Chapter 4

Lizzy wore her new bikini and beach wrap to the barbecue the next day. William definitely noticed it. Lizzy knew he was just being friendly and he didn't really mean anything by his flattering, if slightly stilted compliment. She was not going to let herself get head over heels for someone she was never going to see again, but there was a little niggling thought in the back of her mind of the possibilities. She had three years of undergrad left, he had three years total of school left. Their schools were only 100 miles apart. They had summers off. It could work, couldn't it? But. William had made it very clear that he was not interested in a relationship right now. And he was rich as Croesus. And his family would expect him to marry an heiress, or maybe even a lady with a title. That's not too far fetched. Lizzy decided to push those thoughts out of her head and just enjoy this week. No use ruining her vacation by worrying about the future.

William's thoughts turned in a similar direction. He didn't know much about her, except that she hailed from Hertfordshire, she was smart (her sister had mentioned in passing that she had a full boat scholarship to Oxford, those were not handed out in cereal boxes), funny (she could even make him smile), beautiful (who knew that short and sassy ticked off his boxes) and a lot of fun to be around. He had never seriously thought about what happened after grad school. It seemed to be so far in the future. Three years. Three long, hard years. But they had summers off, didn't they? Although he came from a rich family and his Dad had married an Earl's daughter, Lady Anne Fitzwilliam, he never got the idea that his Dad would be disappointed if he chose to marry for love instead of money or prestige.

Love? Where had that thought come from? How could he think about being in love with someone he met two days ago? That was Charles' modus operandi. He fell in and out of love once a month; like it was ordained by the moon. No, love wasn't what he was feeling, surely. Infatuation. Lust. Yes, those things he could label. But love? Highly unlikely. As unlikely as running into a fellow Brit in an insignificant resort town half way around the world. Stranger things have happened.

William and Charles picked up Lizzy and Jane at their hotel and drove back to the condo. The barbecue was just getting started and the tiki torches and beach music set a romantic stage. The two couples wandered apart shortly after arriving. Lizzy said she wanted to get her feet wet in the ocean and William followed her down to the beach.

"Ah, that feels nice." Lizzy sighed as the gentle waves hit her bare feet. "Take off your shoes and join me!"

"I don't know..." William started to say.

"Oh, don't be a stick in the mud. Come on in! The water's fine." William removed his shoes and socks and rolled up his pants legs.

"Oh! That's cold!" he exclaimed as the water hit him.

"Oh, it's not that bad! You'll get used to it." Lizzy retorted. She reached for his hand and kept him next to her in the surf.

It was a full moon tonight and the two of them just stood in the surf, watching the moon rise over the gulf. It was magical, romantic. Lizzy leaned her head against William's shoulder and just allowed the breeze to play with her hair. "This is the life!" she quietly exclaimed.

They must have stood there for ten minutes, or an hour, it was hard to tell which as they were both wrapped up in the romantic ambiance of the waves, the moon, the breeze. Eventually someone driving past in a loud golf cart spoiled the moment and they returned to the present.

"Getting hungry?" asked William.

"Yeah, now that you mention it." Lizzy replied. They made their way out of the surf and William picked up his shoes from the sand and they made their way back to the barbecue They met up with Jane and Charles in the food line and they found their way to a table to eat. William and Charles had never had Texas style barbecue before – brisket, ribs, smoked turkey, beans, potato salad, peach cobbler – it was quite a feast.

The couples drifted apart again. Charles and Jane danced a few on the small dance floor set up next to the pool but most of the evening they just drifted around the area talking.

Lizzy was surprised when William asked her to dance when the DJ played Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" as it was a waltz. She hoped he felt like she did as they danced together. Even if nothing could come of it. She made sure he didn't see her wipe away that one lone tear that she couldn't contain.

As it approached midnight, Jane said to Lizzy "We should get going. I don't want to make our Aunt sit up waiting for us, because you know she will."

They wandered to the car and headed into town. Lizzy apologized for getting sand in his car. "Don't worry, it's a rental." he replied.

William asked Lizzy "When are you headed back to the UK?"

"We drive back to San Antonio the day after tomorrow and our flight is the next day. San Antonio to Atlanta to Heathrow. It's going to be a long flight. What about you?"

"We fly out of Corpus Christi, through Dallas to Heathrow in three days. School starts back the next day so I hope we don't have any delays."

"So tomorrow is the last full day here for all of us." Lizzy said sadly.

At this point Charles piped up from the back seat "We should invite your Aunt, Uncle and cousins to join us at the condo. The kids will really enjoy the pool and we can order in dinner. What do you think?"

Jane answered him "I don't think we have any plans for tomorrow. One last day at the pool sounds like an excellent way to wrap up this vacation. I am sure our Aunt and Uncle will agree. I'll ask them when we get to the hotel." The rest of the drive was rather somber with everyone contemplating the end of their vacation. They were all thinking about what would, or would not happen when they returned to the UK.