“When I invited you to come whale watching,” Marina said, crouching down next to Rio, “I didn’t mean for you to actually get in the water.”

19

Smiling

“Do you know,” Fran remarked after a late dinner that same night, “it’s the first time I’ve actually seen you smile?”

Rio touched his fingers to the corners of his lips. He hadn’t even realized he had been smiling. But yes. His lips were turned upward. It was so unfamiliar that he dropped his hands in shock.

“The gray whale,” she said, “is quite simply one of the most magnificent animals on earth. And like all wild animals, they have the power to transcend almost anything.”

Unable to contain his excitement, Rio had told her about coming face-to-face with a gray whale. Although he had chosen to leave out the fact it was White Beak and that he’d fallen into the water. Those parts he kept to himself.

“I remember the first time I ever saw one,” murmured Fran. “Oh, a long time ago now, but the feeling never leaves you.”

Her face took on a distant, faraway expression. A look that was remarkably similar to the ones he’d seen on the faces of the whale watchers. So much so that Rio was almost tempted to tell her about his plan to save his mom. Because perhaps she could help?

He was debating whether or not he could trust her when the phone rang.

Of course, it was Sunday! His whole body was still tingling so much after meeting White Beak that it took him a moment to realize this was the call he’d been waiting for all week. His mom had switched the time to the evening, which meant it must be really early in the morning over there.

As before, Fran answered and then passed the phone over.

“Mum?” Rio scampered out to the back step, where the sun was low in the sky. “Guess who I saw today?” he said, too excited to hold it in for a second longer. “You won’t guess, but it was White Beak! Your whale! I saw her in the ocean with my own eyes!”

He paused to catch his breath. His heart was pitter-pattering like rain against his chest. Waiting for her to react. Waiting for her to say something.

“Mum?”

“I’m here,” she said in a voice that sounded so far away, Rio had to press the phone harder to his ear. “You’ve been on the water?”

Rio swallowed down a sigh. He’d forgotten how he sometimes had to repeat things. Never mind. He would speak slower this time and tell her the whole story from the beginning.

“I met a girl on the pier. Marina. And then she took me whale watching on her boat and . . .”

“You went to the marina?”

“I did . . . but first I went to the pier. The girl I met—she’s called Marina.”