Broken Hill Hearts (Broken Hill High 4)

Chapter 15

I have never been so wrong in my life. I stand at my bedroom window with mom by my side, both of us staring out into the night.

This is ridiculous. Hailstones are coming down heavy, trees are swaying so hard they’re nearly at their breaking point, and the wind is slamming against our house at speeds strong enough to make me feel the foundation shaking.

This is more than just a little storm. It’s a freaking hurricane.

I’m just lucky Jackson felt so helpless this afternoon, he had Elle help him collect my things from my locker and drove my car home for me. My little R8 is tucked away in the garage, safe from any hail damage, but I’m positive not everyone in Broken Hill are going to be that lucky.

A bright crack of lightning is seen through the window and mom and I both jump at the loud rumble of thunder that immediately follows it. “Holy cow,” mom gasps. “Maybe we should move away from the window. We don’t need your fourth hospital visit.”

“Agreed,” I say, stepping back into the center of my room.

“How are you feeling?” Mom asks as she waltzes on over to my bed and starts peeling back the blankets for me.

“Fine,” I say. “It’s a little sore but the pain meds are keeping it under control.”

“That’s good,” she tells me as another crack of lightning is heard throughout the entire house before the power instantly cuts out, throwing my room into complete darkness. “Oh, no,” mom gasps.

I reach for my phone on the bedside table and flick on the flash light app.

Mom scrambles around for some matches as we hear dad groaning and grunting downstairs, probably annoyed that he can’t work into the middle of the night tonight.

Mom finds the matches and goes around lighting every single one of my candles, even the ones I keep just for looks. I try not to groan out loud, but seriously? She should know better.

My room instantly starts to smell like a day spa, but to the point that it’s nearly overwhelming. There’s just so many different smells coming from these candles that I’m just about ready to throw them out the window.

“Why don’t you climb in bed and read your Kindle for a little while?” mom suggests.

“I guess,” I say, flicking off the flash light app as the candles are doing a good enough job of lighting up my room. I mean, I haven’t really had much time to give in to my bookworm tendencies lately. It would be nice to get lost in a good story. I wonder if anything new has been released by any of my favorite authors.

I climb into bed and mom helps me to pull the blankets up as I struggle with one hand. She reaches across my bedside table and unplugs my Kindle from its charger before handing it to me. “Let me know if you need anything, ok?”

“Ok,” I smile, and just like that, she slips out of my room, making sure to leave the door wide open.

I scoot down in bed and start going through my Kindle, though it’s harder than I thought. I usually hold it with one hand and flick the pages with the other. I guess I’ll just have to be a little creative.

I get ten minutes into the new Sarah J. Maas release when my phone starts ringing on my bedside table. I look across to find Nate’s name flashing on the screen. Butterflies instantly stir up my tummy as I recall our conversation in the back of the ambulance. I mean, I was getting high on that green whistle so I could have been imagining it, but I’m pretty confident things are back to normal.

Knowing that he is mine, just as he always should have been makes that hole in my heart completely disappear. I know he’s been mine all along but it doesn’t change the fact that without him, I was still hurting, and today, he once again took away every single one of my doubts and crushed them.

He gave me something to believe in. He gave me him and this time, I’m not going to be so stupid as to let him slip through my fingers. This time I’m holding on for the ride.

I reach across and grab my phone off the table and hit accept. “Hey,” I murmur into the phone as I get comfortable in my bed.

“You ok? Did you lose power?” he questions, having my safety always at the forefront of his mind.

“Yeah,” I smile. “We’re ok. I have all my candles lit.”

“Don’t forget to blow them out before you go to sleep,” he reminds me. “I’m not scraping your ashes off your bed in the middle of the night.”

“Yes, boss,” I grin.

“That’s more like it.”

I roll my eyes as I scoot lower in my bed. “What are you doing?”