The rehearsal dinner was at 7:00pm the next evening in the exquisite backyard of some local politician in Savannah. All day, Aria hadn’t said a word to her mother about what she and JC had discussed, but every time she was alone with Sabrina, it was on the tip of her tongue. Her father was still in love with her mother. She knew that just from the subtle hints he’d told her last night. Now she just had to get her mother to see that she was also in love with JC.

JC hadn’t slept at all the night before. Tinsley had been drunk from a night out with her friends and had ended up staying at another hotel with two of her bridesmaids. He was grateful for that because it gave him cause to think. Aria had pressed him and he’d done everything but tell her “Yes, I’m still in love with your mother.” At the end of the night, he was going to go through with this wedding. Even if it meant destroying any hopes of a future with Sabrina again. He refused to have three broken marriages.

He watched Tinsley throughout the rehearsal as she interacted with his children. Aria was doing her best to put up with her, he could see that. Beckett was obedient except when a bridesmaid had tripped on her heel and scuffed the flooring of the church, making a sound like a fart. He let out a snicker and JC saw Tinsley glare at him. But that had been it. She hadn’t done anything overtly terrible to either of his children and right now all he wanted to do was get through the ceremony and be done with it.

“But Dad, you can’t marry somebody you don’t really love”

“I love Tinsley.”

“You love the idea of her.”

“Aria –“

“Dad, seriously? You’re going to marry this girl who’s not even old enough to be my mom? When you know you’re still in love with the woman who is my mom!”

“Aria, I can’t-“

“And she hates me and Beckett. You can just tell she does.”

“Look, if I see anything that raises an alarm tomorrow I’ll stop it. I’ll stop it all. But I’m not calling off my wedding.”

Aria watched her father as he seated himself next to Tinsley at the main table. He was fidgeting with the tablecloth and lost in his thoughts. She watched Tinsley snake her arm through his and squeeze his hand. He smiled at her and she reached up to kiss him. Aria made a face as she watched her future stepmother grope her father right in front of his kids and everyone in the wedding party. She wished so much for her mother and Kelsey to be sitting with them right now. All she could do was bite her tongue and look away.

“Oh, hello Kelsey and, um, Selina?” Mrs. Shackelford greeted the two women as they entered through the pergola that led to the backyard. 

“Sabrina.” Sabrina cleared her throat and plastered a fake smile on her face. She looked over at Kelsey who rolled her eyes and didn’t hide at all the irritation she felt.

“Oh! Yes. Sabrina. Right. You two are going to sit over there.” Mrs. Shackelford pointed to a table at the very back next to the buffet. “And Alina and Brock will be sitting with their father and Tinsley, of course.”

“Aria and Beckett,” snapped Kelsey, not caring how rude she probably sounded. 

“I’m terrible with names.” Mrs. Shackelford tried to apologize, but Kelsey and Sabrina grabbed hands and marched over to the back table. 

“She’s terrible with names, yet she picked a name for her daughter that sounds like a decoration you put on a Christmas tree,” Sabrina muttered, as they took their seats. Aria and Beckett were already seated toward the front with JC. 

“Oh, hello. How do you know Tinsley and JC?” A woman sitting across from them asked, as she sipped her mint julep.

“We were married to JC.” Sabrina knew how tacky that sounded and was quite pleased with herself. The woman was taken aback and cleared her throat before she spoke again.

“I-I’m sorry?” She looked from Sabrina to Kelsey. 

“No need to be sorry,” Kelsey said, picking up the glass of water in front of her. “Sabrina was married to JC and had his daughter, Aria, and then JC and I got married later and had his son, Beckett. How do you know them?”

“Ah, I, um, I’m Tinsley’s best friend’s mother. My Avery and Tinsley went through grade school to UGA together.” Avery’s mom was uncomfortable and both Kelsey and Sabrina couldn’t help but notice and smirk. “I’m Eloise Lawton.”

“Kelsey Morrissey.” Kelsey held her hand out to Mrs. Lawton.

