It's all hands on deck on Chesapeake Shores Season 3 Episode 10 as the family tries to team up for the annual Regatta race despite the tension between the entire O'Brien clan!

Abby is doing her best to bring at least some of the O'Brien clan back together. I get where she's coming from and totally understand what she's trying to do. Siblings need to stick together no matter what!

Abby: Bree, it's not that bad.
Bree: Really? Um, a fictional novel broke our family, and now a fictional character is about to break the rest of my life.
Jess: Caroline is planning on ruining your life?
Bree: She might, yeah. I mean, based on how last night went.
Jess: Well, she might be too late.
Bree: Oh, thanks.

Permalink: Oh, thanks.

But things don't seem to be going anywhere positive. From the looks of things, Bree has dug up some past issues that maybe should have stayed buried. Maybe it really isn't better for the truth to come out in the end, even when everyone is all grown up.

When things between the siblings don't seem to be going as Abby planned, she does the next best thing and goes to see Mick. I think her efforts to unite the family are great on paper, but the O'Briens are anything but predictable.

Besides that, Mick only seemed concerned with what Abby was going to do about Trace and his band going on tour. If he isn't too concerned about the family rift, I shouldn't be either, right?

Leigh is still pressuring Trace to go on tour with the band, and if his face is any indication, she's going to get a reluctant yes from him. But if Trace has to think that hard about the entire situation, shouldn't that be considered a good indication that it isn't where his heart is?

Trace seemed more concerned about talking and focusing on everything except the decision of the band going on tour. But Abby wasn't having that, and it's just one of the many reasons why I have always loved her character so much.

With everything going on in the family, Bree is in a perpetually bad mood, and I can't seem to find it in myself to feel that much sympathy for her. At least in that area. The situation with Simon and Caroline has my heart going out to her a bit.

With the family blowout, Megan seems to be making it her personal mission to go and apologize to each of the kids individually. This one was hard because I get where both sides are coming from, to be honest.

Megan: Hey, I'm glad that you're getting along with your dad.
Connor: Yeah, well. It's news to me.
Megan: Connor. Con. I'm sorry. For everything.
Connor: Thank you for saying that.

Permalink: Thank you for saying that.

I completely understand that Megan was going through something and didn't have it in her to be a parent when she left. She thought she was making the best decision not only for her children but her health as well.

But I understand the concerns from all the other kids. While they didn't know anything about what was going on with their mom, they did know what they needed. And that was to have both parents, not one just leaving without a word of explanation.

Despite the rift between them, sometimes a girl just needs her mom. Something that was clear when Bree couldn't resist telling Megan what was happening between Simon and Caroline. I think they are on the path to fixing things.

It was both shocking and humbling to see David's parents not only coming to Chesapeake Shores for a visit but personally apologizing to both Jess and David. It's about time.

There was a strange vibe coming off the relationship between David and Jess as well. He seemed eager to accept the apology from his parents, where Jess was hesitant. It was another situation when it was easy to see both sides.

They hurt Jess, and she already has trust issues anyway. Especially when it comes to parents not treating their kids the way they should. But they are David's parents, and they do seem to have a generally good relationship.

Their contribution to David and Jess' dream of owning a bed and breakfast will probably go a long way toward changing Jess' mind. It definitely had me rethinking my prior judgment of them.

The only relationship that seemed to be in a good place was the one between Kevin and Sarah. These two seem to get better all the time and watching them is nothing short of amazing and heartwarming.

The love between them is obvious, and I sense a lifelong commitment in the near future. They deserve each other and always seem ready, willing, and able to sort out any issue they may have. It's a relief to see on this show.

There only seems to be one problem between Kevin and Sarah and that's being away from each other. Something that Kevin managed to solve on his own. Even though he plans on leaving the family, it's difficult not to get behind them.

Kevin: I can't keep doing this. Not being with you. So, before I left, I applied to Philadelphia Fire Department as a paramedic.
Sarah: What? Really?
Kevin: Yeah.
Sarah: You'd leave your family for me?
Kevin: Well, the way I see it is that I wouldn't really be leaving my family.

Permalink: Well, the way I see it is that I wouldn't really be leaving my family.

But I didn't have to worry about it for long as Sarah had an epiphany of her own. She doesn't want Kevin to leave his family, even though she appreciates the thought. She's the one who's moving. Just when I thought their relationship couldn't be better.

Connor and Danielle seem to be doing well this time around. I just can't find it in myself to forgive her yet, which means that I really can't find it in myself to trust her with Connor's heart.

Watching Trace and Abby finally discuss him going away for the tour was heartbreaking. I know these two have been through a lot and they always seem to come out the other side even stronger. But this feels different.

This time the separation between them just seems to hold a bit more weight. Trace is acting like this is the last time, but that's not how these things work. He'll go on tour and do great, and he will love it. That means he will go away again even longer next time.

I'm not saying he won't miss Abby because he will. But if he can decide to go this time, it's only going to be that much easier for him to decide to leave the next time. Eventually, Abby won't be able to take it anymore.

Abby: I just, um, wanted to discuss you leaving.
Trace: I-I thought we talked about that.
Abby: Yeah. I've been thinking about it a lot and I don't think I can do this anymore.
Trace: But we've been doing it, and from my perspective, it's been working.
Abby: Yeah, and I know this might sound selfish, and I want you to be happy. This isn't the life that I want, and I can't share your dreams by giving up mine.
Trace: I'm living my dream. Right here, right now. And I thought this was your dream too.
Abby: I want a life with you, Trace. I want a family with you. I want to spend my life with you.
Trace: Abby. Abby, we can make this work. We have before and we're doing it now. We can have it all.
Abby: No, we can't have it all. Because we want different things. Trace, when I came back home for my family I knew everything I was giving up and I don't think you're ready to do that for us yet.

Permalink: No, we can't have it all. Because we want different things. Trace, when I came back home for...

But that time seems to be approaching even faster than predicted. Abby knows what she wants out of life, and she isn't willing to wait forever for it. So she made a hard decision, but I think Abby did the right thing regardless of how hard it was.

While I'm usually the one to argue against giving the other member of a relationship an ultimatum, this would have been a situation I would have been okay with it happening. Maybe that makes me selfish, but I want Trace and Abby together and happy.