"Hey Mom, we're here!" Conrad called as he opened up the front door of the beach house, Sam's eyes going wide as she took in the foyer around her, letting go of the suitcase handle and looking around the room.

Sam instantly recognized the inside of the house from all of Conrad's pictures, but even the photographs from summers past couldn't compare to the decor in front of her eyes. At the sound of their arrival, Susannah Fisher hurried into the entryway from down the hall into what Sam assumed was the kitchen, her eyes brightening as she caught sight of her two sons with Sam standing in between them and an excited smile on her face.

"There's my girl!" Susannah exclaimed happily, hugging Sam tightly. "Oh I'm so glad you could finally join us this year, Sammie. Was the drive down okay?"

"It was great," Sam assured her. "I made sure these two behaved, don't worry."

"I knew I could count on you." Susannah smiled before turning to Conrad. "Connie, why don't you show Sammie up to her room and then take her down to see the beach before we go to dinner?"

"On it," Conrad said, picking up his suitcase, and Sam followed suit as she followed him up the staircase with her own luggage.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Sam looked ahead as the upstairs hallway branched off into several bedrooms, no doubt for Susannah, Conrad, and Jeremiah as well as their family friends that would be joining them the next day, as well as a bathroom near the end of the hall. She followed Conrad as he opened up the door to the guest room, pushing it open and smiling wide as he gestured for Sam to go inside first.

"Ta-da!" he exclaimed. "Home, sweet home."

Sam couldn't help her smile as she took in the room, its cream colored walls and white curtains, billowing lightly in the breeze from the air conditioner. A queen size bed sat in the middle of the room with white sheets to match, the corners of the sheets in the made up bed folded tightly, and various pictures of sea shells and other marine life hung on the walls.

"Looks like a Boy Scout folded these sheets," Sam smirked as she let a hand trail across the fabric, already wanting to melt into the soft sheets after the long drive.

As she moved over to the window, Sam parted the curtain slightly to catch a glimpse of Cousins Beach down the hill, and her breath hitched as her gaze hit the water, sparkling in the glow of the afternoon sun. She looked back at Conrad with an excited grin, dropping her backpack on the floor next to her suitcase.

"What do you think?" Conrad asked.

"This is incredible," Sam breathed. "I can't believe it took me this long to get out here. I should've convinced my mom sooner. You guys really come here every summer?"

Conrad nodded. "Since my mom was a kid. Her parents owned this house, and then she and her sister inherited it when they died. She and my Aunt Julia don't really talk much though, Aunt Julia doesn't like Cousins, so it's really just ours. Wanna go see the beach?"

Sam nodded, her smile widening. "Let's go!"

Sam raced after Conrad as the two went running down the stairs, the Fisher boy nearly throwing open the front door in his haste to get down to the beach. The two teenagers ran towards the sand, following the path to the seemingly-endless expanse of water as they came to a stop just before the shore, panting and trying to catch their breath.

"Wow," Sam panted, resting her hands on her knees as she finally managed to catch her breath and slowly rising back up as she looked out at the water. "It's so beautiful out here."

"Bet it beats all the beaches in Michigan, right?" Conrad asked.

"It's not even a contest." Sam scoffed with a smirk. "Michigan's nice, sure, but this is a completely different world."

Sam continued to stare out at the waves, and the golden sun that was beginning its descent, a rose tint blending into the bright blue of the sky. All of the pictures Conrad had shown her of the house and the nearby beach were nothing compared to the breathtaking views in front of her, and she didn't think one summer would be quite enough to get used to it.

"Careful!" a voice suddenly shouted, along with a pair of fingers poking Sam's sides as she jumped at Jeremiah sneaking up behind her. "There's alligators, you know."

"Jeremiah!" Sam shrieked in surprise as the younger boy began to laugh, but her eyes moved back to the water as she hesitantly took a step back. "Shut up, is there really?"

"He's kidding," Conrad sighed as Jeremiah continued to howl with laughter.

"I'm just kidding," Jeremiah repeated, catching his breath. "Mom does want you guys back at the house so we can leave, though. She sent me out here to come get you."

