Home Is Where the Heart Break Is by Tess Oliver Read Free Book Online

full shut down mode. He was in the principal’s office every day, and he kept getting into fights.”
    I couldn’t believe how hard it was for me to hear what Chase was telling me. I’d always felt guilty about leaving them, and especially Nico because he’d always seemed to need me.
    My chin vibrated and I took hold of Chase’s hand. “It’s cold. Let’s get out.”
    We waded to shore. Nico did not take his eyes off of me as I emerged from the water. I hugged myself against the cold air and his heated gaze. Things had changed. We were definitely not ten years old anymore. Chase rushed on ahead, and I put my hand out for Nico to take. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”
    “Don’t let it happen again, Duchess.” He grabbed my hand and pulled himself to standing. I turned to head up to the shack and our dry clothes, but he pulled me to a stop. I faced him. Without hiding the fact that he was checking me out, his deep gaze drifted over my body and then back up to my face. “Damn, Jessa, you are definitely not a little girl anymore.”
    “Shut up. Let’s go back up and get dressed before I turn blue.”
    I yanked back on my shorts and t-shirt at lightning speed, and it was not just because I was cold. These two guys had always been like brothers to me but time apart and growing up had changed that. The connections were still there, that was certain. I’d worried that we would be like strangers, but there was too much history between the three of us for that to be possible. But things had definitely changed.
    Chase took the phone out of his pocket and read a text. His fingers flew over the keypad and he sent one back.
    “Uh oh, she’s on to you,” Nico said.
    “Go to hell, Nico. You don’t know anything about my life.”
    Nico put up his hands. “You’re right. None of my business if she pulls you around by a nose ring. Some guys like that.”
    Chase clamped shut his fists. There had been several moments during the morning where their long time friendship was evident, but it was also clear that they’d grown in opposite directions. Looking at them now, they were both so completely different; it was almost impossible to believe they’d ever been friends.
    “Nico, you need to lay off. Not everyone enjoys being a loner.” Instantly I regretted my words. With cold silence, Nico grabbed up his shoes, sat on the bench, and put them back on. Tension filled the tiny space, but I refused to have the morning end like this.
    “You know, guys, maybe we’re just trying too hard to recreate what we had,” I said.
    Chase put the phone back in his pocket. “What are you saying, Jessa? You don’t want to hang out anymore?” There was a true look of worry on his face which was so cute, and so Chase.
    “Not at all.” I motioned my hands around our old haunt. “Maybe we just have to stop chasing the past and make new memories.” I looked down at Nico, and I knew him well enough to know that he was only pretending not to listen.
    Nico pushed off the bench. “I’ve got to go to work.” He slammed out the door, and it swung precariously on its single hinge.
    Chase and I followed.

Chapter 7
    I’d always had mixed feelings about Aunt’s Sadie’s antique shop. Sometimes her collection was pretty, and sometimes it was pretty scary. One corner of the shop would be filled with cool, old clocks covered in chubby gold angels, or cherubs as Sadie called them, and just around the bend might be a collection of old dolls with creepy faces and wiry hair. But one thing always remained the same, the smell. Aunt Sadie kept a very clean shop, but it seemed that no matter how much you dusted old things, they still always smelled old. It was as if the layers of time were there to stay.
    “Jessa!” Aunt Sadie’s face broke into a huge grin as we walked into her shop. I’d loved hanging around Aunt Sadie when I was younger. She was sort of a know-it-all but she told great stories about her days hunting