Patchwork Hearts: Nuralda Series, #4

By Vicki Connellan

From the moment Alex met Mitch at Gerroa one Easter weekend she knew she’d found the person she would love for the rest of her life. She was sure that Mitch felt that way too. Fifteen years old when they first met, nineteen when they first spent the night together, and only twenty when everything fell apart. Now, five years on their paths were about to cross again.

Was Alex ready to see Mitch? It had been five long years but the memory of the moment he broke her heart is still fresh in her mind. She still loved him, in spite of the pain that he had caused her, she still loved him. But could she ever trust him again?

When Mitch heard that Alex was moving to Sydney his heart just about stopped. There hadn’t been a day in the past five years that he hadn’t cursed himself for breaking Alex’s heart. How would she feel about him after all this time? Would she give him another chance? Did he deserve another chance?

When a family event at Brendan and Jess’s finds them in the same room as each other they can’t ignore the history they share, but will Alex give them the chance to reconnect? The chance to rekindle the love they once had.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vicki Connellan
• Release date: Jan 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9780994421968

Vicki Connellan

Vicki was born in Orange, NSW. When she was two years old her family moved to Dapto, a southern suburb of Wollongong. She was kicked out of pre-school at the age of four (for reasons that she will keep to herself).   When she was sixteen she moved with her parents and two sisters (Vicki is the typically misunderstood middle child) to the ACT where, ironically she studied Child Care so she could work in a pre-school. Now, at the age of 45 she still lives in Canberra with her husband and three adult/teenage children.   Vicki works full time (not in the child care industry!) and is an avid baker. She spends her time taxiing her kids around and baking cup cakes for all the kids who constantly fill the house.    Vicki has always enjoyed writing and is now taking the time to put her stories to print.  You can contact Vicki via email at [e-mail] with any questions or  feedback on her book.  If you enjoyed the book please take the time to leave a quick review. 

Book preview

About the Author

Vicki was born in Orange then her family moved to Dapto, a southern suburb of Wollongong.

When she was sixteen she moved with her parents and two sisters to the ACT where she studied Child Care.

Now, at the age of 46 she still lives in Canberra with her husband and three adult/teenage children. 

Vicki works full time (not in the child care industry!) and is an avid baker.

She has always enjoyed writing and is now taking the time to put her stories to print.

You can contact Vicki via email at

[e-mail] with any questions or

feedback or her books or follow her author page on Facebook.

If you enjoyed the book please take the time to leave a quick review.

Acknowledgement

––––––––

Fred, you are the best husband a girl could ever want. You’re amazing in every way, thanks for choosing me. After twenty-five years I still can’t believe how lucky I am. The awesome kids are a bonus.

Kim and Deb you two are simply the best editors and friends. You make me laugh all the time but mostly you make me want to keep writing. Thanks for all of your encouragement and feedback. Love you to bits girls, I’d be lost without you both.

Chapter 1

Alex

I leant back against the door of my new apartment, well, new old apartment. I’d been coming to stay at The Sands with my family since Uncle Brendan and Jess married fifteen years ago. Josh was only a baby then, well before Tori, Ben and Ashleigh came along. I sucked in a breath as I looked at all the boxes that needed unpacking. Luke had been living here for the past two years and the place looked just like I thought it would. Dirty washing everywhere, three days worth of cereal bowls on the kitchen bench, sports magazines strewn about and the smell, my god the smell. Things were going to have to change around here, starting with some fresh air.

I stood on the balcony and took in the view. I could never get sick of this view. Even when we were kids my most favourite thing to do was sit out here and watch the surfers bobbing in the water. It looks so peaceful, so calming, but there was no way I was going out there. The waves scared me, they were so powerful and intimidating. While I was enjoying the fresh air I sent a text to Mum and Dad letting them know I’d arrived safely, then one to Uncle Brendan. He and Jess had taken all the kids on a holiday and they wouldn’t be back for another two weeks. As much as I wanted to delay the unpacking I couldn’t. I started my new job on Monday and I wanted to be settled in by then.

