The Summers After

seven

BELLY

Belly wakes up in the morning with a headache. She barely slept and her eyes hurt from crying. She absolutely hates fighting with Conrad. And when they fight, it's usually not pretty. She looks at the clock, it's already almost 10. She takes a long shower, gets dressed and starts packing. Conrad is going to come home around 2 so they can drive up to Cousins.

She isn't sure if he'll even want to go. Of course he will, right? How did their conversation about a baby turn into a fight about Cousins.

She thought he understood, summering up there. That's where they spent their childhood. Is it so crazy that she would want her kids to have the same experience? Cousins is magic, magical things happen there. It's where she and Steven both fell in love. It's where she learned to drive, became a debutante, had her first kiss, grieved for Susannah.

She always pictured herself doing the same as her mom. Driving to the house in June and not driving back to Boston until August.

Conrad cleaned before he left, or last night after she went to bed, she isn't quite sure. She does know for sure though that he didn't come to bed. But there's no trace of where he slept.

She isn't sure how they get past their fight. They will, obviously, because they're Belly and Conrad. Right now though, it feels impossible. They're both hurt, and sometimes that's the hardest to get through.

Belly puts her bags by the door. It's only 12:30. She could watch TV, but she wouldn't pay attention. She walks back into the kitchen. Maybe she should make cookies. She doesn't have all the ingredients for his favorite cookie, but she can come pretty close.

She has all the dishes washed, and the last batch in the oven at 2 o'clock. Her phone rings, it's Conrad.

"Hey," she says as she answers.

"Hi Isabel, it's Lacey."

Belly frowns, "Oh hi Lacey." Lacey is one of the receptionists at Conrad's practice.

"Dr. Fisher wanted me to call you. He's stuck in surgery, so he said you can leave and he'll meet you up at the beach house tomorrow morning."

"Um, okay. Thanks."

"You're welcome!" She's chipper. It annoys Belly for some reason. Probably because she's 23, and super model pretty.

Belly hangs up. She waits another six minutes for the cookies to be done. She stacks them nicely on a cake stand, covers it up and then leaves. The tears come easily in the car, for some reason this fight feels bigger. She thought they would have the afternoon together to talk, and to get a call from Lacey feels like a punch in the gut.

Arriving back in Cousins feels like a breath of fresh air for Belly. She can feel her blood pulsing easier the closer she gets to the ocean.

Steven and Shayla's Range Rover is in the driveway. She practically bounces up the stairs, eager to wipe their fight from her mind — and to see her brother. And her kids.

As soon as she opens up the door, the noise hits her. Steven yelling something, Shayla and her mom laughing, Matt and Mallory's little footsteps. It's intoxicating.

She walks into the kitchen where Shayla and her mom are. Her mom is cutting lemons to put into the iced tea. Shayla is sitting in a bar stool across from her, cutting up fruit.