"You know you have to go."
Kelly looked up, narrowing her eyes at him. "I do not," she sighed, pushing the invitation across the table towards him. "I just don't get it. Why would he do this? Why would he send an invitation to me?"
Kevin smiled, taking a sip of his coffee. "Ummm, just a guess but maybe because he wants you to be there?"
"That's not what I meant and you know it. That would be like me getting married and sending you an invitation to my engagement party. You're gonna try and tell me that wouldn't be weird?"
"Well, when you say it like that…." Kevin sighed. This whole situation was way too complicated.
"Come on, we lived together, we were married for God's sake. We…" Her voice trailed off as she stared across the table, her eyes resting on the photo hanging on the wall behind his head.
Kevin turned, following her gaze. "You're wondering if things would be different if he knew…"
Kelly nodded, her eyes burning with tears. "To go back now and face him…especially now when he's about to start a life without someone else…I just don't know if I can…"
"You don't know if you can keep lying to him?" Kevin walked across the room, taking her hands in his. "Maybe this was what you've been waiting for..maybe this was that sign you've been talking about for months now…the sign that the time was right to tell him."
"So what? I just waltz into town and show up at his doorstep. Do I drop the bombshell before or after I introduce myself to his fiancé?"
Kevin stared at her. "You can try and talk yourself out of this all you want, Kel, but you and I both know what you have to do here. It's the right thing and I think you know that."
"Two more yeses," Aubrey chirped, smiling as she placed checks by the names on the guest list. "We may have to look into reserving a bigger room at the Palace."
Joey stepped up behind her, bending down and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "I'm not surprised," he smiled. "All our friends and family want to wish us well, and why wouldn't they? They can see how happy you make me."
Aubrey kissed his cheek, running her finger down the list. "We still have a few people who haven't responded yet though," she sighed. "I have people that don't RSVP. It's so tacky."
"Who are our holdouts?" Joey asked, his eyes immediately scanning the page for Kelly's name.
"Your so called best friend for one," Aubrey scoffed. "She's your best friend and yet she can't take the time to send a response card for your engagement party?"
"Hey," Joey stood up, a little surprised at how immediate the instinct still was to defend Kelly. "Kelly and I have been friends for years. She's brought me through a lot of tough times. She and I have shared a lot together. She'll be here…she wouldn't miss this."
Aubrey studied his face for a moment. "Been through a lot together, huh? Sounds like you and Kelly might be more than friends….should I be jealous?" She giggled, stepping over to him to wrap her arms around him and stopping short when she noted a serious expression on his face.
"Joey," she said, pulling back. "Is there something you need to tell me about your relationship with Kelly?"
"Well," Joey began. "Before you go and get all crazy, you need to understand that I love you and I'm marrying you, so whatever Kelly and I were to each other…that's in the past."
"So you were more than friends?" Aubrey felt the familiar sting of jealously rising in her stomach. Suddenly the thought of Kelly's presence at their party made her more than a little uncomfortable. "So what is it, Joey? Exactly how close were the two of you?"
"Actually, Kelly and I were college sweethearts," Joey began, relieved when he saw the smile spread across Aubrey's face.
"Awww, that's so sweet," Aubrey giggled. "Well, okay…I can deal with the puppy love thing." She smiled, kissing him quickly on the lips before turning and heading back to the guest list. "You had me worried there for a minute, I thought you were going to tell me the two of you were engaged or something."
Joey walked in front of her. "More like married," Joey said quietly. "Is this going to be a problem for us?"
"Aubrey," He stared into her eyes, the wide blue orbs flashed with emotion. Anger, hurt, fear—maybe a mix of all three, he wasn't sure, but the silence unnerved him. Aubrey wasn't the strong silent type. "Aubrey," he said again, "just say something. I mean, I know I should have told you, but I wasn't sure how to explain everything and I didn't want to make it sound worse than what it was and…"
"Just shut up…shut up for a minute." She felt sick. That was all supposed to be a con—a quick money making scheme, but she had come to care about Joey somewhere along the way. At some point, he'd become more than an easy mark. That was why Cutter had taken off weeks ago. He could see the change in her. He could tell her heart wasn't in the plan anymore. Her feelings were all tangled up…with Joey right in the middle of it.
