Page 57 of Love on Deck

I stand corrected. Apparently, it was exactly what she was going for.

Sydney came out of the bathroom. “I’m ready!”

We all stopped what we were doing and stared. She wore a white dress that went down to her ankles, a long slit up the side. It was simple and chic and looked exactly like a wedding dress... no, exactly like Amelia’s wedding dress.

That girl had always been drama, but this time she’d gone too far.

“Are you kidding?” Cara said.

Sydney pushed her dark hair behind her shoulders. “What?”

Okay, time to step in. Sydney had spent the first half of the cruise trying to steal my boyfriend, cause drama, and now she was trying to upstage the bride? I knew she’d been friends with Amelia almost their entire lives, the type of friendship that made Amelia put up with her for the sake of longevity, but my sister was too nice for her own good sometimes. I’d kept my mouth civil until now, but she’d crossed the line. “You need to change your dress.”

“Um, no.”

“Change it now,” I said. “Or you aren’t coming.”

Sydney’s eyes flashed to Amelia. “It’s not your wedding, Lauren.”

“No, but it’s someone’s wedding. Why would you wear a long white gown to a wedding?”

“It’s at the beach,” she said flippantly, but I could see her confidence slipping. She fiddled with her hair again, looking at Amelia.

What had she expected? That because Amelia was kind of a pushover when it came to Sydney, she could get away with trying to upstage the bride? It was true that Amelia didn’t step in often where her friend was concerned, which meant Sydney got away with a lot, but this was low, even for her.

Sydney was right, though. It wasn’t my wedding. I looked at Amelia, handing her the microphone so to speak. “Your call.”

Amelia looked between us, stress flashing in her eyes.

Cara shook her head. “Don’t act innocent, Syd. This isn’t okay.”

Something like anger sparked on Sydney’s evil face. “If you’d gotten me a bridesmaid dress, I wouldn’t have had to pull something from my closet.”

So that’s what this was about? Her irritation at being an afterthought? There was a reason Amelia hadn’t invited her initially. I wished she hadn’t caved to the guilt, or felt like she needed to spare other people’s feelings, and just stayed strong. But we couldn’t change that. We could only act now.

I nudged my sister. “It’s your wedding, Ames. You should stand up for yourself.”

Amelia drew in a breath and let it out. “I don’t want you to come to my wedding in a wedding dress, Syd.”

Sydney scoffed. “This is just a normal dress.”

“It looks a lot like mine. Do you have anything else to wear? I can lend you something if you—”

“Whatever.” She turned away, walking from the room.

“Wait!” Amelia called, running after her. “Should we wait for you to change?”

“Don’t bother,” Sydney called from the hallway.

Was the woman seriously skipping her friend’s wedding because of a dress? Amelia came back into the room, her eyes suspiciously wet. At least her eyelash extensions wouldn’t run.

“Don’t cry over her.” Cara moved to rub circles on Amelia’s back. “She was basically asking for that. You know she spent like a year in love with Kevin, so maybe this is residual resentment. She’s never satisfied unless she’s causing drama for someone else.”

Amelia let out a frustrated sound. “That was so long ago.”

“Sydney doesn’t know how to do anything without causing trouble,” I said, the proof in all the shenanigans Amelia had put up with over the last fifteen years, let alone the last few days. “Don’t let her ruin your day.”

“I won’t.” Amelia lifted her chin. “I knew I shouldn’t have invited her. She’s been nothing but drama since we got to Florida. But I felt bad not inviting her when she’s been in my life for so long, you know?”

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