Spring Break Secret by Holly Rayner
Louisa
Louisa was in a terrible mood for the rest of the afternoon. She was angry with herself for dropping the bomb on Tom like that, and she didn’t want him to think that she would try and use her child as a bargaining chip in some kind of negotiation about the real estate development. Of course she wanted to protect the earth for Rei’s future, but she didn’t want Tom to feel manipulated or blindsided.
At the same time, she was angry with Tom as well. He hadn’t even looked at the research she’d brought, clearly not caring at all about the impact his project would have on the environment. She hoped that she might be able to meet with someone reasonable, someone open to being swayed by the data, someone at least willing to listen. Apparently Tom had changed over the past ten years, or maybe she had never truly known him at all.
That night, after putting Rei to bed, Louisa was sitting on the porch of the beach bungalow she and Rei shared with her parents, thinking. The citronella candle on the end table glowed a flickering orange, and Louisa breathed in the sweet-sour smell that overpowered the ocean air. She was trying to come up with a way to tell Ellen that her last-ditch effort to change the CEO’s mind about the use of Comentex had failed when her phone buzzed in her pocket.
Taking it out, Louisa saw that it was an unknown number from out of state. Curious, and wanting a distraction from her dark thoughts, she answered.
“Hello? Is this Louisa Murray?”
Louisa gasped, hearing Tom’s voice on the other end. She hadn’t expected to hear from him again.
“Yes,” she said, standing and pacing on the porch. “How did you get my number?”
“My secretary had it,” Tom said. “For some reason, the person who called from the county records office about a nonexistent issue with our paperwork left your personal number.”
Louisa felt her cheeks burn at the reminder of her dishonesty. “I’m sorry about that,” she said. “But I really needed to talk to you.”
“Was it that you really needed to talk to the Palmco CEO about your little crusade, or you needed to talk to me about…everything else?”
“A little of both,” Louisa confessed. “At first I just thought I would reach some random guy in an expensive suit and try to convince him to halt the progress on this project, but when I found out it was you, everything became that much more important.”
There was a pause as Tom thought over what Louisa had just said. “Makes sense,” he finally conceded.
Louisa felt a rush of relief flow through her. At least Tom understood why she had done what she had done.
“Anyway,” Tom continued, “I called you because we didn’t really get a chance to talk more about everything you told me. You said that you don’t expect me to be involved if I don’t want to, but I do want to. I want to meet my daughter. I want to be there for her. I want to support her.”
Louisa felt her heart leap. She hadn’t expected this at all, and she was delighted to hear that Tom was invested in Rei’s life and wanted to be part of it. Still, this would be a big change for the little girl, and for her mother too, and Louisa wanted to be cautious despite her happiness.
“That’s very sweet,” she said, “but I need some time to talk to Rei about this. She’s never known any parent other than me, and we’ve never been able to tell her much about her dad—about you. So I need to prepare her and make sure she also wants to meet you. Okay?”
“Sure.”
Louisa could hear a bit of disappointment in Tom’s voice, and she appreciated that he wasn’t arguing or pushing the issue.
“In that case,” he said, “maybe it’s best for us to spend some time together, just the two of us? Get to know each other again, after all this.”
“Okay.” Louisa knew there was a wide gulf between them now, and they saw the world in very different terms, but she still didn’t want to miss an opportunity to connect with Tom after so many years apart.
“Great! I’m busy all day tomorrow, but can we get dinner that night? My treat—we can head back to the Sailfin and give it a second chance.”
Louisa agreed, wondering whether there was a bit of symbolism to Tom’s desire to give the restaurant a second chance. She doubted she would still feel the same sparks with him now that he was a businessman unwilling to prioritize people or the environment over profits, but she wanted to at least check him out before letting him be introduced to Rei.
The next night, Tom met her at the restaurant, looking much more casual than he previously had. No longer in a charcoal gray suit, he was wearing a seafoam blue button-up shirt and white linen pants, looking right at home in the beachy town.
“Hi,” Louisa said as she took her seat. Tom had stood up to push her chair in, and she remembered that he had better manners than his friends.
Tom smiled at her. “I’m relieved to see that you haven’t brought another folder.”
