𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐍² , 𝗧𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗣.

𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤, 3

"you ready?" i asked jeremiah as we reached ocean harbour.

"we got this." he said, tapping my back.

"yeah." i whispered, holding onto the flowers. we reach the door and jeremiah knocks on it and a lady opens it.

"can i help you?" she asked.

"aunt julia! oh my god!" jeremiah said, happily hugging her as i stare at him, wanting to laugh.

"oh, um, conrad told me you're here." jeremiah said, pulling from the hug. "it's been so long. just wanted to say hi."

"jeremiah." aunt julia said.

"yeah!" jeremiah said as she looked at him from head to toe.

"and..?" she turned to me.

"uh, rosalyn. rosalyn conklin." i said. "i'm laurel park's daughter. susannah's best friend."

"right, sorry." she said.

"yeah." i said.

"wow, it's been so long." she said and jeremiah chuckled a "yeah."

"you've really got my dad's eyes." she said to jeremiah.

"uh, i got these hydrangeas for you from my mom's garden." jeremiah said taking the flowers from my hand.

"oh." she said.

"i was just wondering if we could have a second to talk." jeremiah said.

"is this about the house?" she asked.

oh fuck. great!

"yeah." jeremiah chuckled.

"i'm sorry, but i have decided to move ahead with the sale." she said.

bitch.

"actually, we're-we're gonna have an open house tomorrow." she said.

"no, the hell you're not." i said, jeremiah gripped my arm. "i mean you have to know how much the house means to jeremiah and conrad. and me and my family. i mean, you spent summers there as a kid, right?" i asked.

"a few, yeah." she said, nodding.

"i mean, then, you know, why would you want to let go of such a magical place?" i asked.

"i remember susannah calling it that." she said.

"you know, i don't understand how you can just get rid of something your sister loved so much." jeremiah said.

"it's not personal." aunt julia said, shaking her head.

"yeah, i bet." jeremiah said.

"are you suggesting i gift the house to you?" she asked.

"i mean it is ours-"

"no, of course not." i cut of jeremiah, giving him a look and he stops.

"then, i think you and your brother should sort this out with your dad." she said. "i'm certain that you have the resources, but i can't put off a sale while i wait for you to get your ducks in a row. i have to be back at work in a week. i barely got the time off as it is."

"so that's why you didn't make it to the funeral?" jeremiah asked.

"something like that." she said.

"mom?" a person around our age said as they walked to julia.

"yeah. hi." julia said.

"jeremiah?" they asked.

"skye? i didn't know you were here." jeremiah said.

"this is rose." jeremiah introduced.

"rosalyn." i said and jeremiah nodded.

"her mom and my mine were best friends." jeremiah said.

"i thought you were working on the virtual tour for the open house?" julia asked skye.

"oh, i-i just finished that." she said.

"let's eat." julia said and then turned to us.

"thanks for stopping by." she said.

"of course. don't forget your flowers." jeremiah said and julia took them, thanking jeremiah and then shuts the door when jeremiah tells her to have a nice day.

"jerk." i said and we both walked away.

me and jeremiah sat in the car, as he drove while i told him that him and cornad need to be together to convince adam.

"can i ask you something?" i asked.

"what is it?" he asked.

"why did you break up with belly?" i asked and he sighed. "i wanna know!"

"it was because i was scared. that she would leave me like my mom did. so i thought that if i left her it wouldn't hurt as much. but i promise you, i still love her. like a lot. i missed her so much." he said and i smiled.

-

"we actually thought about leaving but then decided not to listen to you." i said to conrad and he gave me a look.

"we didn't just get groceries. we actually went to see aunt julia." jeremiah said.

"how did that go?" conrad asked. me and jeremiah shared a glance before we looked back at conrad.

"not great." jeremiah said. "talk to dad yet?" he asked.

"no." conrad said.

"i'm-i'm gonna take these inside." i said, grabbing the grocery bag from jeremiah's hand and going inside.

i gave jeremiah a look to talk to conrad and get things better between him and he acknowledged by looking down.

i stocked the cabinets and the fridge. and decided to make breakfast for the three of us since none of us ate. well except for me. i had a small bagel on the way to aunt julia.

"i can go upstairs if you guys want to talk to him alone." i said.

"no, stay, you helped jere and i this far." conrad said, tiredly. "plus it's your house as much as ours."

i slowly nodded, looking at the table and then sat on the free seat next to him. i looked at jeremiah who hid his smirk behind his hand.

"shut up." i mouthed to jeremiah who nodded while smiling. conrad's phone rang and he picked it up.

"dad, hey." conrad said after putting the call on speaker.

"hey, con. i only got about a few minutes here." adam said.

"hey, dad." jeremiah said, grabbing the phone.

"jere?" adam asked. "you're in cousins too?"

"yeah, just got here last night." jeremiah said.

"all right, look, i got a heads up from the bank telling me you're trying to access your trust. that's not gonna happen." adam said and i looked at conrad, getting annoyed and i saw him clenching his fist.

"so, you already made up your mind?" conrad asked.

"yeah. i mean, that money is for your future. i'm not gonna let you blow it on a beach house." adam said.

"it's not just a beach house." jeremiah said.

"you want me to beg, dad?" conrad asked. "cause i will. i will. i'll do whatever you want." he said.

it was early in the morning when we got a call. about susannah's death. i woken up early for no reason because i slept up alot late. i went to the kitchen and had saw mom sobbing.

and it was the kind like i had never seen her before. sure, she would cry while watching titanic with susannah, belly, and i but this. this was different.

and it was full of pain.

i didn't need to ask what happened because i had already knew.