Morning.
The sky was painted in soft pastels when they erged onto the villa’s stone steps, yawning and stretching beneath the golden early light as the sea below shimred gently.
Olivia, Noah, Ivy, Ava—everyone was all dressed up and outside, ready to visit Cala Goloritzé—the beach.
Not just Max, but the others could be seen inhaling the air.
Crisp, with a salty breeze, it all seed to hint at how adventurous their day would beco. Even more so for Max.
Parked by the carved road that traced toward the uphill, the two pairs of big SUVs they drove in yesterday were waiting and had all of their doors open.
Max could see his dad wiping his hands with a towel while getting down from one of the vehicles.
Walking towards his father, the forr, who had already sighted him, dropped the towel on the ground.
"What’s up, son."
"I’m good." Replying to his dad’s hood greeting, Max followed behind him as the forr led him to the open trunk.
"Anything you might need that’s not included?" his father asked, nudging his hand at the neatly packed beach bags filled with towels, waterproof caras, a Bluetooth speaker, and a wicker picnic basket jointly prepared by his aunts.
’Focaccia, olives, fruit, and sparkling San Pellegrino on ice?’ Inwardly listing the combination, Max was very impressed.
"Alright, it’s ti to leave, Sarah." Hailing at his pink-haired aunt, his father gestured at his wristwatch.
"Co on."
Just then, Ava quickly flailed her arms, grasping Olivia’s wrist—who then pulled Annabelle along.
"Please, hold up, we forgot sothing." She shouted, drawing everyone’s attention to their departing figures.
Dismissing the thoughts of what they could be up to, Max stepped into the back passenger seat of the first SUV.
While putting on his sunglasses, he discovered that his hair was still damp from the shower and shrugged slightly.
Slipping into the seat before him, Evelyn tied up her hair into a ponytail, then adjusted the linen wrap around her waist.
Entering the driver’s seat, his father cranked up the playlist.
Unlike last ti, Aunt Chloe ca to sit in the second front seat instead of Raven.
"Hold up, we’re back." Ava called out loud, heaving from the little race they had, as Olivia and Annabelle followed after, revealing a mysterious smile.
Gbam!
Seeing the door had been shut and the second vehicle seed ready—
"Alright."
Tires crunched along the carved path as they descended the winding road towards Santa Maria Navarrese, the nearest marina.
Driving by the village from before, they saw fishern at the docks. A bustling scene of families moving around with no surprise to their vehicles.
Not long after, they arrived at the pier where a sleek white private motorboat with teak decking and plush leather seating shaded by the sun canopy awaited them.
Waving at them, a local captain in dark shades walked forward and greeted them with a Sardinian accent before helping them load their things aboard.
"You n should lend a hand, would you?"
Smirking at them, his father seed to be keen on what he said last night and referred to them as n.
While they assisted the captain in loading, Max discovered that the females, including his aunts, directly boarded the ship without turning their heads.
Just when they were done—
The boat pulled away from the dock with a low hum and began slicing through the calm morning sea.
"Are you ready for this?" Olivia asked, bringing out her phone as she took a shot of the ocean while smiling at him.
"You know—I did my research yesterday and this beach, Cala Goloritzé, is actually very, very cool. Can’t wait to check if it’s real." Sharply joining in, Ava brought her phone up to his face and took a selfie of them both.
"Gosh—why are you all acting clingy around him?"
Causing the girls to jerk their heads toward him, Blake stepped onto the bow cockpit where they sat with a disgruntled look before walking forward.
"Try looking more handso, bro—"
"And." Seeing Blake push his dyed hair backward, Ava snickered.
However, Blake didn’t seem to pay attention to her. Standing before Max, who was on a deck chair enjoying the cruising sea breeze.
"... Hey bro, I know things may not have started cool between us since I was such a headegg... I want to apologize."
Silence
Apart from the breezing sea wind, nothing could be heard for a mont as the girls ca to an abrupt halt.
Seeing Blake stretch his hand for a shake, Max watched him in silence for a mont before standing up to receive his hand.
"We are good." Max said while Blake visibly nodded, unable to say another word for a while.
"Wow, Blake, that was aweso."
"Never knew my brother could be so cool." Just as Blake was about to slip back into the cockpit, Ava and Olivia’s mocking voices caused him to grit his teeth.
Just as Max was about to sit back down, he saw Noah raising a thumbs-up at him.
Following that, the atmosphere on the boat turned quite amicable as the coastline rolled by in layers of jagged cliffs, hidden caves, and tiny inlets.
Olivia and Ava now leaned against the rails, pointing out sea arches and laughing at seagulls overhead.
At the back, Daisy could be seen dipping her fingers into the water despite the words of her mother, Aunt Raven, which caused them to notice her presence.
About thirty minutes later, the sun crept higher, warm now, as it kissed the shoulders and bounced off the waves like scattered diamonds.
Max saw his father look over his shoulder—Aunt Chloe sat cross-legged on one of the side benches in the cockpit as she gazed out, toward the endless blue they were leaving behind.
Up ahead, the captain slowed the boat.
"There," he said, nodding toward the cliffs as everyone excitedly stood up.
There, the iconic listone spire of Cala Goloritzé rose out of the coastline like a stone sentinel. Below it: a crescent of white pebbles, lapped by the clearest turquoise water they’d ever seen.
No crowds. No noise. Just beauty.
"Looks fake," Ava whispered.
"No," Olivia retorted. "Looks like exactly where we’re ant to be."
Soon later, the anchor dropped, and the engine went quiet.
"Alright," said the captain. "Now you swim." Causing all of them to look lost for a mont. Exactly the n who would be carrying their stuff.
"No way," Daniel muttered.
"Alright, we’ll assist you boys—or n, whatever it is you now refer to yourselves as." Gazing at his father, Aunt Sarah said.
"Thanks, Mom." Popping out a joyous smile, Daniel didn’t wait and jumped into the crystal-clear water.
As siblings, Max and Evelyn picked up a sealed cooler and swam to the shore.
"Look! There are actually people on the beach!" Calling out to the rest of them, Daniel, who had jumped in first, was already walking out of the water.
At the sound of his voice, everyone quickly noticed a group camping by the beach with what seed to be a barbecue stand behind a cliff.
From the look of it, the other party had noticed their arrival and began to gather.
As they sward closer and closer, Max noticed six figures standing next to the barbecue stand as they awaited their presence.
A man, woman, a young woman, a girl looking to be the sa age as him, a boy around thirteen, and a smaller girl around six or seven.
"It’s a family—Raven, I thought you bought every allocation?"
Swimming with a basket in her hand, raised up above the waters, Aunt Sarah said, her expression turning cautious as the water got lower and lower, stepping on soft sands.
"Relax, I checked out the people who bought the reservation. They aren’t average." Aunt Raven said, already putting on a smile as they got up from the waters.
Just as he followed suit, Max found himself disconnected from his aunt’s conversation as he locked eyes with a particular figure.
’What’s she doing here?’
H h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h
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