“Sabrina Victor.” Sabrina did the same and Mrs. Lawton shook both of their hands as if they would explode upon her touch. 

“So..nice to meet you.” Mrs. Lawton didn’t know how to put on a poker face and both Kelsey and Sabrina could see how uncomfortable she was sitting with both of them. Her demeanor immediately changed when a man, who was undoubtedly her husband, came and sat down next to her. “Oh darling, these are, um, these are JC’s former…wives.”

It was hot and humid and Aria was having a hard time finding anything to keep her cool except for subtly splashing a little bit of water onto her face when no one was looking. She noticed how miserable her dad looked and how Tinsley wasn’t even paying attention to him, but was obnoxiously laughing with one of her bridesmaids. 

“…and these are your step kids?” The bridesmaid looked over at Aria and Beckett. She then looked at JC. “How are you old enough to have kids?”

JC glanced at the bridesmaid in pure annoyance. “Trust me. I’m old.”

“Oh baby she was kidding! It was a compliment!” Tinsley took a large sip of wine and let out a breath. “Anyway, you don’t act old! Besides, it’s not like they’ll think of me as a step mom. I’ll be the big sister they never had.”

JC could see the stricken look on both his children’s faces and wanted to say something to refute Tinsley’s statement, but before he could open his mouth, Aria had already opened hers.

“That’s disgusting.” She looked right at Tinsley. “In no universe will you ever be my sister or my mother or-“

“Aria!” JC hissed at his daughter, who looked hurt by his reprimand. “That’s enough.”

Tinsley pursed her lips and smirked at Aria, then leaned over and planted a kiss on JC’s mouth, making sure everyone saw. JC wasn’t kissing her back and Tinsley pressed harder into him until finally he pushed her away.

“What the hell?!” Tinsley looked at JC, pure fire in her eyes.

“That’s not appropriate. We’re in front of family and my kids and-“ 

“I don’t care! You should want to kiss your fiancé whenever she wants to kiss you!”

JC looked at Tinsley as if she were crazy. “Uh, no. That’s not the way it works. And you know I don’t like public displays of affection.”

Kelsey was sipping on her champagne and looked over at the head table to see JC and Tinsley in what could only be a heated argument. She nudged Sabrina. “Um, you need to look over there.”

Sabrina saw Tinsley visibly upset and talking to JC as though she was ready to haul off and slap him. She was rising slowly from her chair and her voice was getting louder and louder.

“…and your kids should be happy they’re getting me as their stepmother! And you should be thrilled you’re finally getting someone like me as your wife!” The last part of her sentence was audible enough that everyone at the rehearsal dinner heard and suddenly Kelsey felt as though she could hear a pin drop.

Nobody spoke a word. Aria and Beckett looked from their father to their mothers and Sabrina motioned for them to come to the table where she was sitting with Kelsey. But neither of them moved. They watched as their father stood up and shook his head at Tinsley. He then looked out at the spectators and Kelsey and Sabrina both knew that he hated it when the spotlight was on him, except when he was performing. JC was a private person and the fact that Tinsley had just put both of them on display like this made his blood boil.

“Tinsley.” His voice was soft but filled with underlying rage. Sabrina reached over and squeezed Kelsey’s hand. Neither of them could look away as they watched their ex-husband and waited for his next move. “I think we need to talk. In private. Now.”

“Uh, everyone please keep enjoying the cocktail hour!” Mrs. Shackelford stood from her table where she and her husband and the Chasez’s were seated. Nobody moved and watched as JC led Tinsley away from the table and around to the other side of the house where they couldn’t be seen.

The guests started to talk again, but the chatter was soft and inaudible. The only sounds were the occasional bird chirping, a plane flying overhead, glasses and silverware tinkling, conversation low and meaningless. Kelsey downed her champagne and Sabrina began to butter another piece of bread. Nobody at their table spoke and both women were secretly wishing they had super powers to hear what JC was telling Tinsley.

