Chapter 1 – The Sign in the Sand

At 6:42 on a warm September evening, Daniel Weiss was kneeling in the sand on a public beach outside Valencia, trying to straighten the bottom corner of a wooden sign.

The sign read:

WILL YOU MARRY ME?

It was not enormous.

About one metre wide.

White letters painted over pale wood.

Around it were six battery candles in glass jars and a thin line of small white flowers pressed into the sand.

Daniel had spent most of the afternoon setting it up with his younger sister, Lena.

His girlfriend, Sophie, thought they were meeting friends for sunset drinks.

They had been together for four years.

Daniel had carried the ring in his backpack for three weeks because every other plan had felt wrong.

A restaurant seemed too crowded.

Their apartment seemed too ordinary.

A weekend trip had been cancelled because Sophie had to work.

So he chose the beach.

Not an empty private cove.

Not a roped-off area.

Just a quiet stretch of public sand near the promenade.

There were still people around.

A family packing towels.

Two teenagers playing paddleball.

An older couple reading.

A few tourists walking near the water.

Daniel knew people might see.

He did not care.

He only wanted Sophie to.

At 6:47, Lena checked her phone.

“They’re ten minutes away.”

Daniel stood.

“Ten?”

“Maybe fifteen.”

He wiped his palms on his trousers.

“You look sick.”

“I feel sick.”

Lena laughed.

“You’re proposing, not confessing to murder.”

Daniel gave her a look.

“Helpful.”

Then a woman’s voice came from behind them.

“You can’t leave that there.”

Daniel turned.

A woman in her mid-fifties stood three metres away wearing a linen beach cover-up over a swimsuit.

She held sandals in one hand and sunglasses in the other.

Her name, though Daniel did not yet know it, was Claudia Ritter.

Daniel looked at the sign.

“Sorry?”

“That.”

She pointed.

“It can’t stay there.”

Daniel smiled politely.

“Only for about twenty minutes.”

“That isn’t what I said.”

He paused.

“Okay.”

“You’re blocking the beach.”

Daniel looked around.

There was at least fifteen metres of open sand on either side.

“We’re not blocking anything.”

Claudia stared at him.

“You’ve created an event.”

“It isn’t an event.”

She pointed again.

“You have decorations.”

Daniel looked at six candles.

“Yes.”

“You can’t just reserve public space.”

“We haven’t reserved it.”

“Then other people can sit here.”

Daniel nodded.

“Technically, yes.”

Claudia seemed surprised by the answer.

“So move it.”

Daniel frowned.

“Why?”

“Because this is a beach.”

“Yes.”

“Not your private proposal venue.”

Lena looked at Daniel.

Daniel said:

“We’ll be gone soon.”

Claudia put on her sunglasses.

“I’ve heard that before.”

Then she walked away.

Daniel watched her.

“What was that?” Lena asked.

“No idea.”

They both laughed.

They should not have.