Home Is Where the Heart Break Is Read Online Free PDF Page B

in my stomach. I went to the door and opened it. Nico stood with his hands in his back pockets. “Hey, Duchess, you ready?”
    I grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. “You don’t actually think you’re going to get away without saying hello to my mom.”
    Mom walked into the room with an energetic smile that morphed into a half-stunned grin when she saw his tattoos. But she recovered quickly. “Nicholas, you are so grown up.” She hugged him. “Sorry to hear about your mom.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Jessa tells me you’re working for your dad at the marina.”
    He nodded. “I’m a boat mechanic, but I still manage to get some wakeboarding in between work hours.”
    “I remember how good you were at it.” Mom looked at me and there was a cautionary glint in her eyes, but I had no idea what it meant. “Well, you two have fun.” She turned to walk back to the table. “You’re not on a motorcycle, are you?”
    My eyes widened.
    “I’m old but I’m not deaf, Jessa. I heard Nico drop you off last night.”
    “I brought my truck today,” he said.
    I was sort of disappointed that we wouldn’t be on the bike.
    The crisp mountain air felt refreshing as we walked to the truck. Pine needles crunched beneath our feet releasing their pungent, stored fragrance. I found a spot where the sunlight had made its way through the thick shield of trees and I stopped, turned my face up, and closed my eyes to feel the warmth of it. “I’ve forgotten how unbelievably clean the air is up here.” I opened my eyes and caught up to Nico. “My lungs are in shock.”
    We climbed into the truck. “So do you think Chase will show this morning?” he asked.
    I looked at him. “Why wouldn’t he?”
    “Because if the she-wolf gets wind of it, she’ll rip him to shreds.”
    I reached toward the vents. “Do you have heat in this thing? It’s cold.”
    Nico reached forward to the buttons on the dash. “Yes, Miss Marshmallow.”
    “I am not a marshmallow. I just haven’t acclimated yet. Besides, don’t you think most marshmallows try and avoid heat?”
    He laughed and I realized how great it sounded coming from the grown-up Nico. “By the way, my dad says hi.”
    My mouth dropped open. “Seriously?”
    He glanced at me then returned his eyes to the winding road. “Why is that so hard to believe?”
    “No reason. I just never got the feeling that he liked me.”
    “That’s because he always looked angry. He liked you. I think he was bummed when you left because you were way better at keeping me out of trouble than he was.”
    “Never thought of that.” I twisted under my seatbelt to face him. “Just how much trouble have you gotten in since I left?”
    He squinted out through the front windshield and pointed to something up ahead. “Look a deer. I’ll bet you haven’t seen one of those in awhile.”
    “Way to change the subject.” I leaned forward to look. “Oh my gosh and there’s a little one right next to it. So cute.” The animals hopped down the steep side of the road and disappeared. I decided not to pursue the earlier topic. He obviously didn’t want to talk about it, and deep down, it was possible, I didn’t really want to know.
    Nico turned the truck off onto the dirt road that led to our hideout, or at least that was what we’d called it. It was really just an old hunter’s shack that the town had taken great pains to preserve thinking it would be a tourist draw. But they never carved a visible trail to get to the shack, so no one ever visited it. Eventually, they’d given up on making it an attraction. When we were ten, Nico had broken the rusted lock on the door, and we’d used it as our safe haven.
    “Are we sure our clubhouse is still standing?” I asked as Nico parked the truck. We’d driven as far as we could and now had to hike the rest of the way.
    Nico checked the time on his cell phone and looked down toward the highway. There was no sign of Chase yet. I was probably just delusional, but