Spring Trip

  A Holiday Romance Novella

  Sage Donnell

  Books by Sage

  Contents

  Title Page

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Afterword

  Other Books by Sage Donnell

  Author’s Note

  Before this fourth installment of the Holiday Romance Series commences, I wanted to share some thoughts on Kade’s journey regarding identity. For those who’ve read Snow Falls, you’ll know that Kade stars the series identifying as asexual. In Spring Trip, Kade notices that some of her feelings about sex have shifted. While she still identifies as being on the ace spectrum, she considers that another specific category might fit better. This is singularly Kade’s journey. It is in no way shape or form intended to imply that all folks who identify as asexual will or should have the same journey. Each person is different and their identities should always be honored.

  Chapter 1

  “Why are we leaving on Sunday instead of Saturday?” Aiesha asked as we made dinner together over video chat, which felt like the only way we were getting to see each other lately. “Does it have to do with when the rental is ready?”

  “Um, no, not exactly, although the owner is always happy to have the place to rent on weekends when everyone wants to go to the beach. But no, it’s because we have the traditional first surf of surf club on the first Saturday of spring break every year.”

  “Oh, I see,” Aiesha teased, “cutting our trip short so that you can go play in the waves.”

  “Yeah.” I looked down and concentrated on the onion I was chopping. She was teasing, but I was giving up surfing to have this trip be all about Aiesha and while that was what I signed on for, I did have some regrets about not surfing. I rented the same place in Santa Cruz every spring break. I’d become friends with the owners, who lived in the other half of the house and also surfed. They gave me a great deal when they absolutely could have been getting more money. Although, the late spring break we had meant that their big spring break rush had died off by then, so it wasn’t as big a loss of revenue as it would have been a couple of weeks prior. There were a few advantages to a late spring break.

  Anyway, I always rented this place not only because I was friends with the owners and because it was dog friendly, but because it had direct access to a great surfing beach. It was a stretch for my budget, but by driving down and mostly cooking at home, I kept other expenses low and it was my one big splurge each year. I loved it and I was having more and more mixed feelings about cutting out the surfing part of the trip, but Aiesha had given me such wonderful Valentine’s gifts that I’d felt the need to do something meaningful back. Inviting her on my annual spring break trip and shifting the focus from surfing to hiking seemed like the thing to do at the time. And it wasn’t that I didn’t want to now, it was just that the closer it got, the more I was feeling the loss of not surfing. Having gone out for the first few surf sessions of spring hadn’t made it easier. If anything, it made me want more.

  “Kade?” Aiesha’s soft tone caught my attention and I paused in my chopping to look up at the phone I had perched on the knobs of my cabinets for the call. When she saw I was looking, she asked, “Is everything okay? I lost you there for a bit.”

  “It’s fine. I’m really looking forward to the trip.” That was true. I was. I was also fine.

  She looked a little frustrated. “Kade.”

  “What?” I wasn’t sure what she was frustrated about.

  “There is clearly something on your mind. I wish you’d tell me what. It feels like it has to do with the trip. Do you not want to go?”

  “No! I mean, I want to go! I’m really looking forward to it. I can’t wait to spend a whole week with you. I feel like we’ve hardly had any time since our Valentine’s trip, between mathletes and weekend studies and orientation weekend for the kids who are new to surf club. I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too. Is that what’s wrong, though? Because it seemed to be when I mentioned the trip that I lost you. Or surfing.”

  I bent my head and went back to chopping, not sure what to say, really. I’d told the truth about really looking forward to the trip and about being excited to see her. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her I was sad about not surfing, but I was probably also pissing her off by not being forthcoming. She knew something was off. “So, I think I told you I’ve stayed at this place before?”

  “Uh oh. Are there bad girlfriend memories from there?” Aiesha teased.

  I looked up and smiled at her. “No, nothing like that. What I don’t think I was clear about is that I’ve gone to this same place every spring break since sophomore year in college, so this will be the, gosh, thirteenth or so trip there.”

  “Okay?” She drew the word out, clearly waiting for the other shoe to drop then, “Is there good surfing or something?”

  “Yes.”

  “Great. That’s awesome.”

  “Well, I wasn’t going to surf this time.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because this trip is about you and me. I thought we’d do other stuff, like hike and go to the Boardwalk and walk on the beach and stuff.” I slid my onions into the hot fry pan.

  Aiesha thought for a moment. “Are you telling me you weren’t going to surf at all and it was because of me?”

  I looked up. “Um, yeah.”

  “And why would you think I’d want that?

  “Because it’s a couple’s trip and surfing takes up a lot of time.” At least, that’s what my last girlfriend had said. She was pretty resentful of all the time I spent surfing, both with the club and on my own.

  “That sounds like Sasha talking,” Aiesha said darkly. She didn’t think much of my ex. Her and everyone else in my life, really. Okay, including me. I hadn’t realized, though, that that was one of the things she had wrong. “Listen, Kade, I love spending time with you, but not at the expense of your other interests. You can surf. Please surf. I feel like it’ll make us both crazy if you don’t. You’ll be bummed but trying to hide it. I’ll be exhausted from trying to keep up with you on twelve mile hikes a day. It’ll be much less fun for all if you don’t surf.”

