll have Noah take me to the hotel later.”