Carolina- OUTER BANKS

Ch. 18

I sat down on a chair across from Ward as John B was standing in front of me "We picked a good one, didn't we?" "Sure did." John B muttered and I sighed "Hit me again." Ward held up his glass and handed it to John B. "Ah... You know what? Hold the grapefruit juice on this one. Let's get this day on its feet." Ward told us and I gave him a small smile as John B poured him a drink. "In fact, you know what? Pour yourself and Liv one." "I'm, uh... I'm... I'm 16, sir." John B chuckled and I sighed "And I'm 17." I told him not wanting to drink, I didn't want to mess up my recovery.

"John, I know you're 16 and you're 17, okay? It's okay. It's just one drink. We're out here in the ocean. These are almost international waters." Ward said and John B looked at me then back to Ward. "We're celebrating." He said, me and John B looked at each other again and I nodded "Just one." "All right, all right." John B said and began pouring our drinks, but I noticed he just poured only grapefruit juice in my cup and I smiled. He always have protected me from everything except the things he didn't but he was there for me, he was family.

"Yes, sir. All right..." "Liv." John B said and handed me my cup "Thank you, Bird." I muttered and he shrugged. "See, here's the thing. I don't know if you know this, but you two are about to be fishing with a Grand Knight of the Rhododendron." Ward said and I nodded "I know you don't know what that is John, and it doesn't seem like a big deal, but... to me, it is, it means I'm a... I'm a trusted member of this community." Ward said and I looked at him then nodded "That means a lot to me. Trust." He said and I gave him a fake smile, after overhearing him talk with my dad and him kicking out Rafe, I don't think I could trust him, trust is a sacred thing and trust is not easy for me. I only trust the Pogues and Rafe right now.

"Absolutely, yeah." "Here's to trust, John B. Liv." Ward Toasted and I nodded "To trust." John B muttered and we all took a sip of our drinks and I acted like mine had alcohol in it. "Whew..." John B cleared his throat while Ward laughed "You guys okay?" "Yeah. No, I'm... I'm... Yeah." John B said and I nodded "Wait, I got one more. One more, I promise." Ward told us and smiled "I hear your girlfriend's pretty nice." He said and I smiled "And a good best friend." He said looking me and I nodded "To Sarah." "To Sarah." We all toasted then took another sip.

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I fished for a while but then lost interest since I never got a bite so I sat down and read my book I brought. "Anything?" "Nothin'." John B said and I sighed "Whew! Three hours trawling, one hour out here. We're getting skunked, son. Not a damn fish." "I stopped a half hour ago." I said and Ward looked down at me and smirked as I flipped to the next page in my book.

"I guess Guffy was right, huh?" Ward said and I nodded "Yup." I muttered putting emphasis on the "p". "You know, half the time I don't even care if I find fish. Just like bein' out here." Ward said and me and John B smiled, remembering that his dad said that too. "That's what my dad used to say." "John B, I wanna be real honest with you right now. I'm gonna ask you to do the same for me." Ward said and I looked up from my book and frowned "Okay." "All right. First thing I have to do is apologize to you." Ward said and John B frowned. "For what?" "I told you to stop lookin' for the Royal Merchant gold. And you didn't." Ward chuckled and I put my book away then stood up. "God damn it, you found it. You two found it." Ward said and John B smirked "I wish." He chuckled and Ward nodded "You can play it that way if you want. I won't force your hand. But I know that you did." He told us and I cleared my throat "Yeah... And it's amazing. Sincerely, it's unbelievable." Ward said and I raised an eyebrow, he knows something and I was curious to know how he found out.

"150 years, people been lookin' for that goddamn gold. None of 'em could find it. You two found it." Ward said and I shook my head "Here's the thing, kids. Finding it? That's where your fun ends. That's where all your problems begin. Ones you haven't even thought of. I mean, excavating it. You're probably trying now. If it's in water, how do you get it up? If it's on land, on somebody's property, and they catch you trying to take it? That's theft." Ward said and I frowned.