JJ and Grace climbed out of Rick's truck, the rusty door screeching tiredly.
Rick had offered her a lift to the town hall, and they'd picked JJ up at the beach on the way.
"And that's what I told him. He can't just go down the coast searching for bluefins in the summer. He's gotta wait it out," Rick said, continuing the conversation he and JJ had been having in the car.
"Is your buddy new around here? That shit's common knowledge," replied JJ while slinging his arm around Grace's shoulders.
Rick shrugged. "He said he grew up on the Carolina coast. Fishing just ain't his strong suit, I guess."
JJ went to reply but stopped in his tracks, Rick going silent at the same time.
Grace followed their line of sight to see the Carreras talking with their daughter.
"I'm gonna say something," grumbled Rick.
Grace sighed heavily. "No, it's fine. Don't bother."
After finding out about the Carreras trying to send Grace away, Rick had been livid. He'd gone on and on about how they'd had no right, telling her that he knew he shouldn't have trusted them.
Grace's stepdad nodded hesitantly before giving her a quick pat on the back and going to find his coworkers who had shown up to support them.
JJ and Grace continued towards the entrance, ignoring the glare Mike shot towards the blonde.
After making their way to the bench Pope and Cleo had reserved for them, the couple settled down and listened to the mayor's droning voice.
"Before we move on with the rest of our agenda, I want to remind everyone to maintain civility and decorum throughout the rest of these proceedings. We're one island. Why don't we all try to act like it?"
"Sure we are," John B mumbled sarcastically so only the Pogues could hear.
"Any disruption will warrant expulsion and potential charges. Understood?"
"He's totally only talking to our side," Grace whispered to JJ.
"Yep," he whispered back, popping the 'p.'
Like a great divide, the Kooks were sitting poshly on one half of the aisle, the Pogues on the other. The courthouse was so full that Pogues had resorted to standing in a cluster at the back.
"Without further ado, we'll go on to the reports of our Council Members, starting with our Council Member Lawrence."
"Thank you, Mr. Mayor," said Lawrence, who was positioned on the panel behind the podium. "Agenda 8A, ordinance 31, zoning for property located at the end of Roger's Point Road."
JJ scratched his pocket knife against the pew in front of them, carving the signature "P4L."
"Mr. Mayor, we have a resolution from the town of Pelican expressing support for the rezoning of multi-use land on the east side of the island, including the aforementioned Roger's Point Road property."
"Resolution?" Grace mumbled, brows furrowed.
JJ's art project had halted abruptly.
John B stared over at Pope, whose brain was wrapping around what had just been announced.
"Wait. Did he just say they already had a resolution?" Pope asked what he already knew the answer to.
"The council is voting to recommend allocating the amount of $60,000 to begin to transition that said property..." Lawrence droned on.
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𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 - JJ Maybank
FanfictionGrace Cameron was a Pogue. Always has been. Sure her dad and half-siblings were the Kookiest a Kook could get but her mom had grown up on the Cut so she did too. Her friend group vowed to have a good time all the time but when a boat goes down in th...
