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By the time she’d finished, Leilani couldn’t move without being stuck by a pin.
“You can change back into your clothes,” Susan said. “Be careful not to lose any pins.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Leilani hurried to the bathroom and changed back into the pretty blue dress that fit her body so much better than the peach gown.
When she returned to the living room, Alyssa had arrived and was surrounded by her bridesmaids, who were all talking at once.
Leilani handed the pinned gown to Susan with an apologetic smile. “Good luck,” she said softly.
“Leilani,” Alyssa exclaimed. “There you are. For a moment, I thought you’d forgotten about the fitting.”
Leilani fought the urge to point out the fact that Alyssa hadn’t told her the fitting had been moved to Brooke’s parent’s house. Instead, she forced a smile. “I didn’t forget. I was changing.”
Alyssa brushed her long blond hair over her shoulder, shifting the swath of hair hanging low over her forehead.
Brooke gasped. “Alyssa, what happened to your forehead?”
Alyssa touched a finger to the small cut and bruise there. “Nothing much. I was testing my new board and got tossed by a wave. The board bounced back and hit me.”
“Oh, Alyssa, honey,” Brooke said. “Come and sit.” She led Alyssa to the white leather sectional and pressed her into the seat. “I’ll get you a drink.” She hurried to the bar and poured champagne into a flute. When she returned to hand the glass to Alyssa, she said. “You need to be more careful. You could’ve been hurt badly, even knocked out.”
Alyssa laughed. “Really, it’s nothing. I’ve had worse. It’s all part of being a professional surfer.”
“You’re so brave,” one of the other bridesmaids said. “Those big waves scare me.”
Alyssa smiled. “I love what I do. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
“Are you still working at the resort?” Brooke asked.
“Sadly, yes.” Alyssa sipped the champagne.
Brooke lifted another glass of champagne from one of the glass side tables and sat beside Alyssa. “I thought you were going to quit.”
Her lips firmed into a straight line. “I would have had I gotten the endorsement contract from Billabong.”
“That was so disappointing,” Brooke said. “You’d think they would have waited for the smoke to clear, so to speak.”
Leilani winced at Brooke’s flippant reference to the fires that had killed a hundred people and left so many more homeless, including Alyssa and Makai.
“It’s okay,” Alyssa said. “I’ve got other opportunities in the works.”
A bridesmaid clapped her hands together. “Another competition?”
“Among other things, Makai and I have our names in the hat for the Eddie,” Alyssa said. “They think it’ll run in January this year.”
All eyes widened.
“Do you think you’ll get an invitation?” Brooke asked. “Isn’t it hard to get one?”
Alyssa nodded. “We’ve been training hard and have placed in other competitions. I think we have a real chance.”
“But your wedding is at the end of January,” Leilani said. “Will the competition interfere with your nuptials?”
Alyssa shook her head. “I don’t think so. Don’t worry. This wedding has been delayed once. I won’t let it be delayed again. Makai and I are a team. I can’t wait to marry him.” Alyssa held up her champagne glass. “Enough talk about surfing. We’re here to get ready for a wedding.”
“Your wedding,” Brooke said. “To the bride and groom!”
The other ladies grabbed their champagne glasses and raised them in the air.
