The Goy Next Door (Girl Meets Goy #2)

Epilogue

“But who will marry you?” Savannah asked when Leah showed her the ring. “A rabbi? Certainly not ours! A priest?”

Leah hadn’t thought about that yet. For the last two days she had simply been over the moon by Gabe’s proposal. To be honest, she had sort of been expecting it. They’d been dating for two years and it had been mostly smooth sailing. How appropriate that he had proposed romantically on a yacht on the Hudson River.

“We haven’t discussed any logistics yet,” Leah responded to her mother, a pang of disappointment vibrating through her. While her mother hadn’t been happy about Leah’s relationship, she had tried to accept it over the last two years. In the beginning she’d joked that Leah was sowing her wild oats, but those comments faded over time and after a while, Savannah had even agreed to letting Gabe come over for the holidays with their family. Leah even suspected that Savannah might feel a slight affinity for Gabe. After all, he was always the first to help clear the table and offer to do dishes after a big meal. And he always remembered the stories Savannah had told them about her friends at the temple.

How’s Suzie doing since her cancer diagnosis? What table did you end up at for the Bernstein bar mitzvah? How was the Levine wedding?

Savannah seemed to love that someone was listening to her stories and she was happy enough to fill Gabe in, even if she had to explain exactly what it meant when Noah Bernstein’s voice cracked during his Haftorah portion or how nervous she was that Jennifer would trip when doing the seven circles around her groom because her dress’ train was so long! Gabe listened intently and always asked the right questions.

“Mom, I’d really love it if you could just be happy for me,” Leah said, remembering when she’d gotten engaged with Asher. Her mother had been happy and excited to start wedding planning.

“Well, I am, but…” Savannah said.

“But what?”

“Well, honey, I hope you’re taking this seriously,” Savannah said. “You remember when I told you about my first husband? And how we got divorced?”

“This is nothing like that!” Leah responded.

“Well, it’s not the first time you’ve gotten engaged, so…” Savannah paused.

Leah sighed. She wanted to cry. She knew that being in an interfaith relationship was challenging, but she had thought that her mother had accepted it. She had thought that maybe Savannah saw what a good person Gabe was and that maybe his religion wasn’t the only defining thing about him.

“I support you, honey, but I hope you understand this isn’t going to be easy,” Savannah said.

Leah nodded. She understood. No one ever said marriage was easy, even when both parties were Jewish. But it’s possible she didn’t quite realize how difficult it would prove to become.