The unpacking only took a few hours and once I had my room set up I did a quick tidy of the lounge room and kitchen. I decided to go for a walk. It was the first week in January and the weather was pretty much as you would expect to find in Sydney, the evening was warm and the main strip of Nuralda was alive with people. It was worlds apart from the sleepy streets of Hay and the quietness of our family farm. The smell of sheep had been replaced with the smell of the ocean and the fresh sea breeze blowing in was beautiful. After a lap up to the end of the beach and back I settled on a park bench with some fish and chips from Pete’s. This was one of the other things I use to love as a kid and I was happy to see he was still here. It was unusual for me not to have my camera in my hand, but even when I didn’t have it with me I loved to people watch. The young families, the old couples walking hand in hand. The young lovers out for a walk, the teenage romances, the people walking their dogs, the runners, they all had a story. Photos were my way of telling the story of people. Ever since Aunt Jess gave me her camera when I was twelve I’d been addicted to photography, and after years of studying and working in Melbourne I finally landed my dream job here in Sydney. I had my brother Luke here, Aunt Jess and Uncle Brendan, their kids and a couple of friends from uni who’d moved here a few years ago. Then there was Mitch. I’d been in love with him since we first met when we were both fifteen. I often thought back to the first time we met, when we all camped at Katie’s parent’s property at Gerroa, there had been a spark between us from the beginning. We’d seen each other every year at Easter time and when I’d come here in the school holidays, and in between we’d email, text or call each other almost every day. I’d always thought Mitch felt the same as I did. Least, he told me he did. Then he shows up at Gerroa one year with a girlfriend. That was five years ago. I’d only seen him one time since then, again he had a girl on his arm and he avoided me like the plague, which hurt even more than it did the first time he broke my heart.

It took me a long time to get over him. He broke my heart twice and I swore I’d never go through that again. Avoiding him now might be hard though. Luke and I were sharing the apartment and Luke played on the same football team as Mitch. I felt like I knew half the team already. My brother Luke, Mitch, his stepbrother Ryan and their mate Jake all played for the Sutherland Cobras, Matt was their coach and Mitch’s step-brother Sam was the assistant coach. When we were young I always felt like there was a huge age gap between the younger boys and myself. Really, it’s only three years, which seems like nothing now that we’re all adults.

When the sun started to set I decided to head home. Soaking in a nice deep bubble bath sounded pretty good to me right now. As I soaked in the tub with my eyes closed my mind kept going back to Mitch. I hadn’t asked after him at all for the past four years, and to my knowledge he hadn’t asked Luke about me either. He’d have a girlfriend now for sure. I’d seen pictures of him recently and he was still drop dead gorgeous, only now he’d filled out and become every part the man. The team photo from last year was one of the better ones. His hair was short and neat, he had a five o’clock shadow on his jaw and his huge biceps were looking good. Very different from the boy I first kissed at the age of fifteen and the young man I last kissed five years ago when we were nineteen.

Someone banging on the bathroom door rudely interrupted my little moment of bliss. Hey Sis, he knocked again.

Hey Luke, I’ll be out in a minute, I opened my eyes and sighed. The quiet was good while it lasted. Ten minutes later I walked into the lounge room to find Luke and Jake sitting on the couch playing video games. Hey, I leant over the couch and gave Luke a hug and messed up his hair. Hi Jake.

Hey Al, when did you get here? Jake gave me a quick smile before turning back to his game.

Lunch time, I headed for the kitchen. You two want a cuppa?

No thanks, Luke looked over quickly. We’re heading up to the pub soon for dinner and a drink, want to come with us?

The Nuralda Pub was one place where I thought my chances of running into Mitch were fairly high. As much as I didn’t plan on changing my social life to avoid him, I wasn’t up to seeing him just yet. No thanks, maybe next time. I made myself a cuppa then sat on the couch opposite them. So what’s news?

They both shrugged at the same time. Typical men, so talkative. Nothing much, Luke looked up for a second. We have a couple more weeks off then training starts back.

