Page 65 of Exchange of Heart

‘We’ve barely been here an hour, and this already feels useless.’ He crossed his arms.

‘We can’t give up. We’re too close. Come on.’ My chest tingled at the thought of wearing my own pyjamas to sleep in my own apartment tonight.

Outside, we wandered further down the path as I flickered my gaze over every detail possible. The empty alleyway we passed, the closed hairdresser and their empty umbrella stand in the window, the lolly shop filled with children’s excited eyes. To our left, a fence lined a large park, and we opened the gate to follow the path down to the enormous grassy field.

‘Take off your shoes,’ I said as I kicked my shoes off.

The soft grass brushed against my bare feet as I continued along the field towards the duck pond. Surely someone sensible enough to visit the ducks would take an umbrella outside with them. Corey caught up with his shoes in his hand, head twisting as he searched.

‘Why aren’t we wearing shoes? What if there’s dog shit on the ground?’

I stopped by the water and closed my eyes. ‘Grounding.’

‘Yes, this is the ground,’ Corey said slowly.

I sighed and opened my eyes. ‘Grounding. It’s good for your health. Spend some time letting your body reconnect with the earth, and you might feel a little less anxious about it. We’re more likely to find the umbrella if we’re calm and focused. Besides, this is simple to do while we’re searching. Two birds, one stone.’

‘I’m not anxious.’ Corey’s face tensed.

‘Tell that to your forehead.’ My fingers brushed his skin.

Corey’s pupils dilated and his mouth parted. He cleared his throat and turned away as my heart raced. With my fingers now curled at my side, I replayed his eyes – my eyes. Their honey brown melting with a warmth he didn’t even know was on display. A warmth that jumped from his eyes and buried itself beneath my skin. Did Corey feel differently about me now? Every little piece I discovered about him sanded away his rough edges, and the new smooth Corey wasn’t so bad. Perhaps he realised the same about me, too.

‘I’m going to have a quick look around.’ Corey clutched his phone and wallet in one hand, and shoes in the other.

He wandered to the trees and weaved in and out, staring at the base of every trunk with hope that the umbrella had been abandoned there. I walked the opposite direction to search near the playground, but soon heard Corey scream with my high-pitched voice. My head snapped around to a man in black trackpants and blue T-shirt sprinting up the hill, and Corey racing after him.

‘What are you doing?’ I ran after them in a follow-the-leader race.

‘Stop!’ Corey slowed, panting.

By the time I caught up to him, he was bent over, hands on his thighs, trying to catch his breath with red cheeks.

‘What happened?’ I asked.

‘That asshole stole my wallet.’ He pointed to the blurry man in the distance who continued to run until he was out of sight.

‘Shit. Are you okay?’ I scanned my body for scratches or torn clothing.

‘I’m fine, but he’s got my credit card and licence.’

‘We’ll report and cancel your cards, but at least I’ve still got mine in the meantime.’

‘You’ll need to do all of that, considering you’re me,’ Corey panted.

‘Was there anything important in there?’

‘Bit of money and cards. Nothing that can’t be replaced, I guess.’

His disheartened gaze lowered, and my heart wanted to jump out and hug him. He looked nothing like the impenetrable six-foot man I was used to, and not just because he currently resembled a five-foot-two version of me.

‘I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I wasn’t expecting it, and I just kinda froze in shock which gave him a good head start. I mean shit, no one’s ever robbed me before.’

A quick puff of a laugh popped from my mouth. ‘You’re kidding, right? That guy robbed you, and you’re apologising?’

‘I shouldn’t have had my wallet poking out of my back pocket. They’re just so small, how do you fit anything in them?’

‘It’s my next protest – proper pockets.’ I smiled, but Corey didn’t return it.