Colin’s heart rate surged.
He switched to another site, a third, a fourth, angry now that his fingers could not keep up with either his eyes or his brain. Then, in all places, he discovered a tight little paragraph hidden deep in the bowels of an online Hollywood rumor mill.
He cut off the computer. Bounced a few times in his chair. Running through everything imbedded in his design and how this news fit into his system.
No question. This was it.
He rose from the chair and hefted his bag and left the house. It was impossible to feel so excited, and so burdened. Incredible to have finally identified the compass heading, only to be saddled with the hardest task of all.
As he crossed the bridge and started along Sun Runner Place, the image of his father drawing him into the whitewashed prison of a Raleigh bedroom flashed before his eyes.
He had to make this work.
CHAPTER10
Swim class was much harder today, even though he knew what was expected of him. Colin’s muscles felt spongy and stubborn, as if they were reluctant to do what he told them. Even the exercises that had been easy the previous day came with difficulty. Just the same, it felt good to lose himself in the tasks. He loved being in the pool, even more than the day before. As if the experience was magnified, now that he knew what to expect. He relished how total it was, how easy to set aside his project and his thoughts and even his father. All of it washed away in the joy of being surrounded by the crystal blue.
Sometimes when he submerged himself and stayed under, Colin found himself thinking about his mother. What surrounded him here, the light-filled water, the weightless joy, held a whisper of what she had found so special about the sea. He had not been back to the beach since her death. He wondered if he ever would again.
When class was over, he took up the same position as theprevious day, seated on the pool’s boundary, ignoring the shrill noise as all the other children were released for their Sunday swims. He swished his feet back and forth and thought on what it would be like to swim in the sea. Moving along the border of thousands and thousands of miles of blue. The depths going down into blackness …
He was startled from his reverie by Mira leaning down beside him. “You were looking good out there today.”
“It felt a lot harder.”
“Sure, I get that. Your muscles are learning new rhythms. How do you feel?”
He liked that. Thinking of the swim strokes as rhythms. “I’m really tired now. But it’s a good tired.”
“Next week we start the breaststroke.” She crooked her arms, extended them fully at a forty-five-degree angle, then brought them together. “You’ll feel even worse after that, learning to push forward with your leg strokes.”
“I can’t wait.”
She slipped down beside him. “So how are things for the new UNC brain?”
“I meet with the dean of admissions and the head of math in a couple of hours.”
“That’s just wild. I mean, here I am sitting next to … How old are you?”
“I just turned twelve.”
“Wild.” She had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. “Happy birthday.”
“Thanks.”
“What did you do to celebrate?”
The question made him uncomfortable. “Nothing. I mean, it’s just a day.”
She lost her smile. But the sense of ease did not diminish. “My folks would like to meet you. Is that okay?”
“Sure, I guess.”
“They’re over by the kiddie pool with my brother and baby sister.” She rose to her feet. “Come on, I’ll introduce you. Then I’ve got to get back to work.”
Colin had no clear idea what he expected, meeting Mira’s parents. He had assumed she was South American, Brazilian perhaps, with her tall, languid shape, already fully a woman. He did not know much about girls of her age. Mira was nothing like the older academy students. She possessed a singular poise and grace.
“Mom, Daddy, this is the boy I was telling you about. Colin … I’m sorry, I forgot your last name.”