Nice, I sipped on my cuppa and flicked through one of the sports magazines. I landed on a story about Matt, Aunt Jess’s brother. He was coaching the Cobras now, the story was about him and his career, both as a coach and a player. I read through the article then flicked the pages again.

What are your plans for the rest of the weekend? Jake gave me a quick look as he asked.

I start my new job on Monday, I shrugged. Thought I’d just have a rest day tomorrow, maybe go to the beach for a while.

We all sat in silence for the next ten minutes until the boys shut off their game and stood to go. Sure you don't want to come with us? Ryan and Mitch are meeting us there, Jake looked over at me. I caught Luke’s eye as I declined the offer. He knew that I was in no hurry to see Mitch so I knew he wouldn’t push the issue. Five minutes later I had the apartment to myself again. I sighed and flopped onto the couch. I needed to find a resolve as far as Mitch Cooper was concerned. Seeing him was inevitable, that was out of my control, but letting him break my heart again, that was within my control and I sure as hell wasn’t about to let that happen. I just needed to make up my mind how I was going to deal with him and stick to my guns. Sydney was a big city, surely there was a guy out there for me. Its not like there hadn’t been boyfriends since Mitch. There had been a few over the past five years but none of them were ever able to capture my heart. I wasn’t sure if it was because there was actually no connection there or if it was me not letting them in. My mum and I had many discussions about this. She knew full well how strong that first love was. She was married to her first love. My dad and her had met in high school and had me not long after they graduated. They were still just as much in love as they were back then. That was the kind of love I wanted, that was the kind of love that I thought I had with Mitch.

I closed my eyes and put my head back, it wasn’t supposed to be this hard to get over him. I thought I’d gotten over him a long time ago but maybe I hadn’t. Maybe I’d been kidding myself and if that was the case, then maybe Sydney wasn’t the place for me to be.

***

Mitch

I looked up at the balcony of Alex’s apartment as I took my surfboard off the roof of my jeep. Since Jake mentioned that she was here my brain had been scrambled. I’d hardly got a wink of sleep last night as thoughts of her kept racing around in my head. I wasn’t entirely sure where we stood in terms of our relationship. It had been five years since I’d spoken to her but not a day had gone by where I hadn’t thought of Alex McDonald, and that bugged the hell out of me. I shouldn’t be thinking about her, I shouldn’t have let her go but no, I’d been an idiot. Not only did I break her heart five years ago, but then I went and did it again two years later. I could totally understand it if she never spoke to me again but I couldn’t help myself. Here I was, pretending to take my time untying my board on the off chance that I could catch a glimpse of Alex on her balcony. It was stupid I know, but I wasn’t thinking straight. Being in love with someone for ten years and not having them will do that to a person. It was my own fault really. There was no excuse for what I did to Alex back then, but there was a reason. I just hope that I got to explain that to her one day. I shook my head and tried to snap out of it. If I took any longer to unload this board people were going to start asking questions.

As soon as I hit the water my brain started to come back, a little anyway. It was always so peaceful sitting out the back of the waves where the water was calm. I’d always been a surfer, ever since I was a kid, but back then it was all about catching the waves. Now it was more about the peace and the tranquillity. It was quiet and there were no expectations out here. If I wanted to surf I’d surf. If I wanted to sit and take in the calmness of it all then I’d sit. There were no fans, no cameras, no demands and I loved it. I sat out there for ages this time, thinking. I thought about everything that had gone on in my life over the past ten years and how I’d been so focused on myself. Part of me was happy with what I’d done and the way things had turned out for me, but the bigger part, not so much. Being selfish had gotten me the career that I wanted and it got me the lifestyle I wanted, but it hadn’t gotten me the girl I wanted. The girl I loved. That was something that I needed to fix. Whether Alex wanted to listen or not was out of my control, but I had to give it a shot.

