The cheering voices filled Reen’s ears as she inhaled a steady and slow breath. Her mind turned inward until the scratchy plastic under her feet was the only thing she focused on. She pressed her fingers under the edge of the block and bent her knees at the precise angle to get the best advantage in the water.
But she didn’t need any advantages. She was already in the top spot on her team and in the state, which was why she had a choice of any college swimming program. The school of her dreams had already picked her, but she’d kept it a closely guarded secret. She wanted her rivals to think she hadn’t yet made a choice. It made the competition a little sweeter when everyone fought for the low times. She’d drawn recruiters from all over the country to her meets.
Reen sifted through the shouting of the crowd, finding Brody’s voice first. Her entire body tingled. Mom, Dad, Rose, and Brody never missed her meets. They were the support system in her life who made living in this dead-end town bearable. She couldn’t wait to finish the race and throw her arms around Brody and kiss him – after he congratulated her for another personal best score, of course.
Even though Brody wasn’t interested in her because of her talent in the pool, Reen got an incredible high from taking out the competition. She lived off it for at least a day afterward, making every moment spent with Brody that much more exciting.
The other girls took position, but she didn’t bother looking at them. In the past, when she did, they would put her off or pull faces at her. Their jealousy only fueled her, but she didn’t need negativity in her life. Besides, she had Brody – what else did she need?
When the gun went off, Reen let out a slow breath as the other girls dove into the pool. It was better to have a late start than a false one. As a young swimmer on the team, she’d false-started more times than not. Control took skill, and she’d honed it over the years. Now, she was quicker and could make up the time once she was in the pool.
She shoved off the block. When the water touched her fingers, a bolt of energy pulsed through her. The second before her face hit the water, she pulled in a breath. Fully submerged, she allowed herself a half second to revel in the way the water surrounded her body. Ever since she remembered, the water felt more like home than her actual house or the town they lived in. She didn’t understand her sister Rose’s fear of the water, but at least Mom felt the same way as Reen. For much of the year, they waded in the surf – only a few steps away from their back door.
The feel of the water around her snapped her back to the present. Her body moved on instinct after years of practice. Even though her coaches didn’t care much for her ability to hold her breath much longer than seemed possible, it was the only way she could get ahead without resistance.
She didn’t take a second one until shoving off from the other side of the pool.
Using the split second to breathe from both sides of her strokes, she checked out the competition. She was already in the top spot. But that wasn’t enough for her. The goal of any meet was to beat herself. The other girls weren’t her competitors. The more she thought that way, the lower her times became.
She waited to sprint until her last lap and managed to get far enough ahead that only one of the girls was close behind when Reen touched the side of the pool.
The crowd exploded with cheers, but all she focused on was the scoreboard.
She held the number she wanted to beat in the front of her mind. When her times appeared, she inhaled sharply and whooped as loud as she could.
Whipping around to see her family, she expected four smiling faces: Brody, Dad, Mom, and Rose. The rush of adrenaline filled her body as she hopped out of the pool. The momentary pull from the water stopped her in her tracks.
Brody had his back to Reen. Her feet slapped against the tile floor as she neared her family. Why wasn’t he coming over to congratulate her?
Reen looked for Mom in the crowd. It took her a second to spot her sprinting from the room with her cell phone pressed to her ear.
A breath caught in Reen’s throat and the roar of the crowd dampened as her heart pounded in her ears. Something had happened. She knew it in her bones. It was the same intuition that always led her straight and true in the water. Her gut twisted so hard that she almost doubled over. The heat from the room intensified as the world dangerously tilted.
The last thing she saw was Brody drifting toward her with his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyes filled with concern.
It wasn’t the simple act of coming home Reen dreaded more than anything. It was the water. She’d spent her entire life in the salt-filled ocean or a chlorine-filled pool. Well, her whole life up until eight years ago. Since leaving the coastal town of The Burrow, she tended to avoid large bodies of water because the reminder of home was, at times, too much to bear. Her body craved the sensation that linked her to her childhood, but she turned away from it, as her family had turned away from her. Traveling by car and plane across the country, avoiding the shores and deep lakes, she’d done just that. Until now.
When she arrived at the familiar house, her childhood home, she hesitated in the driveway. Rose had rented the house to her new boyfriend, but Reen wasn’t ready to meet someone new and pretend everything was okay between her and her sister. The reminder of Dad in every inch of the house was hard enough. A stronger force pulled her around to the side, where the sand met the small patch of grass out front. The water called her, a siren song reappearing in her mind as if it had been waiting for her to return.
She kicked off her wedge heels and stepped forward, allowing the sand to swallow her feet as she walked toward the ocean. Each cautious step brought her closer, but she was careful not to drop everything and run to it. The last eight years had been a test of her will, yet she found it wavering.
Reen stopped at the point where the damp sand touched the dry. She closed her eyes and inhaled the salty sea air. It was as if she hadn’t breathed at all in the years she’d been gone.
At that moment, it was as if she’d never left. The urge to strip down and jump into the unknown depths overwhelmed her. But she held her composure, knowing her sister was on the way. She’d texted her once she’d landed in Hartford, yet the always punctual Rose wasn’t on time. Any other time, this might have alarmed Reen, but since hearing that Rose had a boyfriend now, Reen guessed that her sister’s attention was on him. It was Rose’s way to mold herself into whomever she was dating.
Though, she wasn’t sure why Rose chose to live in a separate apartment from their childhood home yet kept it in the family.
From the short conversation she’d had with Rose two days ago, it seemed her boyfriend was in the police department. It was so like Rose to choose another local. Another root set down in this dead-end place. It didn’t matter. Once Reen saw Mom, she’d be on the next flight out of Connecticut and back to her own life.
‘Reen.’ Rose’s voice called behind her, barely audible over the crashing waves filling her ears.
Reen gulped another breath of air before turning to her sister.
Rose looked almost the same as she had when Reen left. Like Mom, she’d refused to cut her hair. It fell in brunette waves down her back. The sun shimmered off the lighter strands. It took a steady breeze to move the thick locks from her shoulder.
An inward smile warmed Reen as Rose took in the status of her hair. Reen hadn’t cut it for a few years after leaving, but one drunken night, she’d decided to chop it all off. It was the last tie to her family and she’d wanted nothing to do with them. At the time, it seemed like the perfect way to break away from her old life, but when Reen woke the next morning to a choppy disaster on her head, she’d thrown a baseball cap on and headed to the salon.