“I nearly went off the road,” Ava said again when she’d recovered from her surprise and stopped to let Sam get in the front seat.
“I’m sorry.”
He didn’t look sorry, Ava thought. In fact, Sam looked entirely unrepentant for someone who’d hid in her car and scared the daylights out of her. It was a good thing he’d popped up while she was driving through town and not on the winding highway she would have turned onto in a minute or two.
“I couldn’t face the thought of touring six art galleries with Chloe,” he went on. “Where are we going?”
“I’m going to the Santana Redwood State Park. I don’t know where you’re going. I should let you out on the side of the road and make you walk home.”
“You’re too nice for that.”
“I’m too something.” Ava didn’t feel nearly as irritated as she was making herself out to be, though. Now that she was over her surprise, it was kind of nice having Sam in her passenger seat, and the idea of bringing him on a hike was appealing. It was always more fun sharing outdoor experiences with other people, and she was curious about the handsome man. Why had he chosen her car to hide in? He could just as easily have escaped to the beach.
“I’m definitely down to see some redwoods,” Sam said. “Chloe doesn’t even have them on her itinerary.” He filled the passenger seat in a way only a man could, his presence larger than life in the small space. Normally she thought of her RAV4 as roomy, but not with Sam in it.
“That’s crazy. They should be the first thing people visit after the beach.” Chloe struck Ava as a person who preferred safe, clean, indoor environments. She probably thought forests were messy.
“That’s what I think.”
There was that smile again, the one that turned her insides molten with wanting. Ava imagined pulling over and parking on the side of the street, climbing into Sam’s lap and kissing him.
With some effort, she shifted her attention back to the road.
“Can I come along?” he asked when she didn’t issue an invitation. “We can split up, if you like, once we’re there. I won’t bother you.”
“You’re no bother,” she assured him, then wondered if that had sounded too eager. She made a right into the parking lot of Cups & Waves, her favorite coffee shop. “You don’t mind a quick stop first, do you? I need my caffeine.”
“Not at all. I’ll grab something, too.” When she’d parked, he followed her inside. The little shop had a wide plank floor with soothing cream walls and seafoam accents. Large windows let light in. Ava loved to linger and people watch while she drank her coffee, but today they’d get it to go. “My plan is to scout out the Santana redwoods so I can figure out what activities I could do with my students there. Things they won’t have done before.”
“Sounds like fun. Have you taught for a long time?”
“No,” she admitted. “I did for a few years straight out of college, then started traveling with Todd. Now that I’m settled in Seahaven, I thought it was time to get back to it.” When she inherited the Blue House, Todd had said he’d find a teaching position in Seahaven, too, but he’d kept putting off applying for any, claiming he wanted to focus on the last couple of months of their travel adventure. When the time to fly to California drew near, he said he couldn’t find the right situation, even though there’d been a second position open at the Seahaven adventure school Ava thought would have suited him perfectly. Somehow she found herself telling Sam that. “It was a position that combined two part-time postings. He would have taught kids all kinds of tech-related skills half the time and math the other half. I thought we could do some team teaching, and I came up with a number of activities that crossed over between our specialties. The adventure school encourages that kind of thing.”
“Too bad it didn’t work out.”
She remembered she was talking to a man who was on a two-week vacation with his two-timing ex and the best friend who’d betrayed him. He probably wasn’t all that interested in talking about old flames.
Luckily, it was their turn to order.
“Hi, Kamirah,” she said to the young woman at the till. She was enough of a regular she knew most of the baristas by name, and it was hard to forget Kamirah, with her dozens of braids twisted and looped in a spectacular updo.
“Hi, Ava, how’s it going?”
“Good.” She placed her order. “This is Sam,” she added when Kamirah had entered it into the system. “He’s a guest at the Blue House.”
“Hi, Sam,” Kamirah said. “Welcome to Seahaven. Are you enjoying your stay so far?”
“Definitely,” Sam said. “Ava made sure I got the best room at her place. The view of the Pacific is amazing—and I got to try surfing this morning.”
“That’s fantastic!”