Luke said that she was starting a new job tomorrow, this was always a hard thing to do, a stressful thing. I decided that the best thing I could do would be to give Alex some space, some time to get settled in then I’d talk to her. It had been five years, another week or two wouldn’t hurt. The trick would be showing some self control and keeping my distance. All I wanted to do was to see her, talk to her, but more than that I wanted to hold her. I wanted to kiss her and show her how much I loved her. There had been many women in the past ten years but not one of them felt right. Not one of them could make me happy or feel whole. There was only one reason for this. Not one of them was Alex.

I caught a few waves then headed back into shore. My head was too scrambled to enjoy the water today and my heart was too restless. I was heading back up the beach and was about to cross the road when I saw her. She was jogging along the path, headphones in as she ran. I stopped, frozen to the spot. She was beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful. She always had been, but in the last five years she’d changed. Gone was the young girl that I pictured every time I closed my eyes, she’d been replaced with the most beautiful young woman I’d ever seen. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she ran up the steps of The Sands, stopping to punch in the code to the door. When she put her hand against the brick wall and pulled her foot up to her butt, holding it in her hand as she stretched out her muscles I sucked in a breath. How could I have ever let her go? How could I have ever broken her heart the way I did? She repeated the move with her other leg and still I couldn’t move, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. When she bent to touch her toes my dick went hard in an instant but I ignored it. Well, as much as I could ignore a raging hard on caused by the woman I loved. The woman I would probably never have again.

Once she went inside I ran across the road and put my board on the roof of the jeep. Securing it to the roof took a fraction of the time I’d taken to unload it earlier. I needed to get out of here before I found myself pressing the buzzer to Alex’s apartment. Once I had the bungee secured I looked up to the balcony. She was there. The instant our eyes met I froze again. All I could manage was a smile and a little wave, which she returned before turning and heading back inside. At least she didn’t spit on me, that was a win in my book.

The next three weeks went so slowly for me. Alex was in my head twenty four seven and I couldn’t shake her. Seeing her tomorrow was inevitable, it was Australia Day and we’d all be getting together at Jess and Brendan’s for a barbeque lunch then heading to the beach. I was prepared for seeing Alex tomorrow, what I wasn’t prepared for was seeing her tonight. Here in the pub, with a date. That was a huge kick in the guts but what did I expect? Alex was beautiful, friendly, and smart. Of course she’d be seeing someone. Luke never mentioned a boyfriend but then again, I didn’t really ask him about Alex, much. I looked over my shoulder at her a few times, but only once did I catch her looking back at me. The other times she looked like she was enjoying herself, which made my heart knot up even more. For over an hour this went on but I wasn’t going anywhere. As painful as it was to watch I wasn’t leaving until I got to speak to Alex. Luke, Ryan and Jake were all sitting with me at the bar. They knew the score with Al and I but none of them said anything. It had been almost two hours when Luke got a text from Al. He showed us the screen. It said only one word. Help. The four of us turned at the same time to look at Alex. She was alone in the booth and her date was standing beside me at the bar. I didn’t like him at all. He looked cocky and arrogant and not Alex’s type. He wasn’t her type. I was her type.

Your girlfriend’s beautiful, I said as I sipped my beer.

The guy turned to the four of us and smiled the cheesiest grin I’d ever seen. I wanted to punch him in the face right then and there. Yeah she’s alright, she’s not my girlfriend though. He looked back over his shoulder at Alex. She’s a bit uptight but I’m going to change that, he looked back at the four of us. I made a bet with my buddies that I could sleep with ten different women in seven days. This is day six and she’s going to be number nine, he ordered a beer then grinned at us again. I could feel Luke tense in his seat beside me.

Really, I looked back at Alex then to the cocky guy beside me. Good luck with that.

He slapped me on the back, said thanks and headed back to Alex. I muttered a few curse words under my breath then turned to the others who were already on their feet. I grabbed Luke’s arm. Don't do anything stupid. We’ll take care of this guy but don't throw any punches. It’s not worth the trouble you’ll get in from the club or the league. He nodded as we walked over to their booth. Luke and Jake slid into the booth and sat either side of Alex while Ryan and I slid in and sat