Making Waves

Nonrefundable

He pulled into the parking lot and began scanning for an empty spot. The crunching of sand could be heard underneath the rubber treads of his tires as they moved at a leisurely pace. Sand that had undoubtedly been dragged to the parking lot from shoes, blankets, wagons, or any number of other ways exhausted people retreated back to the car after an eventful day at the beach.

Since there was no one behind him, Fitz took a minute to glance over at the place he would be calling home for the next few days. It was hard to see anything specific from his vantage point inside the car. Added to that, it was after nine o'clock and the sun's long disappearance made it even more difficult to see clearly. The nearby hotel lights and his memory from the online virtual tour he had taken gave him enough of a clear picture of what he was looking at.

It was a nice yellow two-story house with white trim and a wrap around porch that was decently spaced between a couple of mid sized hotels. There were a few trees planted along the back, likely for the renter's privacy against the public who were permitted to use the parking lot to visit the beach on any given day too. The house was small and cozy enough to look like home, but close enough to the action that you could wander on foot to find something to do if you wanted to escape.

He recalled from the virtual tour that each of the two floors were separate lodgings, but visitors could rent the entire house if they desired. While the second floor was smaller than the first, it had a balcony off the bedroom. The main reason he chose to rent this particular property was for the rooftop deck. It was accessible from both floors, but Fitz had intentionally chosen the second because it was easier to get to.

He had planned on spending a lot of time on the roof with Rebecca. The entire reason he had diligently searched for the perfect beachfront space with the most romantic spot was that he had planned to propose to her. In his mind, the rooftop was where he would ask her to be his wife.

They had only been dating six months when Fitz made the reservations, but they would be celebrating their one year anniversary the day after they arrived at the beach house. Planning ahead was key for him in all aspects of his life. He loved her and could see himself spending his life with her. Being in his thirties, he felt it was time to start thinking about his future. Now that his career was where he wanted it to be, settling down and starting a family were next on his list. This seemed like the perfect and logical next step.

Once the reservation had been made, the ring had been excitedly given to him by her grandmother, and it had all been orchestrated to be the biggest surprise of Rebecca's life. Fitz had been all but vibrating with anticipation ever since the last piece of this particular puzzle had been put into place. He'd envisioned getting down on one knee as the sun sunk behind the watery horizon while champagne chilled nearby. It would be the perfect moment.

But four months ago, out of the blue, Rebecca had ended things with Fitz, saying that she didn't love him anymore. The pain of hearing that for the first time cut as deeply as it did for him to remember it now.

"I don't..." His head jerked back as if he'd been slapped. Confusion and shock ruled his brain as he tried in vain to make her words make sense. She may as well be speaking in another language. Staring into her eyes, he knew she was being honest with him. Brutally so, but at least she wasn't using these words to cover for another reason for ending things. The pain sliced through to his core. It was all he could do to stay upright on his feet.

Finding his voice, he said, "I don't understand."

She knew this would be difficult, but it had to be done just the same. "I know this isn't easy to hear, Fitz. It's not easy for me to say either, but the one thing the two of us have prided ourselves on is our honesty with each other."