Page 64 of Exchange of Heart

I grabbed my own phone and tapped away. ‘It’s a miracle after the rain and flood warning! The motorway’s open, let’s go.’

I filled the remaining forty-minute drive by scrolling through every news article in the area possible, searching for the mysterious person with Corey’s umbrella, and removing the memory of Corey’s pleasurable dick from my mind. He pulled into the supermarket carpark where the anchorman had reported on a grocery store closing down – how something so trivial made the news was beyond me – and we searched as though the man lived in this very parking lot.

‘What if he was only a tourist?’ Corey asked.

Manifestation can be powerful if you concentrate hard enough, so I blocked out his negativity and focused on the black umbrella. I followed the white-lined carpark to the brick building and wandered around the corner. Opposite, a small café echoed with chatter, and the bell of the bookstore next door jingled as a woman exited. Clouds were non-existent as the sun blinded me during my attempted gaze at the white building further down the road. Ironically, we needed more rain. Without it, that umbrella would likely be packed away in someone’s garage.

Corey rounded the corner and joined me. ‘How big is this town?’

I cringed. Bigger than the single day of looking we’d allowed ourselves. Especially considering we needed to be back tomorrow for class, our final week before the exam – not that he needed to prove his worth for his job considering the framed degrees on his office walls did that for him. Doubt still niggled away though, because I wanted to prove myself. How did my results compare to his years of experience? And even if they were unmatched, had his experience as me made him consider women’s obstacles in the workplace? Had he witnessed Izzy struggle to balance work with motherhood considering her ex was unreliable?

We needed to switch back before the exam.

My teeth scraped my bottom lip, chewing on it while I imagined my future. Living in Corey’s penthouse would be incredible. His father though? I’d dreamed of meeting my father when I was a child, but the reality of a father like Craig made me reconsider. I didn’t want to live Corey’s life. Not even a little bit.

When I pushed myself for a career and salary, I didn’t picture it like this at all. I blew out a breath and shook my hands.

‘The town is pretty big, but we can do this. We have to do this.’

Corey’s bottom lip dropped like a child. ‘I don’t want to be you forever. I’ll never get to prove myself capable.’

‘You don’t need to prove yourself capable to your father,’ I said.

‘I don’t mean to hi—’

We didn’t have time to complain. ‘We need to show friendly faces. How’s this?’ I widened a smile that hurt my cheek bones.

‘You look like you’re going to murder me.’

‘Alright then, show me yours,’ I said.

Corey appeared… seductive. My face warmed at the realisation of how much sex appeal my face exuded. I wasn’t sexy. I was smart, a go-getter, and nine times more likely to reach my goal because I didn’t care what it took to get there.

‘I may look like I’m going to murder you, but you look like you’re about to offer a night of pleasure for two-hundred dollars,’ I said.

‘Two-hundred dollars for the whole night? Bargain.’ Corey laughed.

I sighed. ‘I don’t even want to know why you understand what’s a bargain when it comes to that.’

Corey raised his palms in front of him. ‘No, I—’

‘Whatever. Let’s use our friendly faces to start asking around because we need to head back tonight.’

Corey dropped his hands and followed me into the café. We couldn’t make out the person with the umbrella on the TV, so it could have been any of the teenagers in the back corner, or the dad at the counter with the child on his hip, or possibly the lady against the wall in a heated conversation on her phone.

Anyone.

‘Excuse me,’ Corey called from just inside the door.

The chatter died until everyone stared at us, waiting. I wanted to shuffle from the attention and drop into a chair at the side, but Corey grabbed my hand. Unity. Strength. All the things I wasn’t feeling.

‘We lost an umbrella. It’s black with green drawings on it. Has anyone seen it?’

Corey’s question was followed by head shakes and scowls. The lady on the phone scrunched her nose and muttered about being interrupted by a small girl about a stupid umbrella. Small girl!

‘Come on,’ said Corey.

He led me outside and down the path to the bookstore next door, which appeared empty other than the grey-haired man behind the desk.