Mine To Have (Southern Wedding 1)

She leans over and pours another two fingers, and I smile at her and take the glass, laughing at the irony of this. I down it again and then look over at Bennett, who just stands there waiting for whatever I am going to say. "Wedding is off," I say to him, and he just puts his hand in front of his mouth. I don’t look at Harlow, I can’t, and when I get up, my sisters are at my side. I hold up my hand to stop them from talking and walk over to the stage.

I grab the microphone and turn it on. I tap it once to see if there is a sound that comes on. I look out at the people who have gathered now and see Jake, Frankie, and Chris standing by the door, and they just chin up to me. I look over toward my mother, who looks like she’s about to storm the stage as she stands with my sisters. "Testing, one two three," I say as my voice fills the venue. "Hi, everyone." I lift my hand awkwardly. "First off, I’d like to thank you all for coming," I say, looking around and seeing that Jennifer’s parents aren’t here. No doubt they took off with Jackie to see her. "I want to thank my sisters for everything they did to make this day special." I look over to them and know that they are all standing together now, glaring at me for something that they will be sure to tell me as soon as I step down. "With that said," I continue. "We have to announce that the wedding is off." There are gasps all over the room, especially from my mother, who is now glaring at me also. "Thank you to everyone for coming out, and I invite you to make full use of the bar." I point over to the bar where the guys have now made their way, along with Rachel, Victoria, and Lydia. "And if I’m not mistaken, there is also some food coming." I look at my sisters. "I hope." I turn the mic off and walk down the steps, and my sisters are the first ones to pounce on me.

Shelby says, looking around, "Um, where is Jennifer?"

"At the hospital," I state, and I try to walk past her and toward the bar because something tells me I should have another drink. It might not be a great idea given that people will want to try to talk to me, but whatever.

"So, is this wedding postponed?" Clarabella is the one with the big enough balls to ask me.

"No," I confirm, shaking my head. "Definitely canceled." I look up at the ceiling and can feel the pounding headache coming on. Or maybe it’s the booze.

"Fuck," Presley curses. "Incoming." She tries to give me a warning, but it’s not enough time when my mother steps in front of them.

"Excuse me," she says, looking around to see if there is anyone within earshot so she knows whether or not she can curse me out or not. Luckily for everyone, they are too busy whispering to each other, no doubt making up different stories. "Where is Jennifer?" She doesn’t even give me time to answer. "Can we not get the minister and get married at the hospital?" She looks around, searching for the minister.

"Um, the minister never showed," Shelby says, and I can’t help but laugh. If there were ever signs to say not to get married, this was the signs of all signs.

"Of course." I shake my head. "I want to know what did go right?"

"It’s fine," Clarabella says. "I’m ordained, so I would have been able to jump in."

"Well, then good thing it’s not happening," I say, and I try to walk away from them, but I can’t move.

"Just a minute, young man," my mother says, and my sisters laugh and then stop when my mother gives them that look.

"Young man?" Shelby is the one who can’t keep her face straight. "He’s almost thirty. We have to drop the young."

"Why aren’t you going back to the hospital with her?" My mother asks the question indirectly. She cocks one hip and waits for my answer.

"Because, Mom, we broke up," I explain, and Bennett shows up out of nowhere.

"Sorry to interrupt," he says, handing me a glass with scotch in it. "Thought you might need this." He looks around at the group. "To help with this." His hand does a circle of the group. "I’ll have another brought to you right away."

"More than you can ever know," I mumble and finish off the drink. He turns and walks away, going back to the bar. "Bottom line is it’s over and…" I don’t know what else I was going to say. The burning of my stomach is now replaced with warm heat. "Turns out she didn’t want to get married." I leave out the part that she didn’t want to marry me and that she was in love with Jackie. That’s not for me to share.