“When does school start again?” Ava asked her after Sam had placed his order. She knew Kamirah drove to Santa Cruz several days a week to take classes at UCSC, but she was a little vague on what she was studying.
“First week in September. It’s been nice to have a break, but I’ve got to keep slogging along if I’m ever going to graduate.”
“What do you want to do then?” Sam asked.
“Go into politics,” Kamirah said, not missing a beat. “I hope to be on Seahaven’s city council within the decade. After that, who knows? Maybe run for a state office.”
Ava braced herself, hoping Sam wouldn’t say something patronizing. Kamirah was young and she was a barista, but she was whip smart. Ava had a feeling she’d be governor someday.
“Have you been volunteering for any particular candidate?” he asked.
“Of course. Several of them, actually. There is a coalition of women running for offices in the state who are working together to try to help each other succeed. I’ve been working with them for several years.”
“That sounds like a brilliant place to start. I work for an educational software start-up. Right now we’re focused on teaching the basics, so we’re in line with curriculums you’d find in other K-12 programs, but I’d love to offer special-interest classes to our students as well, especially one about navigating the political system.”
“That’s a great idea.” Kamirah brightened. “What’s your URL? I want to check out your company.”
They exchanged information, Ava looking on with gratification. All the baristas at Cups & Waves were nice, but she always looked forward to seeing Kamirah when she got her coffee. The young woman was full of interesting information and had her finger on the pulse of the town.
“Thanks,” she said to Sam when they left the coffee shop and got back into the car.
“For what?”
“For taking Kamirah seriously.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” He seemed genuinely baffled, which made Ava question why she’d assumed he’d be judgmental. Because she’d never felt taken seriously when she was young?
“I’m not sure.” Ava shrugged and changed the subject, keeping things light until they reached the redwoods. Once there, they were too busy craning their necks looking at the tall trees to talk much. The flat, wide loop through the big trees was set up to be accessible to as many people as possible and would be the easiest place in the park to keep an eye on a group of kids. Besides, the trees here were wonderful, huge old giants that seemed impervious to everything.
“I wish I had a better camera with me.” Sam snapped photos with his phone. “I’d love some high-quality footage I could add to our curriculum.”
“It’s better when students come here in person, anyway,” Ava said. “Kids need hands-on experiences, not just video clips.”
“Video is better than nothing,” he pointed out. “What percentage of students in this country live near enough to take a field trip to the redwoods?”
“They can go to their own nearest forest. All trees are valuable to study if you want to learn about the world.”
“I’m sure that’s true, but some kids can’t get to any forest.”
“Come on.”
Sam’s eyebrows rose. “Not every parent can send their kids to a place like the Seahaven Outdoor Adventure Academy,” he said. “How much does it cost to go there?”
“The tuition is reasonable, and there are scholarships,” she said. “Besides, public schools have field trips, too.”
“Not as many as you might think.” Sam stalked onward, leaving her behind.
If Ava didn’t realize the future of education was online, then she was short-sighted as well as deliberately obtuse, Sam thought. When every student had access to the best materials produced by start-ups like Scholar Central, the world would be fairer. Schools like the Seahaven Outdoor Adventure Academy kept the best experiences for an elite group of students. He thought that was wrong.
Ava caught up to him again. “All I’m saying is seeing photos of nature and being in nature are two different things.”
“I’d like to get a 3D camera here and create an online walk-through experience of this trail. Students all around the world could navigate it and get a feel for what it’s like.”
“It wouldn’t be the same.”
“It would be better than nothing.”
“I want all students to have the best childhoods they can possibly have,” she argued.
Sam stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. “I want all students to have the best chance at surviving a future in which they’re competing not only against each other but also against a growing set of technologies that can do jobs better and faster than them, without ever taking breaks.” In a perfect world every child would go to an adventure school, but this world was far from perfect. Hadn’t Ava said she’d traveled extensively? She must have seen kids left behind by their school systems.
She stared at him. “Well, that took a turn into a bleak, dystopian future.”
“That dystopian future is happening right now.”
