The Wedding Dress Diaries

Chapter Two

Two

Fifteen years earlier

The Hamptons, Long Island, New York

Swimswimswim

Eyes fixed on the dock, the chant rang on and on in Amber’s head. She’d lost sight of her paddleboard ages ago, swept away by the Sag Harbor current. Crap, she was so getting in trouble for this.

Mom’s gonna kill me if I drown.

A fresh slice of panic surged. How was she going to marry Parker now if she died? At the stupid age of twelve.

Jeez, she’d never even been kissed before! Frowning, she paddled harder. She should have played Spin the Bottle at Nancy Kruger’s last month. Okay, so Amber probably would have been stuck kissing Jimmy Stevens, better known as lizard tongue, but at least she wouldn’t be drowning with virgin lips. An epically lame end to the suckage that was her life.

All except for Parker.

Parker.

So what if he was in the eleventh grade and she was only in sixth. She’d loved him since she was eight years old. He’d briefly been replaced with Justin Timberlake from ’N Sync, but even she knew that was pretty unlikely to happen. And Parker was cuter. She wanted to marry him so bad that she’d picked out her wedding dress ages ago. Course, it had taken her four months to whittle it down to her top five favorites. Her obsession with tulle and satin and lace was growing pretty strong. This summer, in a fit of boredom, she’d planned the whole ceremony.

Reese would have been her maid of honor cuz she was Parker’s half sister and Amber’s sort-of friend.

Stupidstupidstupid

Sneaking off and forgetting the life vest. But she’d really really wanted to get better on the paddleboard.

Mostly cuz she wanted to impress Parker. Last summer he’d taught her how to stand and maneuver a turn, but this summer he was more interested in kissing Susie Frances. Amber scowled. And he never helped her bait a hook or capture crabs anymore.

The current was scarily strong, and the dumb dock was slipping farther away. The chill from the water seeped deeper with every passing minute, despite how hard Amber swam. Teeth chattering, her arms and legs grew heavy. So much so it was a struggle to control them now.

A sob ripped from her throat, and she fought back the fear, closing her eyes.

Giveupgiveupgiveup

Her muscles screamed for a break, her lips quivering, the taste of salt a mix of seawater and frustrated tears.

The furious pounding of her heart was now just as much about terror as tiredness, and she was sure her chest was gonna explode.

Her thoughts began to drift and grow foggy. She knew there was something she was supposed to be doing.

Swimming? Finding Reese?

‘Amber!’

The call shook her out of her daze. God, she really was drowning. Was she already in heaven? Now she was hearing Parker calling out her name.

The voice grew closer, the tone urgent. ‘Amber.’

Exhausted, she turned and spied Parker sprawled on his board, sleeves pushed to his elbows as he paddled toward her like a madman. She sucked in a breath, getting a mouthful of salt water that burned her throat, and she coughed and gagged, slipping beneath the surface.