In the few hours between sending everyone home from brunch and getting things ready for the rehearsal dinner, I managed to lubricate my bones and my attitude just a touch, but not too much. My sisters and I lazed about on the piazza with hand fans, shooting the shit in a way that we haven’t had an opportunity to do in ages.

“Brandi seems like a nice girl,” Amelia said as she swung her swollen feet into my lap and wiggled her piggies — a silent overture to have her feet rubbed, which I obliged.

“She is!” I said with a bit too much enthusiasm, but the bourbon probably had a lot to do with that. “I haven’t spent a lot of time getting to know her. It’s hard with them living so far away, but I plan to make more of an effort once they’re back from their honeymoon.”

“Where are they goin’ again?” James asked.

“I got them a week in the Grand Caymans.”

“Wow. Mama and Daddy only sprung for a four-day weekend on Tybee Island,” Amelia grumbled with a tiny twinge of bitterness.

“Well, Jared’s mama has more than enough money to do something twice as nice for him and his new wife,” I countered. “And he’s my only son, so I will always go above and beyond for him.”

“Amen to that,” James said, raising her glass of bourbon.

“How are you feeling about all this?” Amelia asked.

“All of what?”

“I don’t know… It’s a big transition, your kid getting married and going off to start a family of his own. Does it make you wish you had more children?”

My gut clenched. I loved my sister, but I swear she could be petty and manipulative in the worst ways when she felt like she’d been slighted. She dug around and found the place she knew would hurt the most and poked it until she got the reaction she wanted. Knowing this, I bit back the urge to defend myself.

“If it were up to me, I would have. But to answer your question, I’m having mixed feelings about all of this.” I stopped for a moment to sip my drink and find the words to describe what I was feeling.

“I’m happy that Jared has fallen in love and found someone that he wants to spend his life with. I’m excited for a whole new set of milestones and adventures that I can experience with him and through him. And grandbabies… I’m excited to have some of those, too. But…”

When I paused this time, it wasn’t to take a drink. It was to swallow back the tears that had been building since my son told me he’d found the girl he wanted to marry.

“It just isn’t happening the way you thought it would,” James finished for me. “That’s not your fault, Darcy.”