Ava waved that off. “Can you at least admit that viewing a forest on a computer screen isn’t the same as touching the bark of a redwood tree, smelling the scent of the decaying leaves on the ground and hearing the birds singing and animals rustling through the undergrowth? It’s like going on a dating app, chatting with someone for hours but never meeting face to face. You can’t know what they kiss like—or if they stink—until you meet in person.”
Sam made a face. Sniffed in the general vicinity of his armpit. “Do I stink?”
A smile quirked Ava’s lips. “You definitely don’t stink,” she told him.
“Definitely?”
“You smell good,” she admitted.
“Glad to hear it.” He bumped his shoulder against hers. “Know what?”
“What?”
“I’m good at kissing, too.”
“Race you to the big tree.” Ava took off running, leaving him to gape after her. He guessed she didn’t care about his kissing prowess.
“Which big tree?” Sam yelled after her, his competitive juices kicking in despite the snub she’d just given him. He took off running, as well, and soon passed her, but since he didn’t know where they were going, and there were big trees everywhere you looked in this forest, it was hard to press his advantage. He slowed down until she caught up. “Which tree?” he demanded again.
“That one!” Ava sprinted past him, ducked around a group of tourists and headed for an enormous redwood—the biggest he’d seen so far.
Sam put on a burst of speed, caught up, surged ahead and beat her handily to it.
“No fair. You cheated,” Ava gasped when she caught up with him.
“How did I cheat?” Sam laughed at the outrageousness of her accusation.
“You’ve got longer legs.”
“I think that’s my parents’ fault. Not mine.”
She tucked a tendril of her hair behind her ear. She didn’t seem angry at him for flirting with her, even if she’d literally run when he’d started. She was smiling, glowing from her exertions, and something inside him dipped and tilted when she lifted her gaze to his. His body came alive as he thought about reaching for her, but he held back, aware of the throng of other tourists around them. He needed to take this one step at a time.
“What are your parents like?” Ava asked.
“Mom’s a lawyer. Dad’s a surgeon.” He was glad to talk about anything she wanted, as long as they kept talking. It was far too soon to flirt, he decided. Served him right she’d felt the need to make that clear. He took a breath, savoring the fresh, loamy smell of the forest, and tried to relax.
Ava laughed. “No pressure on you, huh?”
He nodded. “Wait until you hear what my sisters do.”
“Tell me.”
“Priya is the oldest. She’s an obstetrician, specializing in infertility. Leena is dean of Global Studies at the University of Chicago. Chitra, the one closest in age to me, is a structural engineer, employed by one of the biggest architectural firms in the city.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. Wow.”
“Are you all close?”
He nodded. “We eat dinner at my parents’ place every Sunday. Report on our accomplishments, make fun of each other, that kind of thing. My sisters call me all the time—together. They set up a multi-party call, plot their next line of attack and then add me in.”
“Who’s the cook in the family?”
“We all are,” he told her as they started walking again. “Leena picks a different theme each week, so we don’t get in a rut, but I love it when we make the recipes my grandmother handed down to my mother. My grandparents came from India to study in Chicago when they were in their twenties and decided to stay. Mom was born in the same hospital where my sister practices now.”
“That’s really cool. What about your dad?”
“His folks have lived in Chicago since there was a Chicago, practically.” Sam thought they’d discussed his family enough. “What about you? Did you grow up here?”
“I’m from the Philadelphia area,” she told him. “Bryn Mawr, actually. It’s a suburb.”
A swanky one, Sam thought. “And your parents are anthropologists?” he prompted.
“Yes. They’re both professors at the University of Pennsylvania. I have one brother—Oliver. He’s a professor there, too.”
Ah. Talk about pressure. “You chose elementary education instead of following in their footsteps? How did that go over?”
“Not well. We’re a little snobbish in my family.”
“You don’t say,” he said dryly. Ava slugged him in the arm.
“They understood me better when I was traveling, since that’s something they adore,” she told him. “They simply can’t fathom why I’m more interested in trees and stones and weather formations than I am in people.”
“You don’t like people?”
She scrunched up her face. “Not grown-up people for the most part. Present company excepted.”
“Of course.” Sam was enjoying himself. Ava was obviously passionate about what she did, but she didn’t take herself as seriously as Chloe did.
