PARADISE LOST | JJ Maybank VS Rafe Cameron

ONE

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AGATHA WAS A BULLDOZER. Juliette bitterly figured that much as she stood at the driveway of her three-story house she hasn't lived in for the past year. Excuse her, she meant what was left of the house. The hurricane last night had uprooted the massive, one hundred and twenty-nine year old oak tree — collapsing throughout the house and demolishing all the furnitures along with it.

     "So, when you said the house was being remodeled, this wasn't really what I had in mind," Juliette called out to her father who was speaking to a couple of contractors.

     "One second, Julie," her father, Conrad Starling, hollered back, shaking the men's hands and making his way to her. "What was that you said?"

     She stared back up at what used to be her bedroom window, a hand shielding the top of her eyes from the harsh glare of the sun. "I totally love what you did with the place. You really spruced it up." She flashed him a thumbs up.

     Conrad rolled his eyes, reaching over to ruffle her hair. "Don't worry — I've got people working on it right now. For the time being, we'll be staying with the Camerons — I've already talked with Ward, and he's getting rooms ready for us."

     Juliette stiffened, her hand dropping to her side as she averted her gaze to avoid her father's eyes. Her throat felt like it was closing up as she took steady breaths.

     Conrad mistook her uneasiness as disappointment. "Hey, it'll be okay. We'll be back in our home before you know it. Besides — you love Ward's kids, that shouldn't be a problem for you."

     "That's great, Dad," she muttered under her breath, kicking the ground as though to spite the natural disaster. With a sigh, she tried to smile at him to make him see that she was still glad he was trying to fix the house and everything. "It's a good thing our suitcases are still in the car, yeah?"

     He grinned at her. "Imagine the disaster if we'd flown in a day early." He nodded at the direction of where the truck was parked. "Go ahead and wait for me inside — I just need a few more words with the men then we'll head over to the Camerons."

     "Aye, aye, Captain," Juliette saluted.

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The drive to the Camerons didn't take as long as Juliette wished it would. She memorized the route — long cuts, short cuts — like the back of her hand; having gone there way too many times than she could count. She wondered how Sarah and Wheezie were — did Sarah grow out of her slightly gangly phase ? Has Wheezie's height shot up like a weed as Juliette predicted it would?

Despite thinking of the two sisters, he still consumed her mind. Every day of the past year, Juliette woke up in the morning wondering if he'd had a good night's sleep, and she went to bed hoping his heart wasn't aching the way hers was.

"Looks like they got some hits as well," Conrad pointed out, lowly whistling as he drove the truck up the driveway of the Camerons' residence. There were several workers scattered around the front yard, taking care of the mess the hurricane had left. "Do you see Ward anywhere?"

Juliette hummed absentmindedly, her eyes flitting around the people before zeroing on the above-mentioned man walking a woman out. "I found Waldo," she piped up, pointing over at him.

     Conrad snorted at the nickname she'd been calling him since she was a child. The truck rolled to a stop as he put it on park, turning off the engine. "Huh," he mumbled, watching Ward wave goodbye at the distressed lady who walked away from the house. "I know her — that's Lana, Scooter's wife. I wonder what happened."