The First Summer of Forever

Chapter 30- Honest- to- God Beach House

Chapter 31

Conrad

I felt like I could finally breathe when we landed. Mr. Graves said he was taking us to a city in Northern Florida to a place called Panama City. He said it was famous for its spring breaks, that teens and young college kids come from all over just to come party here at P.C. I'd asked him about how he ended up in a place like this and he said, " It wasn't always like that, son. My mother's side of the family was one of the founding families of this city, and it used to really be something. Old Florida, we liked to call it. Before all of these damn high rises and condominiums were built on the beach, it was one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen in my life. Sugar white sands, and clear emerald waters. It could rival any beach in the Caribbean."

We drove down a highway with tall pines on both sides of the road, and then we emerged on a busy highway. There was tons of traffic in all directions. I watched as we followed this highway onto another busy road, this one closest to the ocean. "That my boy, is the Gulf of Mexico. Only, you can hardly see it from the road anymore." Belly and I craned our necks to see glimpses of it between the buildings we were passing by.  He was right. I had never seen such white sand, and clear, emerald water, from what I could make of it. We drove like this for several minutes until we arrived at a house that was on the beach, nestled in between other tall and slender beach houses. This one, though, looked older than the rest. Not in a bad way, but in a charming way. It had character. It was tall and slender, with big white porches across the front of the house on the first and second floor, and was a pale sky blue. When you got up close, you could see the paint peeling and cracking in areas. It looked like it had many layers of paint on it over the years. I wondered how long it had been here. It had the old key west kind of detail to it too. What did they call it? Gingerbread? Yeah, that. Under the porch, the ceiling was painted haint blue, something you see in the Caribbean and down south in Florida and places like New Orleans and Savannah. It was a mixture of blue and green. Kind of a light aqua. When Belly and I were in Key West and Savannah on some of the historical tours we took, we learned that the people believed that the blue ceilings fooled spirits, or haints, into thinking it was water, so they would not enter the house. That's why many of those houses had the same haint blue hue of shutters. I think they said it came from the Gullah Geechee beliefs.

    When we went inside, a rush of warm nostalgia washed over me. It reminded me so much of our summer house. The honest to God kind of beach house without all the frill of a fancy place. Walls in light shades of blues and greens, organic, sun-bleached wood scattered throughout the furniture and floors. Coastal art, paintings of sea gulls and oysters and blue herrings. Furniture that was nice, but clearly well- loved for many years. I could tell by how the cushions were fluffy in some spots, but flattened or wrinkled in other spots. This house was much more simplistic than his Key West house, much more down to earth. Belly must have been just as amazed as I was, because she was silent, her eyes raking her environment and taking it all in. a soft smile was planted on her face, and I could see that little sparkle in her eye. The one she got when she was in awe. Belly is like me in the way that she isn't all that impressed with over the top, material things. She has a special appreciation for the simpler things in life, but she has her own unique way of romanticizing even the ordinary of things. That's something I've always loved about Belly. She was always teaching me how to enjoy the simple things in life. To savor it. She reminded me of my mom in that way. She had her own kind of magic.

I heard the sweet old man clear his throat. "There's a lot of nightlife here for the young folk." Arnold said. " You two should take advantage of  it while you can. When that baby comes, Mom and Dad time is very...sporadic." He said with a knowing smile. I looked over at Belly as if to say, 'you want to?', and the look in her eyes told me she did.  " So what is there to do around here, Mr. Graves?"

"Please, call me Arnold from now on. And let's see, there are quite a few things to do. Lots of delicious restaurants and things.  There's miniature golf, that's a classic...Go karts...and Pier Park. It's a newer place that has been built across from the county pier.  Lots of shopping, restaurants, and theme park type rides."

"Oh, wow, that sounds a lot like our boardwalk." I said, grinning over at Belly. "What do you feel like doing, Bells." Ah, Bells, the nickname from a million years ago. My stomach flipped a little every time I said it. The name I gave her when we were kids, and Jeremiah kind of stole it from me. For a while, Belly always hated when people called her Belly. She would get all upset and pout. Back then, I couldn't stand to see her pout. The way her eyebrows furrowed and her lips curled down. And her eyes, her eyes, they just looked so sad.  It sort of broke my heart. She wanted everyone to call her Bella, but that was too common. Too ordinary. It wasn't special enough for her. So, I called her Bells once, and you should have seen the way her face lit up. Her eyes sparkled and her smile was a mile wide. She still likes it when I call her that from time to time. "What do you want to do, Bells?" The question echoed out loud.

"Um, why don't we go to dinner and then to the Pier Park place he is talking about?"

"Sounds good to me, whatever you want babe." And then we went up to what would be our room for the next few days so we could  freshen up and change. "You'll have the whole top floor to yourselves, children. My bedroom is down here. These old knees can't take the stairs anymore." Arnold said to me as we went up. He called us children, just like my mom used to. And I had a brief thought. If she was here, they would be good friends. They'd probably hit it off immediately. She'd call him a "kindred spirit."

When we got to our room, I instantly felt at home. It had the same kind of feel that my mother's bedroom had. Cozy and eclectic, but light and airy, and just- beautiful. It was like a breath of fresh air. It made me feel the same way as coming home felt. There was a bathroom attached that Belly found promptly. Her pregnant bladder was already working in overdrive. While she was in the bathroom, I fell onto the bed with my hands behind my head and was embraced by its softness. We had a really long day already, even though it was barely afternoon, and it was getting to me.

When Belly came out of the bathroom I was startled. I guess I had dozed off just that quickly. She crawled onto the bed next to me and laid her head on my chest. "Do you want to take a nap with me?" She said, and I realized I couldn't have been happier if she had put sex on the table, I was that tired. "Mmmmmm...." was all I got out. "So that's a yes, then?" She laughed. I made the sound again, but this time rolled over and nuzzled my face into the space between her neck and her shoulder. The place where all her Belly smell collected. I breathed it in, and kissed her there with a soft peck. "Okay, you sold me. Let's take a nap." she said, and she started stripping her clothes off. "I can't sleep like this, I have to get comfortable." she said, and I laughed a little. When we were alone at the house, she could almost always be found in one of my old t-shirts and her underwear, whether it was bedtime or not.  She stripped down to her underwear, and I stripped down to my boxers, lazily. Then we both got under the cool, soft sheets that felt like they had been washed a thousand times. I snuggled close to Belly, my chest on her back. I wrapped my arms around her warm, bare skin and placed my hands on her belly. I nuzzled my face right into her hair, at the nape of her neck, taking in her sweet smell of ivory soap and coconuts. I fell asleep with  surprising ease. It hadn't been this easy to fall asleep in a while, I thought, as I felt myself sinking into a glorious slumber.