  I laughed. “Well, okay, then. Guess I’m taking my surfboard.”

  She nodded. “Yes. But tell me, now that that’s out of the way, what the heck do you mean by having the first surf club surf next Saturday. Didn’t you just spend this whole weekend with surf club?”

  I added some garlic to the onions while I explained. “Oh, yeah. So, that was boot camp for new kids – freshmen mostly, but anyone who’s new to surf club. A couple of the more experienced kids and I do one day where we go out with anyone who says they can surf already just to see what we’re dealing with, then one day that anyone who struggled that day or who has never surfed before comes and we get them up and running. Then they’re ready, more or less, to join the others – of course the brand-new kids usually need some help, but at least the basics have been covered. Anyway, that happens this Saturday. The whole club goes out for the first time together.”

  “And would Ava be one of those regulars?” Aiesha’s tone was just a little sly.

  “You know it.” I added sliced veggie sausages to the pan and stirred. Ava was a high school student of mine who was struggling with her parents being accepting of her coming out as a lesbian. She also had a little crush on me, and Aiesha enjoyed teasing me about it. “She is one of the more experienced surfers, so she was out with both groups this weekend, too.”

  “How’s she doing?” She was more serious now.

  “Pretty well, I think. She said she’s going to Portland to visit her grandparents for spring break and her favorite cousin will be there, too. I think it’ll be a nice break for her.”

  “But not until after Saturday’s surfing.”

  “Definitely not,” I agreed. “Even though we’re leaving Sunday, you should still come here on Saturday. I’ll be done with surf club before noon, so there will be plenty of the day to hang out and then we can just leave from here in the morning. We’ll drive down the coast, which will take a little longer, but is more scenic.”

  “Sounds perfect, aside from that I was thinking maybe Friday if it’s not too much of an imposition. I’ve been missing you.”

  That was so sweet that I ignored my cooking for a few moments to make googly eyes at my girlfriend. “I’ve been missing you, too. It’s fine. More than fine. Great. I just thought you wouldn’t want to be up at dawn on Saturday.”

  “Oh, I won’t be. I’m sure you’ll sneak out quietly and if you do happen to wake me, I’m sure I’ll have no problem going back to sleep at that ungodly hour.”

  I laughed again. “Perfect then. Oops.”

  “Oops? Did you just remember a hot date with someone else Friday night?”

  “No. I just forgot to stir and my onions are a little dark. You have a tendency to distract me from cooking onions.”

  “Sure. I’ll take full responsibility for you burning your onions.” Sarcasm heavily accented that statement.

  “There is something in your tone that makes me think you don’t mean that.”

  We went on teasing and cooking until we were done, then we sat and ate ‘together’ before we each had to go and do other things.

  “I seriously can’t wait until Friday,” I said, sighing wistfully about having to say goodbye, even if it was a video chat.

  “Me, too. I love you, Kade.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Chapter 2

  Aiesha paused Fledgling, the audiobook we were listening to. We’d started it on our Valentine’s weekend trip but hadn’t had much time to listen to it since and had decided we’d finish it together when we had the time. Now that we were finally on our way down to Santa Cruz, we were working on it again.

  “You look happy.” Aiesha said, sounding happy herself.

  I smiled at her and reached over to squeeze her knee, although I had to get past Shori, her little brown dog, to do it. Not that Shori was guarding her lap. In fact, when she noticed my hand was over there, she sniffed it and then gave me a friendly lick. It was just that she was there on Aiesha’s lap. “I am.”

  At the sound of us talking, Max, my big black dog, thrust his head between the seats from the back seat to see what was up. We each gave him a scritch.

  “What’s not to be happy about?” I gestured out the window at the Pacific Ocean we were driving along. “We’ve got great scenery, happy dogs, a good audiobook, and, oh, yeah, you.”

  “An afterthought as always. I knew you were just with me for my dog.” The longer Aiesha and I were together, the more that woman teased me. I liked it, though, if I was being honest. She knew me well and was comfortable enough to tease, knowing I’d understand.

  “Uh, no. That would be the other way around. Remember that I met you without Shori whereas you met Max before me.”

  “Ah, that’s right. I’ve been trying to think of a time to break this to you, but I’m only into you for Max. I figured midway through a twelve-hour drive was the time.”

  I clutched my heart. “You wound me. But, sure, it’s a great time. It’ll give us something to talk about for the next six hours. We go inland here pretty soon, so we’ll only have trees to look at. Clearly we’ll need to keep things exciting.”

  “Or I could just admit that I’m super into you and we could listen to Fledgling some more?”

  “That would be another way to go,” I allowed. “And as it happens, I’m super into you, too.”

  “Well, it’s almost like we should take a trip together.”

  I laughed. “Almost.”

  “Hey, how did the first day of surf club go yesterday? I never asked.”

