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Laurel is Belly and Steven’s mother and Susannah’s best friend. Susannah often wants to spoil Belly with gifts. For example, she wants to buy a piano for the summer house so the young girl can practice. However, Laurel refuses due to her pride and sensitivity about the difference in wealth between the two families. Although she and her family spend each summer as guests of the Fishers, Laurel also creates some boundaries between the two families.
Laurel recently has divorced Belly and Steven’s father. Unlike Susannah, she never took her husband’s last name when she married. Now that they have separated, she remains Laurel Dunne. Belly blames her mother for the divorce and does not understand how Laurel has taken the separation so well. Professor Conklin moved out of their family’s home one summer while everyone else was at Cousins Beach, and Laurel revealed very little about her feelings after he left.
Laurel often hides her emotions. At the end of the novel, it's revealed that Laurel has been keeping the return of Susannah’s cancer a secret. During the summer, Laurel takes Susannah into town for treatments and makes efforts to keep her friend comfortable and the children unaware. This is one of several reasons why Belly sees Laurel as a “secret keeper.”
