Page 101 of Exchange of Heart

Well on the way.

That lovesick bastard. Feelings like that don’t evaporate. I’d buried him under judgement and assumptions yet again, unwilling to hear him out. My stomach churned with choices, but I didn’t know if my heart could handle it if his explanation wasn’t enough. The plastic curtains flapped as Elsie burst back into the store.

She glanced at the tears sliding down my cheeks, then to Ben and Izzy. ‘Everything okay?’

‘Peachy.’ I summoned every ounce of cheer I could, which wasn’t much.

She handed the boxes over with hesitation in her eyes. ‘Loads of cream on top.’ She gave me one of those sad smiles you see at funerals.

I clamped my teeth together to hold in a horrendous sob and rushed out the door. By the time I made it to the safety of my tiny apartment with tears blurring my eyes, I’d stumbled down a pothole and almost run into the wall of a bus shelter. I stuffed the cakes into the fridge and climbed into bed, then pulled the covers over my head to shield me from reality. The only thing that calmed my heart enough to fall asleep was the tiny piece of hope I held onto.

I drifted into a deep sleep, Corey’s face the only thing in my mind. His gorgeous curls, his broad shoulders, his infuriatingly arousing smile.

I dreamed all night of that exquisite traitor.

The next morning, I woke drenched in sweat from yet another dream of grey eyes. Mark had released me from my two-weeks obligatory notice, and doubt lingered in my heart when I considered calling Corey. Doubt that he’d offer me a good enough reason, and doubt that I’d still have the strength to turn him away if he didn’t. My phone beeped on the bedside table, and the bright screen reminded me that today our plane would depart at four p.m. for the Northern Territory.

Our holiday.

The reward that turned out to be a torturous decision. My heart raced at the thought of nowhere to escape Corey on the plane. I could already imagine the heat of his body, close to mine as we sat side by side on the plane.

Assuming he even bothered to show up.

This was it. This was the chance he’d been begging for. If he’s there, I’ll hear him out.

No matter which body we’re in, we go together.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Corey

Four days of ignored phone calls, messages, and screaming on the street under her window was grinding my bones to dust. It didn’t matter how long it took; I’d keep going until my body no longer worked.

‘Your lady friend hasn’t been back since I heard all that ruckus a few days ago.’ Gerald stood next to me by the lift.

My jaw tensed at the thought. ‘She’s, ah, been busy.’

‘Busy,’ Gerald pronounced it like a foreign word.

When the doors to the lift opened, I waited as always for Gerald to walk in. The doors closed, and the Gerald Special filled the small space. My head turned involuntarily to the corner Nora used to stand in, my heart clenching at the empty space and my reflection staring back at me. Gerald turned around expectantly.

‘Well?’ he asked.

‘Well, what?’

‘How stupid do you think I am? What are you waiting for? Go to her and make things right.’

I couldn’t answer with words, but my heart answered with its pounding beat. Intuition is what Nora would have called it. Call me as crazy as she was, but I could feel in my bones that he was right. I needed to go to Nora right now, and I wouldn’t leave that street until she understood the full story. Even if it meant waiting outside the apartment door for her to finally leave the safety of those walls.

When the lift opened, I did something I’d never done before. I raced out ahead of Gerald and had my car turning the bend in the carpark before he’d even reached the garbage disposal. One last glance in my rearview mirror showed him waving with a smile that took up half his face.

I couldn’t only feel it in my bones when I arrived at Nora’s and stood on the pavement with my neck craned up to her window. It was part of my blood, my skin, and my organs. Every inch of me knew my feet would grow roots into this pavement if that’s how long it took to speak to Nora. I’d never be complete until she gave me the chance to make things right, and today was the day.

‘Nora,’ I screamed.

People scrambled to leave space as they passed me, and one man grabbed his son’s hand and crossed the road.

‘Nora, open your window,’ I screamed louder.