Victoria madly dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief hoping that her makeup hadn’t run down her face and that perhaps there was a little of it left.

Ali and Sam had been so cute walking down the aisle, she’d never had a chance to even try and keep her emotions intact.

Scott rested his hand atop hers. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I cry at weddings. It’s my curse.”

He patted her hand. “It’s perfectly acceptable.”

The pews were emptying out and Scott took her hand, interlaced their fingers, and they followed the guests out to the front of the church where the bride and groom would greet everyone.

Ali and Sam broke free of Avery’s hands the moment they saw her. Sam ran to her quickly and she knelt down to scoop him up. “You did a good job.”

“Rings!” He grinned.

“That’s right.”

“Did you see all of my flowers?” Ali stood next to her looking up at her.

“I did! Did you have fun?”

Ali nodded enthusiastically.

Victoria looked up and noticed the reception line was moving along. Suddenly the nerves which had sickened her all morning now threatened to kill her in that line. Avery met guests with Spencer. Tyler seemed to have slipped away and she wondered if she should find him just to give her an excuse to leave the line as well.

Warner and Clara were the next to greet guests and Clara scooped up Ali and held her on her waist.

“I think Darcy made the right choice when she decided on a flower girl.”

“She said I can keep the basket too,” Ali said.

“She sure did.” Clara set Ali down on the ground. “Thank you for letting them do this on such short notice.”

“They were thrilled,” she squeaked out as Clara’s husband Warner stepped out of the receiving line, leaving Christian exposed to her.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but an older woman had him deep in conversation—or was giving him an earful of her conversation.

“Let me take him,” Scott said reaching for Sam who easily went to him.

With Ali between them they took a step toward Christian at the same moment Scott slid his arm around her waist.

Victoria’s breath caught in her lungs. Scott knew nothing of Christian. He was an innocent party to the deceiving reason she’d invited him to the wedding. But she couldn’t have faced the Kellers alone. Christian had kicked her and her newly inherited family to the curb, figuratively of course.

She’d gone out with Scott a few times over the past month and he was a nice and gentle man. He hadn’t been too forward. Not once had he suggested she let him spend the night or ditch the kids and stay with him. They’d shared a few heated kisses, though they were weak in comparison to even the memory of Christian’s kisses. But Scott was mentally healthy and happy. He loved the kids. There were so many positives. The only negative about him—he wasn’t Christian Keller.

The woman who had been talking to Christian moved on to embrace Darcy and kiss both of her cheeks and he turned to look at her.

“Hello, Tori.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Hello, Chris.”

“I heard all about this dress. You look lovely.”

She’d noticed that he’d never even looked at the dress. His eyes were firm on hers.

“I’m Scott Foster.”

Scott held his hand out to Christian and she saw Christian’s jaw tighten.

“Christian Keller, brother of the groom.”

“Nice to meet you. It was a very nice wedding.”

“It was perfect wasn’t it?” Darcy offered resting a hand on Christian’s shoulder. “Tori, you look beautiful.”

She pulled her into an embrace and then pulled back to look at her.

Victoria felt her cheeks heat. “You were all too kind to buy me the dress.”

“And thank you for letting me use the kids.” Darcy knelt down among the many layers of her dress to be at Ali’s height. “You were the perfect flower girl.”

“I can keep the basket right?”

Darcy smiled. “You can.”

“Rings!” Sam said loudly still perched on Scott’s hip.

Darcy stood. “And you did wonderful too.” She lifted on her toes to kiss his cheek before extending her hand toward Scott. “I’m Darcy Keller…Oh, doesn’t that sound cool?”

Ed wrapped his arm around Darcy’s shoulders. “Most perfect name ever.” He kissed her on the cheek and held his hand out to Scott. “Eduardo Keller.”

“Scott Foster.”

Victoria looked to Scott’s side and realized that at some point Christian had slipped away. She pressed her hand to her stomach where she was sure a lead ball had dropped.

They’d pleasantly made it though the rest of the line and she’d introduced Scott to everyone along the way. It had been perfect Keller charm too—not one of them giving her pity or making Scott feel unwelcomed. In fact, if Chris himself didn’t say anything, Scott might never know what the family meant to her at all.

They walked to the car and strapped the kids into their seats. When Victoria sat in her seat and latched the seat belt, Scott looked at her.

“It was a nice wedding,” he said starting the engine.

She closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the seat. “It sure was.”

Scott backed out of the parking lot and headed toward the Opryland Hotel. “You’re pretty close with the Kellers, huh?”

“Yeah,” she said on a sigh.

“Christian Keller? He was a ball player with your brother-in-law, right?”

Victoria licked her lips to moisten her mouth. “Uh-huh.”

Scott reached for her hand and interlaced their fingers. He ran his thumb over hers in the most intimate of gestures and Victoria thought of how sweet they must look—this family dressed in their best, very cozy in Scott’s Lexus.

She let the tension roll out of her shoulders.

Scott gave her a glance and then turned his eyes back to the road. “So how long did you and Christian Keller date?”

The tension was back, but this time it stiffened every muscle in her body. The weight in her stomach was back too and it literally made her sick. She knew she’d tightened the grip she had on Scott’s hand.

“What makes you think we dated?”