The First Summer of Forever

Chapter 31- Magic

Belly

     I rolled over, slowly becoming conscious again. Conrad was still asleep, for once. He was always the one up first. He was the one to stay up late and get up early. I hated to wake him when he was finally getting good sleep, so I slowly and quietly got out of bed and put my clothes back on. I crept down the stairs quietly, and Mr. Graves was sitting in his rocking chair reading a book.
"Ah, Miss Isabel, would you like something? Some tea maybe? There's a pot on the stove.
"Oh, yes sir, that sounds nice, thank you." I said, yawning.
"The cream and sugar is already out, dear." he said sweetly.
I found a mug from the mug tree that was sitting on the countertop. It was glazed pottery and it looked handmade, like maybe it was carefully picked out from a potter's booth at an art show. I poured myself a cup of tea and put a couple spoonfuls of sugar in it, with a splash of cream.

I hadn't had hot tea in so long- not since the last time I had it with Susannah. She always had her Twinings tea in the cabinet right there next to the hot cocoa mix. On cool summer nights she would make us hot tea or cocoa, and we'd sit at the kitchen table playing cards, or take it down to the beach for a bonfire. Sometimes it would be all of us, and sometimes, it would just be me and her. She'd ask me things like " How is my special girl today?" or "What's your summer wish this year?" Which I never really needed to answer because she always knew. It was always the same thing, every summer for as long as I can remember. I wished for Conrad. I wished for him before I even knew what love was. Which when you think about it, I really wasn't that far off, because looking back, Conrad always was the one to show me what loving someone was. It wasn't big proclamations, or grandiose gestures. He said it without any words at all. Loving someone was being intentional for them, even in the little things. When I looked back at my life with Susannah and the boys, Conrad-he was always finding little ways to say he loved me, even before he knew it. The Unicorn he bought me for my eighth birthday, the way he was always sticking up for me against Steven and Jeremiah, that time he saved me when I went out too far in the ocean and couldn't get back...spending like $40 at the ring toss just to win me Jr. Mint. It was a million little things that all added up to one thing. Infinity.

I brought my cup over and sat down next to Mr. Graves. I was unsure of what to say, so I just said the only thing I could think of. "Thank you so much for letting us stay with you, Mr. Graves." "Oh my dear, it's nothing. Don't mention it anymore. I'm glad I could help." Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, thoughts came to me more naturally. "This beach house reminds me so much of our family's beach house in Massachusetts." I said. "It has the same kind of charm. I always said Susannah's house was an Honest-to-God beach house. One that you could tell was lived in and well loved." He thought quietly for a minute, and I started to think that maybe I had said something wrong, but then he spoke.

" You know, that's funny. This was my mother's house. This is where she grew up. She made so many memories here, and made sure to share them with me as a child. Those paintings are hers. She was quite the artist. She would sit for hours on that beach and paint. Sometimes, she would paint what she saw and sometimes, she would paint from memory, but those paintings- they are my most prized possessions. My mother made this house seem magical. We haven't done that much to change it over the years...to keep her memory alive."

"I understand... and it's really something special." I said.

"My wife, Lucinda, was always the best at keeping the magic at this house. Oh how I miss her."

I didn't want to pry, but he seemed like the kind of person who didn't mind sharing, so I asked. "What happened to her?"
"She had cancer. It was a rare brain tumor that was extremely aggressive. She died almost exactly one year after her diagnosis. Let's see, that was about 10 years ago."

"Wow, that sounds horrible. I'm so sorry you've had to endure that. It sounds like you've had a life full of sorrow." I said, quietly.

"I have lived in sorrow, pain, and disappointment, but I have also felt joy, amazement, and a love unlike any I've known. I've felt regret too. But the only regret I have is not loving her as much as I could have. I wish I could go back and tell my young self not to sweat the small stuff. We were very happy together, but we had our arguments just like anyone else. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't waste one second of time on those small things we disagreed on." He said, with a truthful look in his eyes.

"You are so wise." I said in amazement. He was one of those people you could sit and listen to for hours. It was unexpected, because most people who are as wealthy as him have a reputation of being shallow and unempathetic. But this man seemed like one of the most genuine people I had ever met, besides Susannah.

"You remind me of Conrad's mother, Susannah. She was always so wise. She always had the best advice, and she was just this big breath of fresh air. Growing up with her as my second mom was just...magical." I said, unable to hold it in. I just felt like I needed to say it.

"I met Mrs. Fisher once, and I knew I liked her. I wish I would have been able to see more of her. She seemed to be such a warm soul." he said, patting my hand.

Just then, another voice echoed from the stairwell. "My Mom and Belly always called our beach house magical-and my mom always told Belly that she would be the one to keep the magic alive." Conrad said, coming down the creaky stairs with a reminiscent smile. He walked over to me and brushed his hand over the top of my head, smoothing my hair down and then kissed it. "Did you have a good nap?" I said,, reaching for his hand. He smiled softly before saying "Yeah, I haven't slept that good in a while."

"What's the latest on the hurricane?" Conrad asked us. Mr. Graves turned on the tv and switched it to the weather channel. Of course they were covering the storm non-stop. We watched in anticipation as they gave reports. It had evolved to a category EF3 while raking over Cuba, then picked up speed as it hit warm waters again, and was a devastating EF4 that was bashing the keys. I was silently so grateful that we were able to get out.

At the same time though, I hated it for Mr. Graves. What would he come home to? And then my mind went to our sailboat. What would become of it? I guess it's not the end of the world, and why we have insurance for things like that. We sat in silence as we watched the footage of the storm and the damage it was doing while rampaging through the keys.

Conrad placed his hand on mine and rubbed his thumb over the backside of my hand while eyeing me with an intense look that was unrecognizable. Then, he looked at Mr. Graves and said, "Thank you, again for helping us." He said it so solemnly and heavily that it almost broke my heart, but at the same time, it made it flutter. Because that look told me how much he loved me. How much he loved us.