“That’s part of learning,” Trevor said. He was obviously fighting a smile. Luckily, Laurence seemed more pleased with his amusement than annoyed by it.
“How did your day go?” Trevor asked Nick.
Nick shot Connor a glare as if the two minutes they’d been in each other’s presence had somehow ruined his day. “It was fine,” he said icily.
“What about you, Connor?” Trevor didn’t linger on Nick’s attitude, though Connor doubted he’d missed it.
“Its been a blast,” Connor said dryly.
“You’ve made good progress.” Trevor nodded to the book next to Connor’s plate. He’d used his butter knife to bookmark his page. “I should have guessed you’d be a fast reader with all the books in your room. Laurence gave them a go but ended up scribbling on the pages instead of reading them.”
Laurence jolted. “Dad—” He whipped his head around to Connor. “It was one book, and I replaced it, I swear!”
“I’ve read them all. Paint in them if you want.”
Laurence looked at Connor, mystified. “You’ve readallof them?”
Connor’s summers here were incredibly lonely, and he’d always end up with long stretches of hours where there was nothing to entertain him. There was the TV, but he preferred taking his books to the beach and reading next to the ocean. “There’s not much else to do around here,” he said, unhappy memories souring his tone.
“We will have to pick up more books for you,” Trevor said.
“Judge Reese has me covered,” Connor said, eyeing the so-far boring book next to his plate of salmon. What a novelty it was to be eating something other than pasta and cheese in this house. He vaguely recalled his mom making a few attempts at home-cooked meals when he was maybe six or seven, back when dad still lived with them. But by the time his memories were more concrete, meals were cereal and microwaved Weetabix. Plain pasta. Instant noodles. Everything a growing child needed…
Laurence’s smile faded. He looked away quickly, as if he’d suddenly remembered Connor’s reason for coming home, and realised he shouldn’t try to be friends with him. Nick’s stony gaze turned to Laurence, and his expression became one ofI told you.
“I suppose you’re right,” Trevor said in a neutral tone. Edith gave Connor a hard look as if to accuse him of ruining the mood.
“I’ll be dropping you off at your father’s in the morning,” she said, keeping that hard look on him.
Connor looked at her in surprise. “He caved? I can stay with him?”
“No. At his work,” she said, frowning. “You have to be supervised doing your readings, and both Trevor and I have work.”
Connor’s hopes dried up. So much for the solitude his dad’s house would provide. “Dad is married to his lab. You think it’ll be any different for him?”
“He’s promised to set you up at a desk and monitor you.”
Connor tried not to be too amused. He imagined his dad had agreed simply to get his mom off the phone and that there would be no supervision. “Alright,” Connor said.So long as he signs the sheets, I don’t care. At least he could wander around looking at the giant fish tank they’d made of the ocean when he got bored.
“Isn’t the lab, like, super high-tech?” Laurence ventured curiously. He looked at his dad. “We drove past there, didn’t we? It’s the place with the guards.”
“They’re just to keep people from wandering in,” Connor said. “An American billionaire owns the place. He thought a glass building in the middle of the ocean would be cool, but the only way he could get permission to build it was to actually make it something. An ocean research lab in a bio-diverse hot spot was compelling enough to get approval.”
“It’s glass?” Laurence asked, shocked.
Connor forgot that people didn’t know about his dad’s workplace. It was the kind of place that you would find in America, not plain old Ireland, with its churches and bogs.
“Part of it,” Connor explained. “The submerged part facing the ocean is. The rest is concrete and steel.”
“Submerged?” Trevor’s eyebrows went up.
“It’s part underwater,” Edith said. There was a line of tension in her brow. “Aside from the lab staff and Connor, nobody is allowed down there because of safety concerns.”
“Do people try to steal ocean research?” Laurence asked.
“It’s more to do with it being a few panes of glass between the lab and the ocean,” Connor explained. “You can have all the safety protocols in the world, but if that glass cracks while someone is down there? They’re screwed.”
“I’m not sure I would like to work there…” Laurence said, concerned.