He swallowed hard. She was angry and she had every right to be. "I know you're upset," he began.
"Yeah, Joey. I'm upset. I'm upset that you neglected to tell me that you'd been married before. I'm upset that you neglected to tell me that the woman you call your best friend is also your ex-wife, and I am upset that you found it appropriate to invite her to our engagement party!"
"Aubrey, you don't understand. Kelly and I….we…she's not like a normal ex-wife. It's not like that."
"No, it certainly doesn't sound like that. It sounds like it's all very civil. She's your best friend. She's your buddy, your pal….I know, let's uh move to one of those communes and she and I can be sister wives!"
"Come on, Aubrey," Joey spat, his own voice rising in frustration. "Yeah, Kelly and I are still friends. We were friends before we started dating and we stayed friends after our marriage didn't work out. It's not like we just got divorced last week. It's been years ago."
"How many years?" Aubrey started at him, blinking back tears. "How long ago…how long were you with her?"
"We were married over ten years ago, Aubrey. It's in the past. I'm telling you." He stepped closer to her, hesitating as he reached out. "A lot changes in ten years."
"And that's the last time? That's the last time you were with her? Ten years ago?"
Joey sighed. "Kelly lives in London with my brother and their son."
"Your brother?" Aubrey's eyes widened.
"Yeah, look…it's complicated. But what you need to understand is that we're all close. We see each other, we visit. That doesn't mean that there's something going on between us."
"You didn't answer my question," Aubrey said softly. "When was the last time you were with Kelly. I'm not talking about a family dinner or a soccer game! When was the last time you shared a bed with your ex-wife?"
Joey hesitated. That was the one question he was hoping she wouldn't ask.
"Are you sure you want me to come with you?" Kevin stood in the doorway, watching her as she methodically packed her bags.
"Yeah, I mean…I think, given the circumstances, it will probably be good to have someone else there. I'm going to need the help, after all."
"Alright," Kevin nodded. "You want to tell me the plan?"
Kelly sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed as she slowly lifted an piece of clothing from the stack. "I wish to God I knew," she whispered. "The last time I saw Joey..the last time we were together, I would have never dreamed I'd be in this position….I would have never imagined that I'd be sitting here, talking to you, wondering how to tell him something like this."
Kevin took a seat on the bed beside her. "Are you afraid he's going to be angry with you," he asked, gently brushing her hair away from her face, "Because, Kel, I really don't think you have to worry about Joey holding a grudge. The man loves you…no matter who he's engaged to, no matter who he's trying to convince himself he wants to marry…he loves you."
She shook her head. "I'm not worried about him being angry. I'm worried about hurting him…again. It's the last thing I want to do and yet it's all I ever seem to do. I just keep hurting him over and over again."
"You can say it, you know?" She looked over at Kevin, who'd been silent for the last several minutes.
"Say what?" he asked cautiously, all too aware of how quickly this could turn into a full-fledged meltdown.
"You told me so." She smiled slightly as she heard him scoff at the notion. "You did, you know."
"I would never say that and you know it." Kevin reached out, pulling her closer to him as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Was I afraid that something like this would end up happening one day? Yeah, I was. I just didn't want you to feel forced into doing something. I wanted you to be able to tell Joey when you felt it was right…not because you felt like you had to."
"I know. I know I should have told him from the beginning. It all would have been so much easier if I had just picked up the phone and called him. I don't know what I was so afraid of. I meant it's Joey…"
"Exactly," Kevin said softly, smiling as her head fell on his shoulder. "It's Joey. He's loved you since you were kids."
"You really think he'll be ok? This is his engagement party, Kev. I'm going to his engagement party." She put her hands over her face. "I couldn't have screwed this up anymore if I'd tried."
"Well, you wouldn't be you if you didn't bring the drama," he said softly, smiling as she lifted her head and glared at him playfully. "Besides, you will be bringing him a hell of a wedding present."
