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“Due to some unfortunate damage on the trail, we’re unable to visit Tiger Falls today. But we will be visiting the hot springs as well as the Peecha Falls! Once we get there, we’ll break off into groups where half of us will go to the hot springs and the other half will visit the falls. At noon, we’ll switch, and then at three thirty, we’ll head back to the bus.”
“See?” Shaylea huffs. “Just a bunch of tourist gimmicks. We aren’t even going to see what we paid for.”
“We didn’t pay for this,” I whisper back, but she waves me off.
Fifteen minutes later, the bus breaks through a clearing, and everyone begins murmuring excitedly.
We wind down a hill on a narrow road before coming to a stop in front of a small nature reserve. As we’re exiting the bus, I take a look around the designated swimming area.
“Where’s the waterfall?” I ask Halona, who’s now joined by a male guide.
From where we stand, a shallow pool of water lies just beyond a rest area with nothing but a few rows of picnic tables.
“Right over there,” she says.
All kinds of different plants and flowers with oranges, pinks, and purples coloring their leaves are scattered about the park. Water ripples against a grainy sand bank as my gaze travels to the rock face Halona is pointing to.
There, jutting out from the rocks, is the most underwhelming waterfall I’ve ever seen.
Kate appears beside me, gathering her dark hair before tying it in a ponytail. The scent of vanilla hits my lungs just as I catch an elbow to the ribs.
She jerks her chin toward the thin stream of water. “I’ve seen bigger.”
Brandi barks a laugh, which echoes loud enough to startle some of my colleagues.
“Sorry,” she mouths.
“I just bet,” I say to Kate, enjoying the way she wrinkles her nose at me.
Between stumbling off the bus with two obnoxiously oversized bags and now making her way to the front of our group, Shaylea has managed to don a pair of bug-eyed sunglasses and an even larger hat.
“What are we laughing about over here?”
Brandi mutters, “Definitely not you.”
She cuts a scathing glare Brandi’s way.
Halona speaks up then, gesturing to the man beside her. “Alright, half of you will go with Calian to the hot springs, and the other half of you will remain here.”
“Oh, oh! I want to go to the hot springs,” Shaylea says, pouting as she tugs me toward where the second guide is waiting. “Come on, Damon.Pleasedon’t make me go alone.”
Kate’s face pinches as she watches Shaylea drag me away. Her grip on my wrist is so tight that I’m afraid I’ll lose circulation.
“Wait—”
Brandi’s gaze turns murderous, but she loops her arms into Kate’s and Chuck’s and tugs them after us. “Come on, guys. We’re heading to the hot springs.”
* * *
Kate and Brandi lie on beach towels on the white rocks of the springs, soaking up the early afternoon sun. The morning started off cool and brisk, making the warm pools a perfect way to relax before the temperature began to rise.
A thick torrent of water runs down the side of a mountain high above our heads, feeding the five individual spring pools below, and the cloudy blue contrast of the water against the salt rocks is absolutely amazing.
A group of locals is rock climbing on the marked mountainside opposite the springs, while a couple of young girls are jumping in and out of the pools. It’s peaceful and serene, with the blue sky stretching for miles—but it’s not the scenery that keeps stealing my gaze.
Me, Chuck, and the guys from my team toss a frisbee back and forth on the rough pebbled ground below the pools while we wait to head the half a mile back to Peecha Falls.
Walter catches the plastic disc when I toss it to him. “You noticed Shaylea being weird with you?”
