Our Beloved Summer | A TSITP Story

Chapter 34

When I woke up the next morning, I didn't get out of bed right away. I just laid there and pretended like it was any other morning at the summer house. My sheets smelled the same, the curtains on the window let through that perfect amount of sunlight - it all felt like a fever dream. Even though I had gone to bed early the night before, I slept late. It was already almost eleven. I had slept for almost twelve hours. I hadn't slept that much in weeks.

I got out of bed and went to look out my window. Looking out at the summer house always made me feel better. I wished every window looked out at an ocean, nothing but miles and miles of sand and sea. But they didn't, my room back home looked right into an oak tree. It was just leaves and barely any sunlight. It was one of the many things that made me miss the Cousins house when I wasn't here.

I went downstairs with my hair a mess and my eyes still glossed over with sleep. Jere was just a few steps in front of me, still in his pajamas. I looked at him and gave him a tight lipped smile. We walked over to the kitchen together, hearing Conrad talking to someone on the phone.

"I know. But you're sure there's no way to access my trust without him? No, I haven't... talked to him about it just yet. But, um, it won't be a problem. He's calling soon and I'll get him to sign off. Okay. Yeah. Thank you." Conrad said, taking pauses here and there for the person on the other line.

"Morning." I said, awkwardly trying to make our presence known.

"You want to talk about a plan B?" Jere said from beside me.

"There's no time for a plan B, Jere." Conrad sounded stressed and over it.

"There's no time? Come on, dude."

"Aunt Julia is already here." Conrad said curtly, making Jere stand up straighter. "She got in yesterday. She's at Ocean Harbor."

"You saw her?" Jere asked.

"I mean, we talked on the phone for about five seconds. She couldn't be bothered to come to Mom's funeral, but she'll hop on the first flight to come sell this place."

"I don't get it. Why? What's the big rush?"

"It doesn't matter why. This isn't a game, okay? This is serious shit. So just go back to bed and let me deal with it."

Throughout this whole interaction, Conrad hadn't looked at me once. He barely even looked at Jere even though he was speaking to him. Conrad's first sign of avoidance was in his eyes. He was terrible about making eye contact when he wasn't feeling his best, whatever reason it was.

"That went well." I said, sarcastically. Jere moved to sit at the kitchen island.

"You know, he keeps saying he's going to figure things out. He hasn't figured out shit." He looked at me, "Can you talk some sense into him? You are the only person that can get through to Conrad."

"Uh, Conrad may have listened to me at one point, but I don't think he cares what I think anymore." I looked at Jere and saw the realization comes across his face - Conrad and I weren't the same anymore.

"Are you... hungry?" I said, trying to change to path of this conversation quickly. He nodded, and stood up. "I can get something. Maybe some frittatas. The grocery store is right next to Ocean Harbor."

I looked right at him. He had this conniving grin on his lips. I squinted at his mischievous face, "We're going to go find Aunt Julia?"

"We're going to go find Aunt Julia." He nodded and darted up the stairs. I rubbed my eyes and groaned. I did not sign up for this much.

—

With some food in my system, I was in a much better mood riding to the motel Aunt Julia was staying at. I could tell Jere was nervous so I thought I could lighten the mood. "So what's our game plan with Julia, huh? Sneak attack? Bribery? Murder?" I joked.