One Summer Isn't Enough (Summer, #4)

chapter 18

CONRAD

"I think I might be ready to propose to her."

My eyes snap away from watching Belly talk to Jeremiah when I hear this. Steven is looking at me sheepishly, having redirected our conversation about the Red Sox so abruptly.

I widen my eyes and lower my voice. "Taylor?!"

He nods excitedly. Lowering his voice too, he says, "Dude, I don't even know how this works. But, like, with her, I can just be myself. You know? She's everything. She makes me want to be better, because she shows me that I can be."

We both glance over to Taylor, who is currently talking to Laurel while making a lot of animated gestures. Looking back at Steven, I say, "I'm happy for you, man. I really am. But marriage is...serious, you know? Are you sure you're ready?"

He runs a hand through his hair and laughs lightly. "To be honest, I don't know if I'm ready. But, like, it feels like I'm wasting more and more time that I could be spending with her while thinking about whether I should or not. And I just..I just want to be with her. All of the time."

I laugh and lightly punch him on the shoulder. "You've got it bad, Steve-O."

He laughs and is about to say something when Belly's father comes over to us. I quickly straighten my shirt and shake his hand. "Hi, John."

He smiles an easygoing smile at us and pulls me in for a hug instead. "Hey, Connie." He does the same with Steven, who shoots me a Gotta take this, sorry look from behind him as they start to argue about the last Mariners game. I excuse myself and set off to find Belly, who is no longer talking to Jere. My social battery's dying pretty quickly, anyways.

I squeeze my way through groups of people, which reminds me of the house parties I used to get dragged into during high school. I finally find her on the patio, looking out into the horizon. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and she's closed her eyes, just standing there. She's never looked as peaceful as when she's alone with the waves. It's like watching her swim. I told her this once, but she wouldn't even notice if the house was on fire, she's so into what she's doing.

Tapping her lightly on her shoulder, I whisper, "Hi," so as to not startle her or anything.

She turns around quickly and then smiles when she sees me. Taking my hand, she says, "Hi."

I brush the hair from her forehead, trying to search her face to see what's wrong. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she says. "Just needed some air, that's all."

I nod and smile. "I think it's time to tell them."

Her smile grows wider, almost mischievous. I have no idea what's in her mind half of the time; but somehow, I always know exactly what she's thinking. Wordlessly, she steps out of the patio and into the living room, still holding my hand. I take her to the kitchen and find an empty champagne glass and a spoon, and we make our way to the living room, where everyone's clustered.

Dropping her hand for a second, I take the spoon and tap it lightly against the glass, clearing my throat to get everyone's attention. Instantly, the whole room's eyes are on us.

"Hey, everyone," I start, a little nervous. "We just...we had something to tell you. And we wanted to tell you today, while everyone's here and together."

Laurel has a slightly confused look on her face, like she doesn't really know what's going on but isn't going to say anything yet. Next to me, Belly takes a deep breath and speaks up. "Um, so, the other day, I started to feel a bit queasy before dinner. And, we, um, thought that it might be that I was..."

She momentarily looks over at me in a panic, not knowing how to say what she wants to say. But I squeeze her hand and nod almost imperceptibly. She can do this.

"I'm pregnant. Conrad and I are having a baby."

The room almost stands still for a moment, like an egg right before it rolls off of the counter and splatters open. And then, chaos erupts. Happy chaos, though. The second the silence broke, Laurel ran at Belly with tears flowing down her face, smushing her (and then me) into a big hug while crying hysterically. Steven stood there in shock for a good ten seconds, but then he came over and hugged Belly, too, lifting her up in the air and spinning her around, yelling, "I'm gonna be an uncle, motherfuckers!"

Taylor was, obviously, Taylor, and was actually the first one to run over to Belly and pull her into a squeal-sort-of-hug while screaming at her for not texting her first.

Watching Belly so happy–and even more relieved–that everyone took it so well is making me so, so happy. My dad comes over to me then, pulling me into a hug. I hug him back kind of stiffly–we haven't gotten to the male-bonding stage yet. And as he pulls back and congratulates us on the news, I see Jere rushing out of the front door, his face ashen white.

I excuse myself and run to the front door, throwing it open just in time to see his bright red Jeep zooming past the roundabout and out of Cousins.

Fuck.