“Actually, I do like people,” Ava confessed. “I’m just fascinated by the way the whole world works together in one big system. If you focus on only one part of the system, like human interactions, you miss the big picture.”
Sam could understand that.
“Come on.” Ava grabbed his hand and tugged him off the path through the forest.
“Are we supposed to come this way?” The path was clearly marked, and they had definitely left it.
“Not really, but it’s a shortcut to one of my favorite places.” She kept going, and Sam kept following. He didn’t want to let go. He knew Ava had taken his hand without a second thought about it, the way she would take the hand of one of her young students, but her touch sent ripples of interest through his body. When they reached a small creek and she tried to let go, he held on.
They stood like that a moment, watching the water make its way among fallen logs and sandbars. It was quiet here, far from the tourists who’d walked the path with them among the big redwoods. Sam squeezed her hand and released it.
“Thanks for bringing me here.”
“You’re welcome.” She bent down. “I love the way the water looks reddish gold here.
He crouched down next to her, pressing close to see what she meant. Sunlight fell through the high canopy of the trees, dappling the surface of the creek. She was right; the shallow water looked russet here, a trick of the light and iron in the water, maybe.
“It’s beautiful.”
“It is.” She turned her face to his, and suddenly her mouth was within inches of his. Sam didn’t think. Instead, instinct took over, making him lean forward to brush a kiss across her lips.
When she pulled back with an intake of breath, he came to his senses.
“Shit. Sorry about that.”
“No—it’s all right.” She blushed. Ducked her head. “I mean, it was a special moment. Anyone could get carried away.”
Sam studied her. She’d given him an easy out, but he didn’t want one. “I didn’t get carried away,” he told her, lifting a hand to touch her chin. “I’ve wanted to do that since you pushed me into bed yesterday.”
He’d meant the joke to lighten the mood, but Ava’s blush intensified. “I’m sorry about that. I really crossed a line,” she said.
He kissed her again to stop her explanation. Pulled back. “Now I’ve crossed a line, too. We’re even.” He stood up and offered her his hand. When she took it, gratification filled him. He didn’t let go during their amble back to the path and around the rest of the loop. They took their time, Ava chatting about possible activities she could do here with her students and him adding an idea now and then. When they reached the start of the trail again, she stopped to look up at him.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Lunch,” Sam said firmly in answer to her question. “Where do the locals eat?”
“I’ve been a local for only seven months.” Ava chided herself for being disappointed at his response. What had she expected him to do—declare his undying admiration for her? She wasn’t sure what they were doing. Why was Sam holding her hand? Why was she letting him?
“You know more than I do about the area,” Sam pointed out.
“Let’s go to Reggie’s Pizza, then.” She’d been there a couple of times on the way home from outings like these in the redwoods. It was a casual place, but the pizzas were wood-fired and delicious. Filling, too.
“Sounds good.”
It wasn’t far to go, and soon they were sitting at an outdoor table spread with a red-and-white-checked cloth, reading huge, laminated menus. They decided to split a pepperoni pizza, and Sam ordered a beer. Ava stuck with water.
While they waited for their food, she amused herself by scouting out the other customers. There was the usual mixture of tradesmen, professionals, and families at the restaurant. At the table next to theirs, a young mother fed tiny bites of cheese pizza to her toddler, who was tightly constrained in a highchair but seemed determined to make a break for it if the possibility presented itself.
She looked up to find Sam watching her.
“What?”
“Nothing. You seem at home here.”
“I am,” she said frankly. “I love it here in the redwoods as much as I love it down by the beach. I always knew I wanted to settle down and be a real part of a community. I still can’t believe I get to do that here in Seahaven.”
“You want to stay here?”
“Definitely. This is my home now. When I have kids someday, they’ll go to my school. When I retire, I’ll still have the income from my vacation rental to sustain me. I’ve got the beach, the redwoods, my friends. What more could I want?”
She knew she was almost daring him to say, “a man,” but she didn’t care. If he was interested in her, he needed to know these things.
Something flickered in his eyes, an emotion Ava couldn’t quite read. Disappointment? Determination? Sam’s phone buzzed, and it was gone. He took the call.
