Page 59 of Exchange of Heart

Her voice trailed off again, and I opened my mouth to prod for more information, but her gaze bounced around the car before settling on her phone for a distraction. She was as confused about her own personal code of conduct as I was. A code we were trying to decipher and find the middle ground of what we wanted and what we could achieve.

Nora gasped as she stared at her phone. ‘I found it,’ she whispered. ‘Look.’ She turned the phone to me.

A video played on the screen with thousands of likes, and there in the background stood a blurry figure holding my umbrella. I’d recognise it anywhere. What I couldn’t recognise, though, was the location. ‘I’m not sure where this video was taken. How do we find out?’

Nora’s toes tapped the floor as she grinned. The news reporter is standing in a supermarket I’ve been to loads of times. It’s out at Katoomba.’

A swarm of bees buzzed through my body and our wide eyes stared at each other with hope, then dropped to the curved mark on our palms.

This was it.

An hour and a half drive and we could switch back.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Nora

My bloodshot eyes rubbed like sandpaper with each blink. Denying Corey’s request to leave last night, insisting we get some sleep first had backfired. I’d spent hours tossing side to side while my chest tightened and pounded. When the kettle rumbled in the kitchen, the allure of caffeine was the only thing that enticed me from bed.

‘You’re up early.’ Corey took a bite of toast.

‘What time is it?’

‘Six-thirty.’

No wonder my eyes stung. No one functioned well on three hours’ sleep. How the hell was he already eating breakfast and drinking coffee?

‘Did you get much sleep?’ I asked.

Despite his productivity in the kitchen, there was no way either of us could drive. We were a road death statistic waiting to happen. My stomach dropped, and I cursed myself for ruining our chance to get to Katoomba early knowing we’d need to take a nap before hitting the road. What if the man in the video holding the umbrella was no longer in the area by the time we arrived?

‘Loads. I took a sleeping pill last night.’ He bounced on his toes.

The heaviness in my stomach turned light as fog and blew away in the wind – which was likely the nervous gas swirling inside – but at least Corey was rested enough to drive.

My chest jittered as I gathered courage to ask a favour. ‘So, my mum lives near Katoomba.’

A statement, not a question. That’s all I could muster. The brave and optimistic Nora who put all her effort and energy into a promotion she didn’t receive, couldn’t even bring herself to ask Corey to visit her mum. Oh, how the mighty had fallen to nothing more than a weak bug crawling on the floor.

‘Just ask me.’ Corey crossed his arms and smiled, eyes shining as he waited for me to speak again.

I sighed. ‘Can we visit my mum while we’re there?’

‘Considering you whistled at me like a dog in front of my mother, yes. I’d be delighted for your mother to meet her new daughter.’

I swallowed the lump in my throat. ‘I’ll visit her after we switch back, just don’t leave without me. You’re my ride home.’

I’d already met his family, but he didn’t need to meet mine, too. Our lives were tangled enough; and I couldn’t stand the idea of Corey learning such personal details about my life – especially if he thought to ask for my high-school photos filled with braces and acne. There’s also the risk Mum may pull him aside thinking he’s me, reminding him to be as ‘alpha’ as the boy I’ve brought home, and not to slack off at work to spend time with him. Sure, he knows I don’t know my father, but did I really want him to see how it shaped my upbringing? Especially since I’d put everything into practice, and life grew into loneliness with an uncompromising hatred of all men. Even the ones who didn’t expect me to cower beneath them, like Corey.

He sipped his coffee, his gaze never leaving mine over the rim of his mug. ‘You’d better get dressed. I’m ready to go.’

I peered down at my pyjama pants, then to Corey’s jeans and large green T-shirt he somehow pulled off by tucking a small section into the side. He’d pulled my hair into a pony and even applied some mascara without the dramatic clown effect.

‘Wow, Corey.’

‘What?’ His hands patted his clothes and hair. ‘Did I do something wrong? I used that black stick thing on the wrong part of my face, didn’t I? I swear the YouTube video I watched said to comb my lashes with it.’

My heart squeezed at his effort. ‘No, no. You look great. It’s mascara, and that’s exactly where it goes. I just didn’t expect you to be ready so early, and I definitely didn’t expect you to look so…nice.’