Spring Break Secret by Holly Rayner
Louisa
Louisa had recognized Tom the instant she set foot in the restaurant, her heart nearly skipping a beat with shock at the sight of his dark curls and blue eyes. He was just as attractive as ever, though the years seemed to have robbed him of the easy smile she remembered. He was at a table near the window, frowning down at his phone.
At first, a spark of hope had lit up in Louisa’s mind, thinking that if Tom was really the person in charge of the Palmco development project, he would be open to hearing about her concerns. After all, she knew him as kind-hearted and invested in the well-being of wildlife. Perhaps it had all been a misunderstanding, and the protests about his company’s use of Comentex hadn’t even reached his desk. Maybe once she was able to explain it all, he would understand, and everything would be okay.
This was not, she soon discovered, the case. Tom had changed, it seemed. He was more interested in the company’s bottom line, in profit margins and cutting costs, than listening to any of Louisa’s research. They argued back and forth, both growing increasingly annoyed, until the waiter came to break up the conflict.
In the pause, both of them sitting quietly and rather sullenly after the waiter disappeared, Louisa took a deep breath and decided to try a different tactic to possibly reach Tom. She hadn’t said anything about their shared history when she first arrived, following his lead, but now that it was very apparent that she wasn’t from the county and was only here to try and talk him out of the choice to use a dangerous chemical, she figured she might as well appeal to his heart.
“I remember you,” she said, her voice softer now. “And I can tell you remember me.”
“Yes,” Tom said. “Of course.”
“I remember meeting a boy here in La Vega, ten years ago. He was sweet, and funny, and charming—but above all that, he had a good heart. He even left a volleyball game with his friends to try and protect a wild sea turtle nest that he had found.”
“I remember,” Tom said, sounding somewhat defensive now. “Is there a point to this walk down memory lane?”
“The boy I met—you, or who you used to be,” Louisa replied, “would never forge ahead with something so harmful.”
“Well,” Tom said, his blue eyes going cool, “I am not the little kid I was ten years ago. I’ve had lots of experience running a major real estate development corporation, and now I know a lot more about how the real world works.”
“The real world—that’s the one made up of numbers and spreadsheets, not oceans and turtles, is that it?”
“Please, Louisa,” Tom said, sounding hurt. “I’m not trying to hurt anyone, really. But I have to do the right thing for my company.”
“How can it be the right thing for anyone if it destroys the environment?”
The waiter brought them their food, setting the plates down delicately and disappearing immediately. Louisa ignored hers, too caught up in their conversation. Tom poked at his with a fork, clearly wishing he was anywhere but in that restaurant.
“Tom, please.” Louisa resisted the urge to reach across the table and take his hand. “I’m asking you to just listen. I’ve been doing my own research on this type of chemical, and I think if you can see the actual numbers, you’ll realize that you can’t do this.”
Tom shook his head. “It just doesn’t work like that. I’m sorry. It’s not that I’m trying to be difficult, but there’s no way I can cancel such a massive project that’s already been approved and contracted out.”
“Come on, Tom, please—”
“I’m sorry, Louisa.” Tom dropped his napkin on the table and stood up to leave. “That’s just how it is—it’s just business.”
Louisa felt a pang of disappointment stabbing through her heart. But it wasn’t despair. More like desperation. She couldn’t take “it’s just business” as an answer. There was no way she could let Tom walk away from this conversation.
“Tom, wait—there’s something else I need to tell you.”
“What, Louisa?” Tom stopped, standing beside the table, looking rather exhausted. It was clear that he just wanted to get out of there, but the urgency in Louisa’s voice had stopped him.
Louisa hadn’t planned to blurt out the information about Rei, her daughter—their daughter—like this. But she knew she had to tell Tom about Rei, and since he was about to leave, she might never get another chance.
“Tom, you should know—that night we spent together, that spring break. I have a daughter. She’s almost ten. Her name is Rei.”
Tom sat heavily back down, a look of absolute shock on his face. “You…we…a baby?”
Louisa nodded. “Well, not a baby anymore. I tried to find you, but I looked and looked and I couldn’t figure out who you were, where you were. I’d deleted your contact information from my phone. So I moved back here and raised Rei on my own. She’s an amazing young woman now, brilliant with technology, passionate about the environment.”
Tom still looked completely stunned, his mouth hanging open as he tried to make sense of everything Louisa was telling him.
“I just thought you should know,” Louisa clarified, remembering what she had resolved to herself when she first discovered that Tom was back in town. “I’m not asking you for anything, and you don’t have to be involved. I don’t want money, but when I found out you were here, well, I knew I had to do the right thing and let you know.”
Something softened in Tom’s face, and Louisa saw a flicker of the gentle, sweet boy she had once known.
“I’m so glad you told me,” he said, a crackle in his voice. “Louisa, listen, I want to—”
Tom was about to say something, but his phone rang out from his pocket with a shrill jingle, and he immediately snatched it and answered it. “Sorry,” he mouthed at Louisa, his expression genuinely apologetic. The person on the line sounded frantic and a bit angry, and suddenly Tom shifted into CEO mode, his posture changing, his focus entirely on the new conversation.
Louisa saw Tom check his watch, then his eyes went wide.
“I have to go,” he whispered, covering the mouthpiece of his phone, then rose from the table. A waiter was waved over and instructed to box up Tom’s untouched salad, and Louisa saw the flash of a silver credit card as Tom paid for the lunch.
And just like that, Tom Palmer disappeared a second time from Louisa’s life, returning to the hustle of his high-powered CEO existence. Louisa gathered up her blue folder and did her best not to meet anyone’s sympathetic eyes as she slipped out of the restaurant and back to her little hybrid car, the folder tossed in anger on the passenger seat.