(Completed) With a past and now a present, can they have a future? Once again Bethany is planning the foundation's annual winter gala and the last person she expects to see is the one who walked away from her. After years of moving on, he is sudden...
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Her face stung from the biting wind. It would be a long time before a warm breeze accompanied by the sound of the surf. Bethany Howes stood on the promenade overlooking East End Beach. The sound of the surf and the gulls filled the air.
Bethany woke early before the city and although it was her day off her body refused to sleep in. She used to fight it and force sleep, but then she learned to use the time to go for a walk to help restore her peace of mind.
The dark water churning in toward the shore was much like her mood. This beach in the city of Portland was a mile from the waterfront condo where she lived with Lucas. It differed from her beloved beach down the coast.
The fog vanished from her head as she continued her walk. She had fought with Lucas who failed to see her side, which just made her angrier. The last time she had been this angry was when she heard that he was trying to sell her home and now he had rented it for a year. A year which included the entire summer, without the beach and sand and the musty little beach house that was her true home.
As a child, Bethany had spent every summer at her Grandmother's beach house. The house was at The Point which was one of the most beautiful sandy beaches on the coast of southern Maine. It was an easy commute to the city of Portland and was truly the best of both worlds. The residents, of The Point, were one big family, so comfort and security surrounded her when she was home.
The beach house became home to Bethany when Nana took her in, after her parent's divorce. Unlike so many parents who fought over custody of the child, her parents fought over not wanting her. When Bethany was in college, her grandmother's age and health caught up with her and after a stroke, she spent a whole summer in a rehabilitation facility before a second stroke took her.
In her will, she skipped her son and left everything to her granddaughter. Not that she owned very much, but Bethany inherited the money set aside for her college tuition, the beach house and the tax bill that went with it. Nana's will severed the last of her relationship with her father who felt extremely slighted by his deceased mother and his daughter.
Bethany continued to live in the house, but as summer approached, it became clear she'd never afford her school tuition and the property taxes with the money that her grandmother had left in her estate. Having no other choice, she rented the cottage to vacationers for a hefty weekly fee and went to work at a summer camp in New Hampshire. It was the first summer that she spent away from the beach and her friends.
She had spent five summers without her beach with yet another one pending. Why did Lucas rent her house for a year without telling her? Her anger propelled her, as she walked back to Lucas' condo that she'd been living in for almost three years. She quietly let herself in and took her shoes off by the door. She was halfway through her first cup of coffee when Lucas wandered into the kitchen wearing a tee shirt and flannel pajama pants. His hair was a mess, and he looked groggy. She loved when he looked all mussed up and needing a shave. Shortly she knew he'd be clean without a hair out-of-place wearing a perfectly fitted suit with coordinated shirt and tie. He'd look gorgeous and harder around the edges than he looked in this moment.
He glanced at her, and she glared at him. She had slept on the edge of the large king sized bed to make certain, he knew, she meant business.
"Listen, babe, I'm sorry. I should have consulted with you, but I had this guy on the hook and I had to reel him in. You should have heard him talking all sappy about loving The Point. He said that he fell in love there one summer when he was younger."
"So that's what happens beaches are romantic. I fell in love one summer." Her stomach churned remembering the hurt. "Not that it lasted past that summer. I want my home back!" Raising her voice she implored. "I want my summers back!"
Still defending his decision to rent her home, Lucas reminded her. "I understand about the summer, but this is your home."
"Do you really want to get into this? This has never been home to me. It's just where I live." Her voice trailed off quietly.
"How can I change that?"
"You can't. It's up to me to figure it out. I'm just not ready to deal with any of it right now." She felt defeated.
He tentatively approached her and took her in his arms. "I love you. Just so you know, I'm taking you to dinner tonight. I've arranged to have the foundation's gala at that new French bistro. You'll need to work with the owner to organize everything. You know you missed your calling because you throw a great party."
"Really after years of school and hard work to become a physical therapist, you think I'm better suited to throw parties." Her quip highlighted her anger, before a deep, calming breath. "I help you each year because I believe in the cause."
She watched as he finished his coffee. With a sudden jolt of energy, he stood. "Time to hit the shower!"
As he walked away, she thought, why can't things be different? Bethany loved Lucas but was no longer in love with him. Had she ever truly been? She wondered. She had most definitely been infatuated with him and in lust with him, but love required two individuals who wanted the same things out of life or at least compatible things. Her dreams included marriage and children and Lucas' didn't.
Still, he was her safety, and she was afraid to leave him. Without the beach house, she couldn't leave him. Sure she could rent some crappy apartment, but Lucas was her rental agent. She couldn't very well say 'It's time for me to move on and oh, by the way, find me an apartment.' She also couldn't go find a place behind his back. She had thought she'd be getting her house back, so she could move out and start her own life.
Bethany hated her dependence on Lucas, in return, she was happy to take the lead in planning the annual Snowflake Gala because it was important to Lucas and it was a worthy cause. His grandfather started the foundation. Although it wasn't a major charity with a staff and payroll, there were various functions throughout the year with the glamorous gala being the biggest. The money was used to support various charities throughout the city, like homeless shelters, soup kitchens, the teen center, and other community programs. There was also a scholarship each year that helped a low-income student go to college. The only professionals the foundation paid were the lawyer and accountant who made sure everything ran properly.
Lucas was a multifaceted man and most days she wished they shared the same dreams. Oddly enough, he liked kids but didn't want his own. Once a week he played basketball with a group of teens at the teen center. About a year after she moved in with him, she was waiting for the proposal.
On a visit at his brother's, she teased him. "Uncle Lucas, your nephew wants you to hold him." Bethany tried to pass the newborn into his arms. Shaking his head, he abruptly walked away.
Lucas had just merged onto the highway, when Beth teased again. "You should practice if you ever want to be a father."
Sighing, he said, "That's the thing, I have no intention of ever being a father."
"Ever?" She felt like a ten-pound weight just hit the bottom of her stomach.
"Never and if I'm honest, I really don't plan to marry. I like things exactly how they are now."
"For how long?" She barely choked out the words feeling the burning behind her eyes.
"I love you and I see the two of us together like we are for a long time."
"But not forever?" Her traitorous tear ducts had failed her.
"Forever is a long time."
The purr of the engine drowned out the silence in his luxury sedan.
