We'll Always Have Summer

Due to Jeremiah’s work schedule, Belly must do most of their wedding planning on her own. As Conrad steps in to help, he and Belly grow closer. Wedding planning is a motif through which Belly and Conrad bond and rekindle their feelings for one another, while Jeremiah and Belly’s diverging visions for their wedding day indicate that their relationship will ultimately fail.

At one point, Conrad and Belly visit a local florist, who mistakes Conrad for Belly’s groom: “‘Are you and your groomsmen doing boutonnieres?’ He turns red. ‘I’m not the groom,’ he said” (192). This is a significant moment because Conrad is the one that is there with Belly, picking out flowers for her wedding, not the man she is set to marry. Their time together leads to Belly and Conrad excavating their long-buried feelings for one another.

On the way home from the florist, Conrad senses that Belly wants to stop at a local fruit stand, and they share a tender moment: “Conrad reached out and wiped my chin with his shirt. It was maybe the most intimate thing anyone had ever done to me. [...] It was in the way he looked at me, just those few seconds” (194).