Spring Break Secret by Holly Rayner
Louisa
Tom dropped Louisa off at home after their dinner, but the two of them continued to text late into the night.
“I have to go to sleep,”Louisa texted, yawning. “But I’d love to see you again. Soon.”
“I’d like that too,” Tom replied. “Maybe tomorrow morning? My buddies will all be asleep.”
“Wanna see one of my favorite spots in La Vega? Tourists don’t know about it.”
“Definitely!”
“Okay. It’s best at sunrise. Wanna meet at 6 a.m.?”
“Sure thing!!!”
“See you then.”
Louisa was, once again, pleasantly surprised by Tom being so quick to agree to an early morning meetup. Most tourists visiting La Vega preferred to treat it like any other beach vacation, with lazy mornings waiting for the heat of the day to warm up the sandy shores.
But she was quickly discovering that Tom wasn’t just like any other tourist. There was something special about him, and even though she knew they would be heading their separate ways soon, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.
The next morning, he arrived in the same sporty rental car. Louisa looked for a trace of sleepiness in his blue eyes, but could only see anticipation. It was still dark out, the sun only just beginning to send a few pink tendrils of light up over the horizon.
“All right,” Tom said, starting the car. “Show me the way!”
Louisa navigated Tom out to the far edge of town, where rolling sand dunes dotted with golden beach grasses dominated the landscape.
“This is a locally protected area,” she said as they hiked up the dunes. Louisa carried a backpack with a picnic blanket and some snacks. “People are allowed to come here and hang out, but you have to be careful. It’s a preferred nesting site for sea turtles and shore birds, so there are special rules around disturbing nests. Plus, people aren’t supposed to swim in the water.”
“It’s a bit too cold to want to swim now anyway,” Tom said. “You want me to carry that bag for a bit?”
“Nope, I’m fine!” Louisa had traversed these dunes plenty of times in her life, and she knew she’d have an easier time than Tom.
“How do you know about this place?” Tom asked, looking around. There was no sign of civilization anywhere; they had made their way far beyond any of the developed areas or roads in la Vega.
“Ellen and my parents fought hard to protect it.” Louisa remembered being a little girl at town council meetings, doodling in her notebook as Ellen prepared to speak. “Some developers were trying to buy the land for another hotel complex, but we got it zoned as a wildlife refuge so they couldn’t. Once Ellen took me out here to show me what they were working so hard to preserve, I fell in love with it. There’s a dune here that’s one of my favorite spots in La Vega.”
“I’m honored,” Tom said, and Louisa could hear in his voice that he was telling the truth. Most visitors to La Vega wouldn’t understand what made this area so special and would be annoyed at not being able to get in the water from here, but Tom sounded appreciative.
“We’re almost there,” Louisa said, huffing a bit as she and Tom climbed one of the steeper, taller dunes. “I brought you here so early because it’s the absolute best place to watch the sunrise.”
Tom didn’t reply, focused on making it up the sand.
When they reached the top, Louisa spread out her picnic blanket, inviting Tom to stretch out beside her. Under the flannel fabric, the sand felt like a thick mattress, making divots and shifting beneath them.
“There, watch.” Louisa pointed out toward the horizon, where the brilliant colors of the La Vega sunrise were making themselves known.
“Wow.”
“The sunrise always reminds me of a seashell,” Louisa mused, “all the pink and gold colors melding together.”
“I’ve never found a seashell that looks like that,” Tom said, sounding awed.
“I’ll just have to take you shell hunting then,” Louisa said. “We can’t collect them here, but there are other beaches around here that are perfect for it.”
They went quiet, then, watching the sunrise together. Remembering their spectacular kiss from the night before, Louisa inched closer to Tom on the blanket until they were cuddling up side by side, Tom’s arm draped gently over her hip.
As the sun rose, painting the sky with vivid hues and pastel streaks, Louisa found herself nuzzling closer and closer to Tom, until they were facing each other on the blanket, entangled in a sweet embrace.
“Last night was lovely,” Louisa whispered, and Tom must have clearly understood what she meant, because he dipped his head down to kiss her again. He smelled like pine and juniper, and Louisa had never smelled cologne like his before. His brown curls were soft under her fingers, and soon she felt his hands in her own hair, cupping her head and holding her close.
“Thank you for showing me this place,” Tom whispered, pulling back just enough to gaze into her eyes. “It’s really special. You’re really special.”
Louisa smiled, looking up at the handsome boy she’d only met a few days ago, but who already seemed to have stolen her heart. “So are you.”
They lay there together, nestled in each other’s arms, the sky above them shifting from grays to blues as the morning sun made itself fully known. Finally, Tom shifted, propping himself up on one elbow and tucking a stray strand of red hair from Louisa’s face before speaking.
“On the drive up here, I saw something that looked cool,” he said, his voice still low. “Some kind of fancy villa outside of town. I think there’s a restaurant there that my dad mentioned. He knows the chef.”
Louisa had gotten the sense, based on Tom’s references to his father’s business, that Tom was wealthier than he was letting on. Now, she was pretty certain.
“Yes,” she said. “That’s Wave Crest Villa. The restaurant there is called The Crest, and it’s the only Michelin-starred place in La Vega. The chef was on television, I think.”
“Yes, she’s a celebrity chef,” Tom said. “Have you ever eaten there?”
Louisa laughed. “No, it’s more for super-rich tourists and people like that.”
“Well…” Tom seemed nervous, tracing the design of the woven picnic blanket with one finger. “You’ve shown me your world, and I’d love a chance to show you mine. Can I take you there for lunch?”
Louisa was startled. She never expected to be able to eat at The Crest, but she had heard it was some of the best food in the area. “Sure,” she said, surprising herself.
Tom seemed relieved. “Great! Let me call my dad and see about getting us a table for today.”
As Tom wandered off to a nearby dune, looking for a cell signal, Louisa flopped back onto the blanket, flat on her back. The sun wasn’t bright enough yet to be blinding, but the sky was entirely blue, showing no trace of the sunrise colors they had come up here to watch.
When she was a kid, sometimes it felt like nothing new ever happened in La Vega. Now, though, she was starting to realize just how quickly things could change.