Louisa tried to laugh at the joke, but only a small chuckle came out. “My research is really important to me.”
“Of course,” Tom said, sounding chastened. “I didn’t mean anything—just that I hope tonight’s conversation can be a bit less, er, adversarial than our initial one.”
“Hopefully,” Louisa said. She refused to make any promises.
“So, you’re doing research here in La Vega?” Tom asked. “I remember you were studying in California when we met. It looks like you achieved your dream, working as a marine biologist. That’s cool!”
Louisa shrugged. “Not everything went perfectly according to plan, but I guess that’s just how life works. I moved back here when I got pregnant so my parents could help me out with the baby. It took a few extra years and some night school classes, but I got my degree.”
“So you’ve been in La Vega this whole time?” Tom sounded astonished. “I always figured you were off in California, or maybe Hawaii.”
Louisa wondered if this meant that Tom had been looking for her as well, back when she was looking for him. “Yep. La Vega born and raised, and now my daughter is too.”
“You said she’s ten?”
“Almost ten. Her birthday is at the end of the year.”
“Yeah, that…makes sense.”
Louisa could see Tom doing the quick calculations in his head—nine months after their spring break tryst would put Rei’s birthday in the winter, sometime after Christmas.
“She’s always loved having a winter birthday,” Louisa said. Talking about Rei was easy, and she found herself wanting Tom to know everything about the little girl. “Around here, almost everything revolves around the summer and summertime activities—so she gets to have this celebration in the winter, when there’s not much else to do. Sometimes we go ice skating. Other times we do snowman-themed crafts. One year we even went out to visit some friends in Vermont and she got to play in real snow.”
Tom laughed. “I never thought that Vermont in the winter would be a fun birthday treat for a kid. When I was growing up, snow just meant extra chores. Lots of shoveling the driveway and spreading salt on the sidewalks.”
“That’s right, you’re from Boston. Are you still living there?”
Tom shrugged. “I don’t really live anywhere, these days. I have to travel a lot for work, so I keep a couple of apartments in different cities and stay in hotels when I’m visiting a construction site.”
“That sounds lonely.”
“It is.”
A silence hung between them, Louisa not quite sure what to say next. The waiter arrived and brought them two glasses of white wine, then took their orders. Louisa went for a lemon seafood pasta and Tom ordered another salad.
“The food here is really good,” Tom said, “even out of a box later. I’m sorry about that, again—having to rush off like that.”
“It’s okay,” Louisa reassured him. “Your secretary did say you only had thirty minutes to meet, and I got so caught up trying to change your mind about Comentex that I ran out of time to tell you the other thing I planned to share.”
“It was a lot to take in,” Tom said, sipping his wine. “One minute I think I need to rubber-stamp some paperwork for the county, the next I’m meeting a long-lost flame, getting into an argument about sustainable business practices, and learning that I’m a father.”
“And you didn’t even get to finish your salad,” Louisa joked.
“That was the worst part, for sure.” Tom grinned.
Louisa felt herself relaxing more and more. And it wasn’t just the wine, although that was delicious. It seemed that despite their decade apart, and the very different paths their lives had gone, they still had that easy repartee and friendly connection they had once enjoyed long ago.
“I do have one question I’ve been wondering about all these years,” Tom said, his voice going grave as he leaned in close. “It’s very important, so I need you to be honest with me.”
Louisa nodded, wondering what Tom was about to ask her.
“Do people still call you Squid?”
Louisa burst out laughing, and Tom joined in.
“You goober,” she said. “I thought you were going to ask me something really serious!”
“It is serious!” Tom insisted playfully. “I need to know. Are you still Squid?”
“I confess,” Louisa said. “I’m still Squid. I work with Ellen pretty often, and she calls me by that nickname all the time. Plus, I live with my parents so they can help out with Rei, and they’ve always used that nickname too.”
“I knew it. Once a Squid, always a Squid.”
“I don’t wear the necklace anymore, though,” Louisa said, reaching up to fidget with the relatively plain pendant she had worn tonight. “It got old and tarnished, and it was a bit unprofessional-looking. And as a young single mom, it was hard enough to be taken seriously without wearing boardwalk souvenir jewelry.”