  Aiesha had gotten to my place Friday night, as planned, so she’d been there when I got back from surfing on Saturday, but she’d been on the phone with her cousin, then joined me in the shower. The shower cuddle had turned into a bed cuddle and a nap. When we woke up, we rushed to meet my friend, Jessie, for dinner. It was the first time the two of them had hung out and they were too busy bonding over embarrassing me to discuss surf club. I’d been pretty tired from a busy week, so despite the nap, we’d gone to bed early. Or at least, I had. Aiesha had gone to bed with me but was still reading when I fell asleep as she rubbed my back. This morning, we’d sleepily gotten ourselves up, taken the dogs out, loaded my surfboard on the rack, and driven down the road a ways before we even got coffee. We’d been just chilling, looking at scenery, listening to the book, and pausing occasionally to talk about what was happening in the story.

  “It was good. A couple of the new kids were nervous and some of the older kids got a little out of shape and were disappointed by their performance, but I think overall everyone had a good time and even the newbies each caught a wave.”

  “Do you get to surf much with the club? I mean, actually surfing yourself.”

  “Not too much particularly at the start. There’s a lot of coaching. And some of the new kids get literal pushes to help them get going. I’ll get to do more as the season progresses. And I went before work every day this week, so I’m not suffering.”

  She shuddered. “Getting up that early to get into cold water is crazy. How did I get involved with a crazy woman?”

  “I’m told I’m pretty cute.” I batted my eyelashes.

  She shifted Shori to free her left hand, which she then used to stroke my thigh. “There is that. I’m about ready for lunch. Any ideas on where we should stop?”

  So far, we’d stopped for coffee but had otherwise made do with granola bars and apples we’d packed. I was definitely ready for lunch myself. “We’re just about to Eureka and there are some options there, depending. What I know of are things like Chipotle and Taco Bell if we want to do a quick and maybe eat in the car type of lunch. Or there’s an Indian restaurant where I’ve stopped before to go in and sit. And I’ve been known to just get fries and a milk shake at In-N-Out. Aside from that, you’d have to check with Google.”

  “Indian sounds best, but maybe something quick like Chipotle would be better so that we have time to stop in a bit and walk the dogs?”

  “Sounds perfect. Humbolt Redwoods State Park will come up pretty soon after that and would be a great place to stretch our legs.”

  Chipotle was a little awkward to handle while driving since their burritos were not small, but I managed, being an expert at eating while driving. Aiesha made for a good co-pilot, helping to pull down the wrap as necessary, which I thought was particularly amazing since she had Shori on her lap who was sniffing interestedly at her burrito. Max, too, poked his head up between the seats at first, hoping there might be some to share, but when it was evident he wasn’t getting any, he went back to looking out the window. Shori, though, was just there on Aiesha’s lap and I was impressed she didn’t manage to sneak any bites.

  We finished up shortly before entering the State Park, although the Redwoods had started dominating our view before that. I pulled off of 101 to access a short walking loop I’d done before on this trip. It was only a half a mile but passed by some excellent trees and being only a half a mile, didn’t take up too much time on a driving intensive day. I parked at the trailhead.

  “I’ve never been to northern California before. All these redwoods together are really something, aren’t they?” Aiesha asked.

  We had redwood trees in Oregon, so the giants weren’t foreign to us, but they didn’t dominate in our neck of the woods, being interspersed with other varieties. A whole forest of them was a different experience.

  I nodded, turning in my seat to locate Max’s leash. “People talk about them for a reason.”

  We each clipped leashes onto our dogs and out of the car, stretching. It was overcast, but not raining, so really perfect conditions for standing under really tall trees and looking up. We took our time, letting the dogs sniff and take care of their needs. We took pictures of each other with trees and selfies together.

  “Want one of the both of you?” a woman who was passing, sporting a side shaved head and a flannel shirt, asked.

  I gave her a nod of recognition, which she returned, and handed her my phone. “Sure, thanks. That’d be great.”

  She took several, encouraging us to adopt different poses. We were all smiling and laughing by the time she moved on.

  When we’d completed the half mile loop, I was a little sad about getting back in the car. It had been so lovely under the trees and smelling the fresh air, but we had a ways to go yet. We got water out for the dogs and watched while Max drank but Shori took a lick and decided she was done. It was clear after a minute or two we were both lingering without a reason beyond enjoying the area.

  “Maybe we should plan another trip where we spend some time in the Redwoods,” Aiesha suggested.

  “I’d definitely be up for that. I bet there’s a lot of great hiking around. Maybe this summer if you’ve got time around your camp teaching schedule.” I generally took summers off, but Aiesha generally worked at camps. She’d mentioned she was still working on her student loans whereas I was lucky enough not to have them.

  She took one last slow turn around, taking in the trees, then moved to get back in the car and I followed suit.

  As I got us back on 101, I said, “We’re about done with Fledgling. Do you have another book picked out to listen to? We should have discussed this ahead of time.” To be fair, we’d both been pretty busy. With the trimester system, she’d just had finals and the start of a new quarter, whereas I was in the period where I juggled the two school clubs I was in charge of in addition to teaching and the start of the surfing season.

 

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