“Hello? Yeah. I’m at lunch.” A pause. “With… Ava. Yes, the woman who owns the rental. Hang on.” He stood up. “I’m sorry, I have to take this.”
Sam moved away, still talking into his phone, and Ava watched him go. He paced the far side of the deck, gesturing now and then even though the person on the end of the line couldn’t see his movements.
Whoever he was talking to knew about her. Was it a friend? One of his sisters?
It didn’t matter, she told herself. The only type of relationship she could have with Sam was a short-lived one, and she didn’t think she was made for those. She didn’t want to fall for Sam only to have him head home in a couple of weeks.
Saying goodbye to him was already going to be hard.
“You ditched Chloe and Ben, and you’re hanging out with the hot vacation rental owner?” Chitra asked.
“Something like that.” Sam decided he wouldn’t tell her about hiding in Ava’s SUV. “We went to Santana Redwood State Park. Walked around a little. Had a nice morning. Now we’re eating pizza.”
“A friend date,” Chitra said. “That’s the best kind. That means she’s already comfortable around you. She doesn’t feel like she has to impress you.”
“It’s not a date at all,” he corrected her. It wasn’t—even if they had kissed. “Ava had already planned to visit the redwoods. I just came along.” Uninvited, he reminded himself. He needed to keep a clear head. He might be thinking lecherous thoughts about Ava, but she knew he was here only temporarily. He doubted she’d taken their kisses all that seriously.
“I think you should go for it,” Chitra said. “Fall for her head over heels. You need to experience love.”
“I have experienced it. I had a fiancée, remember?”
“You thought you had a fiancée, but that was just practice. You need the real thing. Fall in love with Ava,” she said again. “Try something completely new. Forget the past and—”
“Don’t you dare listen to Chitra,” Priya broke in. Just like he’d thought, this was one of their conference calls. “Don’t you dare fall in love with the woman who owns that vacation rental.”
“Why not?” Sam asked since it was clear she was going to tell him anyway. He stopped pacing and shoved his free hand in his pocket, running his gaze over the outdoor tables until it landed on Ava. She was smiling as their waitress set a large pizza down on the table. When the waitress left, Ava looked his way, pointed at the pizza and beckoned him to come back. He held up one finger. “Make it fast, my meal just arrived.”
“No woman is going to leave California for you. Is that fast enough?” Priya snapped. “Don’t get your heart broken again. It isn’t worth it, and you’re smarter than that. There are plenty of women in Chicago who would love to date you. Enjoy your vacation, come home and we’ll find you the perfect—”
Leena broke in. “You don’t need anyone’s advice, Samuel. Follow your heart. It won’t lead you astray.”
“It did last time,” Sam pointed out.
“That wasn’t your heart. That was your fear.”
“I need to go. I’ll call you later.” Sam hung up, pocketed his phone and stalked back to the table. Why all his sisters felt qualified to analyze his love life when they had none of their own was a mystery to him.
“Everything all right at home?” Ava asked as he slipped into his seat.
“How’d you know it was a call from home?”
“In my experience, there’s a certain expression people get when they’re being lectured by family members.”
Sam laughed. “That’s exactly what was happening. My sisters all think they know best, and they gang up on me.”
“They care about you. That’s sweet.” Ava’s tone was wistful.
“You don’t get along with your brother?” Sam’s stomach growled, and helped himself to a slice of pizza. He hadn’t had any breakfast.
“No. He thinks I’m still his dumb younger sister, and he’s pissed I messed things up with Todd. They were friends before Todd and I started dating, but I think Todd dropped him when he dropped me. My sister-in-law, on the other hand, wants me to move back to Bryn Mawr. As if.”
“You’re not interested in that?”
“What’s the point? My family might live there, but being around them is pretty much the same thing as being alone.” She snapped her mouth shut, as if surprised by what she’d said. Sam gave her a minute. He had a feeling she needed it. When he was done with his slice of pizza, he took another.
“What are you doing the rest of the day?” he asked casually.
“Hmm? Oh. I was thinking of going kayaking.” She hesitated. Glanced his way. “Want to come?”