Conrad Fisher, the older of the two Fisher brothers, had always carried a quiet gravity about him, the kind of presence that made people look twice without knowing why. That summer, as the heat clung to the air and the ocean shimmered like a sheet of glass, that presence felt different. Softer in some ways. Guarded in others.

The sun hung above Cousins Beach like a warm coin, turning the sand pale and bright. The gulls wheeled lazily overhead, their cries familiar, signaling the true arrival of summer. After hours on the highway, Belly, Steven, and their mother Laurel finally pulled into the long winding driveway of the beach house. The house looked exactly the same as it always had,light gray shingles, wide porch, windows thrown open to welcome the ocean breeze,but something felt different, humming beneath the surface like a secret waiting to be revealed.

Belly pressed her forehead against the window for a moment before the car came to a full stop. She breathed in the sight of it, the place that held every memory that mattered to her. All her best days had started here, with Conrad, Jeremiah, and Susannah. Every year since she could remember, the two families had come together under this roof, weaving a tradition so strong that Belly believed nothing could ever change it.

She was wrong.

Laurel stepped out first, stretching her arms overhead and laughing at how stiff she felt. Steven climbed out next, already complaining about the heat but grinning anyway. Belly took her time, savoring the anticipation she had felt for months. She imagined Conrad and Jeremiah waiting on the porch like always, their silhouettes framed in sunlight. Conrad would give her one of his barely-there smiles, the kind that made her heart flutter, and Jeremiah would sweep her into a hug that spun her off her feet.

But when she opened the car door and stepped out, the scene froze her in place.

But standing beside Conrad was a girl Belly had never seen before.

She had soft, champagne-blonde hair that shimmered when the wind caught it, and wide blue eyes that seemed to glow in the sunlight. Her hand was slipped comfortably into Conrad’s, their fingers interlaced as if they had been holding hands forever.

Jeremiah was on the porch railing, grinning at Belly the way she had expected, but even he kept glancing over at the girl as if checking to make sure she didn’t disappear.

Conrad’s expression was different from anything Belly had ever seen on him. He looked lighter somehow, as if the weight he always carried around in his shoulders had lifted. His thumb brushed the back of the girl’s hand, almost unconsciously, like a habit he had already formed.

“This is her,” Jeremiah had told Belly over the phone months ago, but vaguely, hurriedly. Back then, Belly had shrugged it off, thinking it was something temporary, something that would fade before summer arrived. Conrad never liked anyone long enough for things to matter.

But now Belly could see it. This wasn’t temporary.

They had met during the winter, Jeremiah had said. At a park near Susannah’s place. Conrad had been tossing a football in the snow, trying to shake something off, Jeremiah hadn’t said what, and she had walked right into his path, laughing when the ball skidded to her feet. From that moment, they had been orbiting each other, pulled together by something easy and undeniable.

And Conrad, who had always kept parts of himself locked away, had let her in.

Belly felt the world tilt for a moment, the air thickening in her lungs. She had dreamed of this summer, convinced that something would finally shift between her and Conrad. But now she was standing in front of something she never thought she would have to see.

Conrad with his girlfriend.