The Ocean Remembers | JJ Maybank

C H A P T E R 32

COLLABORATION

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐄 my alarm made woke me up and I groaned, still tired. I had fallen asleep not even an hour ago and as I read 6:30 on my phone, I heard my parents talking loud downstairs.

I put on my pair of jean shorts and one of JJ's t-shirt I had managed to steal, before going to the bathroom. Everything was packed around me, and as I washed my teeth a last time in front of my huge bathroom mirror, anxiety came back.

It reminded me that it was true, and it was today. I walked downstairs and saw my parents calmly drinking their coffee on the sofa. "What time is the truck coming?" I inquired.

"Hello, yes I slept well thanks for asking my love," my father corrected, faking a warm smile and I rolled eyes.

I ignored him and my mom got up, placing her cup of coffee on the table besides them. "The truck isn't coming, Sam," she said.

"Are you kidding me? how are we supposed to load all those things out of the house? I called them yesterday! They said they would be there as early as they could!" I snapped, annoyed.

Moving was already quite not fun, but having to load all those things alone, with only my parents, would be terrible. I remembered the time when my mother and I had moved in the Outer Banks alone, and how tiring it was. Until Pope had arrived at least.

"The truck isn't coming because we're not leaving, baby," my mother announced, holding my hands into hers, and I frowned.

I had two possibilities. The first one was the dream option, and I'd wake up in a few minutes, the second one was the April fool's option but we were in August so I erased that thought quickly. "What?"

"Rafe and Ward Cameron visited us this morning. They told us about their new real estate project and how Walker Industry will be more than beneficial to them," my father explained me. "Do you realise they count on me for the whole TannyHill enlargement process?"

My heart started beating faster even if I didn't care about my father's business, and I looked at my mom, who was wildly smiling since she knew how bad I wanted to stay. Then I looked at my father, who was excited about his collaboration, I could see it in his eyes. They were both silently eying my reaction, and I jumped in my mother's arms.

She laughed and held me close, almost squeezing me but I didn't mind. She smelled like fresh cut flowers and I felt safe in her arms, just the way she had always made me feel.

"Thank you mom," I whispered.

"It's not me you should thank," she pulled away and winked at me. I smiled wildly and threw a grateful look at my father.

I grabbed my pair of white vans and put them on before opening the front door and running out of the house. I ran as fast as I could, wind blowing on my face and in my hair, to where I knew JJ would have spent the night.