"We'll be there in a minute, Jere." Conrad assured him.

"Don't take too long, I'm hungry." Jeremiah said, looking back over at Sammie. "See you later, alligator," he chuckled, turning to head back up to the house.

Sam looked back at Conrad with a hesitant glance. "There really aren't alligators, are there?"

Conrad shook his head. "Nah, they're super rare around here." he assured her. "Come on, let's head back."

Sam took one last look at the water before following Conrad back up to the house, to see Susannah starting the car and Jeremiah already waiting in the passenger seat. Sam and Conrad climbed into the backseat, fastening their seat belts as Susannah put the car into drive, pulling out of the driveway and back onto the road heading into town.

"So where to for dinner?" Sam asked as she stared out the window, the rows of beach houses gradually shifting into a small downtown area full of businesses, a mixture of locals and tourists flocking the sidewalks as they moved from one place to another.

"Connie's been asking for weeks if we can go to Harper's for dinner tonight." Susannah explained, causing Jeremiah to snicker lightly from his spot up front. "But the food's great, best place to grab a meal in Cousins by far, and the owners are very nice people."

"They sure are," Jeremiah mumbled as Conrad continued to stare out the window, a small smile on his face as Susannah parked the car outside of the diner.

Susannah led the group into the diner, the bell over the door jingling to sound their arrival. Inside, the place was nearly packed, save for a few empty tables scattered around the room. Up front, a young redheaded girl around Sam's age rang up a couple of customers paying their bill, her eyes darting over to the newcomers in the doorway.

"Welcome in!" the girl called cheerily, making change for the bill the customer handed her. "Have a seat anywhere you like."

"Back here," Jeremiah suggested, piling into a booth near the back corner in one of the few more secluded sections of the diner.

The others followed suit, with Susannah sitting next to Jeremiah and Sam and Conrad filing into the opposite side of the booth. As soon as they were seated, the same redheaded girl walked over to their table carrying four menus, which she began to pass out to them as she reached their table.

"Hi," she said with a smile. "Welcome to Harper's, my name is Kinsley and I'll be taking care of you this evening. Can I start you all off with something to drink?"

"Just water for me, please." Susannah said.

"I'll have a Coke," Jeremiah said.

"Same for me," Conrad added.

"And I'll have a lemonade, please." Sam finished as Kinsley wrote their drink orders down on a pad of paper.

"Coming right up," Kinsley said. "I'll give you all a minute to look over your menus."

As Kinsley disappeared behind the counter, Conrad raised his menu over his face, shielding himself from the rest of them as he pretended to scan over the options. Sam looked at Conrad with a confused expression before glancing over at Jeremiah, who watched his brother with an amused grin.

"All I'm saying is I think it's convenient that someone knew Kinsley Harper was working tonight." Jeremiah said nonchalantly, his gaze falling down to the menu in front of him.

"I didn't know she was working tonight." Conrad replied with a slight shrug.

"Mhm, sure," Jeremiah said sarcastically, a teasing grin evident on his face. "Convenient," he repeated.

"I just think it's safe to assume, given that her parents own the restaurant, Jere, that she would be working tonight." Conrad said, the menu falling down just enough to reveal the red flush of his cheeks from under his glasses.

"Aww, he's blushing," Sam cooed, reaching forward to pinch Conrad's cheek, but he shooed her hand away. "It's adorable."

"I hate you both," Conrad said, fighting a smile as he continued to scan over his menu as Sam and Jeremiah continued to chuckle. "I really do. I hope the one Massachusetts alligator comes out during your first surf lesson."

"Hey, Kinsley's a very sweet girl." Susannah assured them. "Do you need some help, Connie? I can always slip her your number on the bill when it's time to leave."

"No, Mom, I don't need any help." Conrad replied, his blush deepening as Sam and Jeremiah continued to laugh. "So anyway, how about that daily special? It's fried cod, world famous according to the menu. Someone might want to give that a try."

As their laughter died down, Sam finally turned her attention to the menu in front of her, scanning the different options as she let the atmosphere of the diner wash over her, and the smile stayed plastered onto her face. Sam was confident that she was going to love it here, after all.