“Tabloids?”
“They never got the full schedule, so as far as they know, she’s still shooting.”
“Okay.”
We reach Haley’s car, a mint green Mini Cooper, and she leans against the roof and looks across at me. “So… what do we do?”
I toss my backpack in the back seat. “Where would someone famous go to surf if they don’t want to be seen?”
Haley snaps her fingers and dives into the driver’s seat. “Ooh,yes!”
I wait a beat, then duck and look at her. “Where?”
“What? I don’t know, I thought you knew. That wasn’t a rhetorical question?”
I give a wry laugh as I settle in next to her and fasten my seatbelt. “Why would I know that?”
“You live here.”
“So do you.”
“I literallyjustmoved here.”
“And I barely leave the city.”
“Google?” Haley offers with a wry grin.
I nod. “Google.”
The two anda half hour drive from LAX to the near side of Hollister Ranch feels like it takes two and a half weeks.
Haley and I chat about random, casual stuff to calm our nerves. We agree that we’ll have to come back and actually visit Santa Barbara sometime; it’s gorgeous.
On the far side of Santa Barbara, the highway winds along the edge of the coastal plateau. To the north, buildings disperse, making room for rolling farm lands and orchards sprawling up the green and gold foothills. To the south, the azure ocean sparkles, briefly interrupted by copses of trees or cars going the opposite way.
We drive until we reach Gaviota State Beach and park near an old railroad bridge and squat tan-bricked facilities with terra cotta roofs.
“Now what?” Haley asks.
According to what we could find online, the guardhouse for Hollister Ranch is just a short drive from here. A guardhouse that willdefinitelyturn us away.
“Let’s just… walk around for a bit.” Haley still doesn’t know I’m an omega, and ideally, I’d like to keep it that way. How that’s going to be possible with my hare-brained scheme is… to be determined.
I aim for the nearest low hill, maneuvering around a young family prepping for a beach day and a couple walking their dog, with Haley in tow.
Once I get some altitude, I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
The scent of the ocean fills my senses, salty and fresh. But there’s… more than that. Sage. Oak. The smell of this place, a place she belongs, but notherscent.
Then the wind shifts, coming from inland, and my chest vibrates.
Somewhere along that air current, she’s here.
That’s the confidence I needed.
I turn back to Haley. “Okay, I’ve got a plan. You ready to act your butt off?”
She cracks a smile. “I was born ready.”
