CHAPTER 1

Him -

He saw her as he jogged after the volleyball. She was sitting on a lounge chair, legs tucked up underneath her. He saw a slender form, hidden under a baggy beach cover up and loose-fitting pants. He saw tendrils of dark hair whipping around in the wind from under the giant floppy hat, but her face was mostly hidden by the hat and movie star-sized sunglasses. She looked sad and alone, and he was a sucker.

He stopped to scoop the ball up, only a few feet from her. "Hey," he said.

Her -

She'd seen the volleyball game out of her peripheral vision, but hadn't focused on it or the beautiful day at Point Pleasant. She'd been thinking about the disaster her life had become - Dickie, her mom, the wedding. Ugh! What had she been thinking?! At least she could live with herself now that she'd woken up from her stupidity coma.

She was smart! She knew it. She'd graduated at the top of her class - high school, college, and law school. She'd landed a sweet job after graduation, coveted by most of her graduating class. She worked with people she liked and respected. At 25, she knew she was a good lawyer, and her colleagues and clients respected and appreciated her. Her professional life rocked.

Her personal life was a train wreck. She'd been so focused on everything else, that she'd just floated along with Dickie. He'd been busy too, so they'd only seen each other outside of classes maybe once a week. Then they'd started at the same firm - her because she'd earned it, and him because his uncle was a senior partner - and still they'd only rarely seen each other outside of work. It'd been easy, and they got engaged because they'd been expected to get engaged. Her mom had been thrilled, and jumped right into wedding planning. Before she knew it, they'd had a date, a church, a reception venue, a band, a caterer, dresses, tuxes, and all the rest. She'd gotten whisked away in plans, paying little attention to any of it.

Looking back, she realized, she'd known - at least subconsciously - that this marriage was a bad idea. Even operating on auto pilot, she'd been wise enough to negotiate a 60-day window into all the contracts so her parents would receive full deposit refunds if they cancelled outside of the 60 days.

She'd directed her mom to cancel today. Today was 62 days before her wedding. She'd calendared the deadline on her outlook program, just like she calendared briefing deadlines. Yeah, her sub-conscience had known what was up, even if she hadn't acknowledged it.

Her mom was pissed, and told her to sleep on it. "It's such a big decision, Stephanie," she'd said. "You guys are perfect for each other." Stephanie, finally finding her figurative balls, hung up and called her dad. She told him he and her mom better start canceling or they were going to be out a lot of money. She knew it'd get done now.

Dickie, on the other hand, hadn't put up much of a fight. He was a good guy, and she figured he also knew "they" were a mistake. She'd gone to his condo early this morning, dragged him out of bed, made her confession, and handed him back the engagement ring. Since she was the one breaking it off, she'd told him to contact the travel agent. They'd already booked and paid for the Caribbean honeymoon, and she wanted him to modify it and use it. And, because she liked Dickie, she suggested he ask one of the new associates at the firm - a sweet, cute girl she knew had a thing for him - to go with him.

When the ball came rolling towards her, snapping her out of her internal musings, she almost went to reach for it. But when she looked up and saw the guy almost upon her, she stopped. She was so thankful her face was mostly covered with her beach hat and glasses, because she thought for sure she was slack-jawed and pink-faced.