Fifteen minutes went by, though it felt like hours, and Mr. Shackelford stood and followed the path to where JC and Tinsley were. A few guests had stood up and were mingling again around the tables, but Aria and Beckett and Sabrina and Kelsey stayed put. The women didn’t have to say anything to each other – they were both wondering if this had been the final straw. 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said Mr. Shackelford from the back of the wraparound veranda that faced the tables. “I regret to inform you that Tinsley has decided to call off the wedding. We ask you to please keep this a private matter and not speak to any of the papers or photographers waiting outside. Thank you for coming.”

“Not speak to anyone? In Savannah? Yeah right.” Kelsey couldn’t help but chuckle to herself, knowing her hometown was infamous for its gossip. This would be front page in all the latest social circles in another hour.

“Um, should we…go check on him?” Sabrina asked Kelsey and before Kelsey could respond, she’d stood up and left their table.

She walked toward the side of the house where she’d seen JC take Tinsley and was soon passing a sobbing Tinsley who was running towards her mother. She saw JC standing there alone, leaning against the pergola. He looked over and gave her a regretful smile.

“You were right.” He didn’t give her a chance to say anything. “She was all wrong for me.”

“I never told you that.” Sabrina went and stood in front of him.

“You didn’t have to.” JC shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. “I knew what you were thinking. Kelsey and Aria both talked to me. I….think I was trying to force something that wasn’t there. Because I never got over what I lost.”

Sabrina felt her face flushing and looked at him questioningly. “Never got over what you lost?”

JC nodded and rubbed his hand through his hair, scratching his neck. It was a habit he had whenever he was nervous, yet somehow that same pose had ended up in several teeny bop magazines in the late 90s. “I never got over losing you.”

“J-“ Sabrina started and JC shook his head. 

“I was horrible to you. And look where it got me. Two failed marriages and a called off wedding. I guess the universe had it out for me when I left you.” He was searching her eyes, trying to see where she stood. Sabrina was doing all she could not to let her guard down. Behind her she could hear the guests leaving and what could only be Tinsley’s loud sobs. She tried to drown it out and focus on her ex-husband.

“Well, you also got two great kids out of those marriages.” Sabrina smiled at him and stepped closer. “And your ex-wives might start hanging out more without the kids. Kelsey’s cool. I like her.”

JC felt himself reaching for Sabrina and soon his hand was softly grasping hers. “Maybe you and I can start hanging out again. You know, without the kids.”

Sabrina bit her lip and looked down at the ground before she looked back up at him. “I don’t know. It might take me a while.”

JC nodded. “I get that. But I’d like to at least try and see what happens.”

“C’mon, let’s go.” Kelsey was rounding up Beckett and Aria and trying not to look at the Shackelford family, who’d become front and center and were gaining support from all of their friends.

“Where are we going? Where’s dad?” Beckett asked and followed his mother and sister. 

“And where’s mom?” Aria was walking next to Kelsey and they passed the Shackelford mob. Tinsley was now wailing loudly. She shot a look at her ex-soon-to-be-stepmother and saw there were no tears anywhere, only obnoxious sobs.

“I think she went to find your dad.” Kelsey moved the kids around the mob and through the hoards of people now leaving the rehearsal dinner. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw JC and Sabrina kissing each other, somehow having maneuvered themselves under the pergola and away from the guests. She smiled to herself, not feeling anything but a sense of relief. 

“Dad!” Beckett was the one to break the kiss and JC and Sabrina looked at each other wide-eyed as though they were two teenagers caught in the act.

“Uh…hey, um-“ JC looked from Sabrina to Kelsey and then to Aria, who was beaming.

“Please don’t let us break that up.” Kelsey winked at Sabrina and then grinned at JC. “I’ll take the kids back to the hotel. Looks like you two have some catching up to do.”

Sabrina couldn’t help but giggle and pull JC closer to her as they watched Kelsey take the kids around the other side of the house. She looked up at him and he smiled at her before pulling her in for one more kiss.