Kelly nodded. "Yeah," she whispered swallowing hard and closing her eyes. This flight might be the longest one of her life.
"It's a pretty simple question, Joey," Aubrey repeated, her patience waning with each passing moment. "You insist that you and Kelly ended years ago and yet when I ask you about the last time you were with her, you have guilt plastered all over your face."
She stood for a moment, waiting for a response.
His mind raced. How did he say this? How did he tell her the truth without making it sound like a betrayal. "Aubrey," he started, already feeling his throat tighten with anxiety.
"You know what, forget it," she snapped, grabbing the guest list from the desk. "I need to make some calls…let these people know that there's not gonna be any engagement party. I'm not gonna marry a guy that can't even answer a simple question."
"Aubrey, wait," he reached out, grabbing her arm gently. "I'll tell you. I'll tell you the truth."
"I have a feeling I already know it," she muttered, her teeth clenched in anger. "And I'm guessing it was a hell of a lot more recent than ten years ago."
He took a deep breath, his mind flashing back to the last night he'd seen Kelly. "It was Thanksgiving," he said quietly. "I was visiting my brother and my nephew. I didn't even know Kelly was planning to be in town."
"Right," Aubrey said, her eyes rolling in disgust. "You didn't think she might stop by to see her kid on Thanksgiving?"
"I mean it, Aubrey. I didn't know she was going to be there. Anyway, when I got there, Zane and Kevin were both sick. They had the flu and Kelly was there. It was Thanksgiving….there was this huge meal and I felt bad leaving."
"Of course you did." Aubrey sat down on the chair. "So, let me guess, you felt so bad about her crummy Thanksgiving that you took her upstairs to comfort her?"
"It wasn't like that!" he snapped, changing his tone as he heard the anger in his own voice. "We had dinner together. We talked, we had some wine…actually we had a lot of wine. I was in no condition to drive.."
"And we all know there are no cabs in London…"
"Yes, I could have called a cab and I should have called a cab, but I didn't. Ok? I didn't. I decided to stay and help out. My brother and Zane were sick. Kelly was there alone. I offered to stay and keep her company."
"I bet you did." Aubrey stood up, turning her back. "You can stop now. I've heard enough."
"Wait. Yeah, we ended up in bed together. It happened, but we both agreed that it shouldn't have happened. We both knew why it happened. It was Thanksgiving. We were both feeling sorry for ourselves. We'd had too much to drink. Neither of us was in a great place. It was just one of those things."
"Just one of those things?" she heard the near hysteria in her voice? "Are you kidding me? Spilling wine on your new sofa is one of those things. Missing an important phone call is one of those things. Sleeping with your ex-wife does not qualify as one of those things!"
"Look, I know how this sounds, but you and I weren't even together then. I didn't even know you existed."
Aubrey grew quiet. "Thanksgiving," she whispered, looking at him, her eyes questioning.
"Yeah, it was Thanksgiving…last Thanksgiving."
"You and I met the day after Thanksgiving…at the mall in that coffee shop. You met me the day after you slept with your ex-wife?"
"Aubrey, it wasn't like that. It's not like I was on the rebound or something. Kelly and I weren't back together. We just ended up together for one night…that's all."
"What was she wearing?"
"What?"
"The night you two were together….what was she wearing?" Aubrey watched as his face changed…the expressions went from disgust to confusion to anger.
"What difference does that make? Why do you care what she was wearing? It's not like this was some kind of affair. I didn't even know you then!"
"Why do I care?" She stepped closer to Joey, the anger that had once welled inside of her now gave way to hurt. "You know what Kelly was wearing a year ago, don't you?"
Joey stood silent in front of her.
"Don't you?!"
"Fine, yes…I remember what she was wearing, but I don't know what that has to do with any of this. What difference does it make what she was wearing?"
Aubrey swallowed hard. "Last night," she whispered. "What was I wearing last night?"
His mind raced. They had gone out to dinner at the Palace. She had a coat on, but she'd taken it off and handed it to the attendant. It was a dress…blue…black..no it was green—definitely green..dark green. He raised his eyes to speak, but she was gone.