The food arrived, then, and Tom tucked in eagerly.
“I feel bad,” Tom said, after a few bites of his salad, “that I wasn’t around to help you out. I wish I’d known.”
“We figured it out,” Louisa said. “Sure, I had to quit wearing my squid necklace, and there were some stressful nights, but we made it through.”
“Still. I should have been there. You deserved more support.”
Louisa appreciated Tom’s statements, and she certainly believed him. At the same time, she didn’t want the night to devolve into wistful conversations about what could have been, what might have been, let alone what should have been.
“What about you?” Louisa asked. “It sounds like you took over your dad’s company after all, just like you were planning.”
“That’s right,” Tom said. “Just a few years after I graduated, actually. My dad got sick and wasn’t able to run the company, so I stepped up and took on the mantle earlier than expected.”
“I’m sorry to hear that about your dad,” Louisa said, twirling some linguine onto her fork.
“Thanks.” Tom smiled graciously. “Want to try some of this? It has seared scallops.”
“Sure!” Louisa reached over with her fork, but Tom was already lifting a bite to her on his own fork. It was delicious, she had to admit—a perfect combination of fresh greens, flaky warm scallops, and a citrusy dressing. “That’s really good.”
“I’m not sure everything here is sustainably caught,” Tom said sheepishly. “I should have researched the restaurant before inviting you here.”
“Most places around here aren’t sustainable,” Louisa said with a shrug. “I try to eat as local as possible, but La Vega has gotten so developed and touristy in the last few years that it gets harder and harder.”
“I’ll have to see about that for our new resort development,” Tom said, and he sounded sincere. “I know we plan for two juice cafes and a full-service restaurant, but I don’t think we’ve approved the vendors yet. Maybe I can make sure they do their part.”
“That would be nice.” Louisa took another bite of her pasta. “Remember that boat we went on? The super green, cooking-oil-fuel engine?”
“Yes! I was so proud of finding that in some magazine at the rental house so I could invite you. What were their names?”
“Tig and Molly.”
“That’s right! Man, you have a good memory.”
“Actually, I’ve kept in touch with them over the years. They do some environmental ambassador work here in La Vega, helping people retrofit their boats and cars to run on recycled oil for fuel. I helped them out with a research project to help demonstrate how much better their engines are for the environment.”
Tom’s eyes lit up. “Wow, that’s so cool! I think about them sometimes. It seems so satisfying to just run off on a boat with your significant other doing what you love. They looked so happy.”
“They really are. I don’t think I’ve ever met two people more in love. It’s a great relationship.”
That seemed to remind Tom of something, and he got a bit awkward, pushing food around on his plate. “Speaking of, have you ever—I mean, is there someone special in your life?”
“Not counting Rei, nope. Never had much time for dating, and people come through here and leave so quickly, it didn’t seem fair to Rei to get involved with someone who wasn’t going to stick around.”
“Right.” Tom’s voice sounded flattened, and Louisa instantly realized what she had said.
“What about you? Got any girls on the road? Anyone looking to turn the head of Palmco into a power couple?”
Tom shook his head. “No, I travel too much and work long hours even when I’m staying in one place for a while.” He paused like he was going to say something else, so Louisa just waited for him to finish. “Plus, I guess, I never really found anyone I related to as much as you. I know it sounds silly to pine my whole adult life for a cute girl I met on spring break, but I only wanted to be with someone if it was as fun and easy as it was with you. Guess you set the bar too high.”
Tom smiled at her, his blue eyes filled with tenderness, and Louisa saw once again the boy she had fallen for, all those years ago.
“I also really enjoyed our connection,” she said, returning his gaze. “I’ve thought about you often over the years. Although, if I’m being honest, the person you are today, well, you seem pretty different from the boy I met that spring break.”
“You’re not wrong,” Tom admitted. “I guess I spent too much time around the corporate type, and eventually I just became one of them.”
“Maybe you started acting like them,” Louisa said gently, “but I’m not sure you’ve changed as a person. Maybe, deep down, you’re still that kid who saved a turtle nest.”
Tom looked wistful. “Maybe.”