The First Summer of Forever

Chapter 8- Breathing it in

Belly

The beach was so pretty this morning. There's something about a morning on Cousins beach. The waves lapping in so slowly, the coast almost looks like glass. The mornings out here are cool, slow, and quiet. It's so serene, it's almost like the rest of the world outside of this beach - time stands still, and there's only this. 

When I was little, I used to come on Susannah's walks with her sometimes. She'd let me tag along, and we'd lollygag along the beach, taking turns picking up shells. Most of the time we'd find so many, we'd have them falling out of our hands, they were so full. Of course, neither of us picked up a shell bag on our way out.

This morning, I thought of Susannah. I could hear her in every sea gull call, and every wave that kissed the shore. I could smell her in the cool, salty breeze. Those things were what gave breath and life to Susannah, and so, I breathed them in, and thought, thank you, Susannah, for giving me Conrad. Thank you for raising such a wonderful, thoughtful man. Then I thought about the way she smiled at the deb ball. The way she gazed at me and Conrad. I didn't understand it then, but I do now. She wanted to see me in white, with one of her boys leading me around the dancefloor. But I think she always knew it would be Conrad.

Just then, as if right on cue, Conrad reached over and brushed my cheekbone, right under my eye. " Eyelash," he said. " Make a wish." So I closed my eyes, and I wished with all my heart. I hoped that I would always feel this way for him. And then I blew the eyelash off of Conrad's finger, and gave it a kiss.

We had already eaten the muffins, and were just finishing off our coffee. When Conrad leaned in for a kiss, his hand cupping the back of my neck, I quickly sat my coffee down, and my whole body swayed back at his embrace, relaxing, melting into the blanket we were sitting on.

We kissed like that for a few minutes, slowly at first, then increasing in intensity with a need, a longing. I'm guessing Conrad couldn't take it anymore, as he whispered, " Do you want to go back?" I quickly nodded my head yes, hastily with a grin. I added everything to Susannah's picnic basket as fast as I could. Before I could hardly finish, Conrad was scooping me up, and throwing me over his shoulder, while snatching the basket from my hands.

He made it to the house in impressive time, considering he was lugging me the whole way. I thought I was going to die from laughing so hard. We made it to the house, and he didn't stop there. He hauled me all the way upstairs and to the bedroom, where he flung open the door, and threw me down on the bed. I couldn't stop giggling. " You think this is funny, Mrs. Fisher? Let me give you something to laugh about." He tickled me in all the places he knew would drive me crazy. Then I felt his warm kiss on my neck, drawing me in and making me forget everything else. He knew I loved when he kissed my neck. I Loved that this man was mine.

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" Hey, babe, I need to go into town in a little while to get some supplies for our trip. You want to come with me?" Conrad echoed from the kitchen. " Of course I do. Who else is gonna make sure we have good snacks packed?" I was laying on the couch, reading a book, while Conrad was in the kitchen surveying what we already had. My comment didn't even phase him. He was used to my junk food addiction by now. " I just need to check the boat out real quick to see what we might need from the marine hardware store before we leave tomorrow." He took his notepad outside and made his way to the dock to start surveying the boat.

I went outside and skipped behind him, grabbing the notepad out of his hand and the pen that was behind his ear. "Let me help. You survey, I'll take notes." I said. "Okay, thanks. I've already done the big checks- the hull and the engine checks. I just need to check out our safety gear and supply stores."

I followed him onto the deck, and watched as he checked the sails, the ropes, and the navigating equipment one last time. Then he checked the life vests, life-savers, and the fuel and fuel lines, in case we needed to use the engine. After that, we went down into the cabin to check that the first aid kit was stocked, check our propane and water, and see what was in the little kitchen area. We obviously needed to stock up on some pantry items, like refresh the salt and basic seasonings. We would need to have plenty of snacks and non-perishable food on hand, as well as water. Conrad always says "You never know what could go wrong on the water."

I hadn't sailed much in my life, it wasn't a regular thing. But I knew that I was in the best of hands. The few times I had sailed, it was with the Fishers. Conrad and his dad managed all the sailing while the rest of us had our fun. This would be my first ever sailing trip where I had to actually do work. Conrad promised me it wouldn't be bad, and that he would help teach me everything I would need to know. He said I would be an expert by the end of this trip. I guess we'll see. Conrad is the sailing champion and all. He used to compete, and was actually really, really good. He has the trophies to prove it in his old room at the summer house.

A little while later, we made a few stops around town. We got extra propane, and 1 more giant jug of water. We also picked up some new life vests, some flairs, some fresh rope for the anchor, and some fishing and diving supplies from the marine store. At the grocery store, Conrad took a cart around getting some other things he thought were important. I had a list of things that I wanted to make sure to bring. Like snacks.

After I had been perusing the snack aisle for quite some time, Conrad found me again. Just at that moment, I remembered that I needed to buy some tampons to have on the boat. He followed me to the feminine section, and I told him he could leave. He said, " Belly. It's fine. This stuff doesn't embarrass me. "Okay, good to know." I forgot that in medical school they probably cover things way grosser. Jeremiah would never be caught dead in this section. The one time I asked him to go to the store for me, he said never again. He was so embarrassed. I really didn't understand why. He had bought me Midol before, but when I sent him for tampons he said he got confused and then felt stupid standing there forever. So he just grabbed the box in front of him and left. "Since you're here, could you reach those-on the top shelf?" I pointed to the ones I liked, and Conrad reached up without hesitation and put them in his cart. My heart melted all over again.

Then we moved on and got some dry, non-perishable food to have on the boat. Conrad said we would stop at different ports and get local fresh food on our trip, which made sense. We didn't have the room to store a lot of food in the sailboat. There was a very small fridge in the kitchen area. The sailboat cabin was a lot like the inside of a small camper. Besides the little kitchen galley with a few cabinets and a little tiny stove and sink, it had a queen size bed tucked away in its own aft cabin, and a set of sleeping couches that were parallel to each other along the interior walls of the boat. I think the little table could convert into a bed too, if it was needed. There was also a really small bathroom that had a toilet. Conrad said that on a sailboat, it was called a head, not a toilet. Weird. Anyway, we didn't have a lot of storage for things.

"You mean to tell me there are no sour patch kids in our cart yet?" Conrad said, pointing into the cart. Then we both laughed. " I'm gonna go find you the biggest bag they have. You haven't stocked up in a while." He said, jokingly. "I may have a toothless wife by the end of our trip, but I'll have a happy one." I laughed at how cheesy he was being. We picked up some shrimp, pineapple and vegetables for skewers to throw on the grill tonight, and we headed home.