Soul Elements: Fractured Torrents: Soul Elements, #3

By Lisa McNeil

Following a failed relationship with a narcissist that had torn her self confidence to shreds, Grace was busy picking up the pieces and following her heart in other ways, by throwing herself head-first into becoming a nurse. Making a difference in people's lives where they actually appreciate the effort she puts in was how she was choosing to reward herself.

Noah had known he was different his whole life, and he'd chosen to keep his distance from people around him as a method of keeping himself away from any unnecessary drama. Because of that, he'd had limited experience in dating, and although had a few short term girlfriends, none had been who he really wanted to be with.

Falling for Noah came both literally and naturally for Grace, the instant connection Noah felt was electric.

Taking a major risk was a great first step, but will being forced to spend time together bring them closer or push them apart? Can either of them get past their own doubts and insecurities enough to really let the other in?

Will our earlier soulmates be able to help them along the way?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lisa McNeil
• Release date: Feb 14, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224632077

Book preview

Chapter 1.

If she had to listen to one more word about Cally’s date over the weekend, Grace was sure she was going to vomit. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy for her; she was. It’s just that the constant gushing was beginning to become nauseating now that it was already Wednesday and if she was being honest with herself, it only served as a reminder that she had spent yet another Friday evening alone.

To be fair, that was her choice. She didn’t put herself out there for dating, she wasn’t on any dating apps, she wasn’t openly looking for someone and she definitely wasn’t going anywhere in order to accidentally get that meet-cute that everyone raved about.

No, Grace had already done that. She had made the effort. She’d poured her heart and soul into her relationship, and it had not only kicked her in the face, but had knocked her flying over backwards into a giant puddle of mud leaving her floundering with no idea which way was up or whether it was better just to stay there and sink into the ground.

Her heart had been broken. Not just broken, shattered into a million little pieces. She hadn’t stayed there, in the ‘mud’ of her broken relationship. She hadn’t really washed off the stains that it had left either. She was carrying those around as reminder not to let herself get into that same position again. They were an armour against anyone that may try to tempt her there.

Drew, who Grace now simply referred to as ‘the jerk,’ had been the epitome of the perfect guy. At least, she thought he had been. They’d met unexpectedly, and he’d been so charming. Every moment that she spent with him had made her feel like she was special, like she mattered. They had made plans together for a future; one where she was considering moving to his hometown. Drew lived about four hours’ drive from her and despite that, they had decided to give a long-distance relationship a chance. She had been reluctant, but he had insisted that they would make it as a couple. "I love you too much to let anything happen to us," he had said.

He worked away from home regularly, which meant that they really only had short periods together. Of course, the end goal had been that they’d be living together so that they could make the most of the time they had when they weren’t working and he wasn’t away.

It had been hard, but not impossible, and they had been doing pretty well. Or at least Grace had thought they were. Work was stressful for him, and she was always there ready to lend an ear when he needed it. She would often send him little care packages just so that he knew she was thinking of him. It was with this sweet sort of gesture that she always hoped would show him how much she cared when he opened it. To her, it was the next best thing she could do when she couldn’t physically hug him.

To Drew, she was the sun, the moon, the stars. She was the reason he kept his sanity in a life where it was draining from him, day in day out. Those were the words he would tell her, on the phone and in his messages.

Only it turned out, those were also the words he told his other girlfriends. The jerk!

Perhaps her naivety had come from her childhood. Watching her parents growing older together, she’d always just assumed that people got into in relationships for the right reasons. That they wanted to be with them and had the same views on their future together. She’d always believed that the right person would be out there for her. She just never really thought that it might in fact not be the one she had picked.

She had concerns during their relationship, to be fair. Drew had times he was distant, slow to respond to her when he was away but outside of his work hours. Dismissing her calls or making her feel bad when she did ask him where he was. She’d just been curious but his reaction was off.

The problem was, she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge those concerns because by doing so, it meant that she didn’t trust him. If she didn’t have trust in him, then what did they have, after all?

The day she found proof that he was cheating on her was the day that her life changed forever. The tears hadn’t stopped and she was sure she would have filled up the bathtub if she had left the plug in. She had sat there for hours upon hours. Eventually, there were no more tears to cry, at least not that day. Sleep had overtaken her, and she had awoken with a fresh purpose the next day.

Never again would she fall for a man she didn’t know first. Never again would she let her heart get broken like it was. Never again would someone take advantage of her good nature when it was given so freely.

She’d looked at herself critically in the mirror. Her long dark hair was messy and knotted. He would have hated it. In fact, she hated it. Not for the same reasons, Drew would have expected her to look perfect. She’d only grown her hair that long for him. She was thin, perhaps a little too thin, because she was always watching how much she ate, knowing he would judge her. Her eyes, normally a brilliant blue looked dull, her normally brilliant flecks that really stood her apart were lost in the emptiness she found staring back at her.

What he’d taken from her had been more than her heart and her tears. He’d taken away her confidence in herself, and he’d moulded her into being the person he wanted her to be, not who she really was.

Drew had been the sort of person that she had always tried to please, and just always found herself falling a little short of his expectations.

She knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and it certainly wasn’t going to happen overnight, but with the awareness of a new day, Grace had decided it was time for change. She’d cut her hair short, added in the highlights she’d always wanted, and donated all of the clothes that she’d bought to please Drew that she never felt comfortable in.

Instead of dwelling over her failed relationship, Grace found herself an outlet for her giving nature. She wanted to convert the affection that she once gave to him to something that made her feel better, knowing that it would be appreciated.

She’d decided to change jobs and become a nurse. Eventually. That was her plan.

For now, she had managed to transfer her skills into a reception position in a hospital, a huge benefit for her to learn on the job while completing the nursing degree that she had enrolled in. It had also meant that she had to move towns, as there wasn’t even a hospital where she grew up, let alone a role available. Moving towns was somewhat of a blessing, coming from such a small town meant that everyone knew everyone else’s business. There was only so much explaining she could take before it wore her down. It was away from her friends, but right now it was the best place she could be for now.

In the few months that she had been on the front desk, she had learned so much in the way of terminology and how the hospital operated. She could see how the doctors and nurses reacted to different situations, how things were handled in the best possible way, and how sometimes things could be improved.

Grace felt lucky that she had the opportunity to be in her position. She was miles ahead than the rest of the people in her class, and the hospital had already given her a guaranteed position for her practical placement and training when eventually that came around. They were also so focused on work/life balance here, and she had never felt so happy in her work before.

It was the perfect role for her right now. At least, other than listening to the training nurses who were a few years ahead of her in their degrees go on about their love lives when they hung out near her desk.

She enjoyed the company of the girls and their chatter, but she hadn’t really connected with them on a friendship outside of work. Hearing all about their dates made her feel sad that her relationship hadn’t worked out how she had hoped, but it also made her miss her friends from home. They were mostly in long term relationships and so their conversations were a little less raunchy, a little less partner focused and a little deeper, talking about life and just random thoughts that they would think of, which suited Grace just fine. She loved a bit of deep thinking. She’d have to settle for their weekly group chat on Monday nights for now, where they’d all video call in and catch up.

Perhaps she’d find some people of her own here. Maybe she would join a yoga class or a book club soon. That would be fun.

Checking the time, she smiled, grateful to see that it was nearly time for them to clock off for the day. Sometimes life is good to her after all.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The shrill sound of an alarm going off for one of the patients tore the nurses from their conversation and sent them hurrying to find out what was wrong.

Grace felt relieved, and picking up a set of empty clipboards, headed towards the office to refresh them full of new pages, ready for the doctors when they needed them.

Chapter 2.

Noah was late. To be fair, he was earlier than he usually would be, which meant he wasn’t quite as late as he had been to his last appointment.

That was a good thing. He’d been late because his first appointment of the day had been much bigger than expected. His last callout had been much easier, so he’d not only made up a lot of time, but he’d also had a chance to stop by Tee’s Diner for a coffee afterwards. As he had stepped inside, he was greeted by the familiar smell of hot food and strong coffee. Glossy wooden-look tables with bright red and white leather chairs lining the walls, placed strategically over black and white checked flooring.

The diner had been set up in the old-school 1950’s style, a retro look that people from out of town were drawn into, while the regulars were used to it, they kept coming back for the fantastic food offered.

Noah had ordered his coffee, and hadn’t taken a seat knowing he didn’t have a lot of time before his next job. He would have been on time too, except of course that Tee, the diner owner who was also his mother, was there. Running into his mum was guaranteed to ruin his on-time status.

Noah’s mother was adept in the art of talking and it took him fifteen minutes to remind her that he really didn’t have time to sit, have cake and chat with her. She’d spent the time fussing over his hair, which he kept long, tucking it behind his ear and out of his face, commenting on how he needed some more meat on his bones and critically eyeing off his dirty work uniform as though she thought he hadn’t washed it. He had. He couldn’t help it if crawling through ceilings turned his blue pants and shirt into a mottled shade of grey. He’d tried to dust himself off as much as he could.

She finally made his coffee in a to-go cup and hurried him out the door, tsking behind him as though it was him that was holding her up the whole time and reminding him that they had family dinner plans tomorrow night.

Noah smiled as he sipped on the coffee noticing that she’d thrown a hint of vanilla in there for him. She always managed to find a little way to say that she cared about him through her food or creations, and he had to admit, he really loved it. Weekly dinner dates with his parents were something he really looked forward to. If only he could cook, he’d try to do the same thing for her but honestly, he didn’t get any of her skills in the kitchen.

The drive to the hospital was short, and he took a moment to grab the small dustpan brush from his van to attempt a better job at dusting himself off. His mum had gotten to him, but he didn’t want to track dust all though the sanitised hospital either. Satisfied that he had got as much off as he could, he pulled on his tool-belt, and swallowed the last of the coffee as he walked inside.

The hospital was shaping up to one of their biggest clients. His dad, Terry owned the electrical company that Noah worked for. It had been his grandfather’s company first, then his dad’s and eventually he supposed it would be his. They’d worked hard to build a name for themselves in the town, which wasn’t easy when there were a number of other electricians around. Work was pretty consistent for them but picking up the hospital contract had been huge, and one of their best in the history of the business. Noah was proud of his father for winning it, given they were a small business after all they hadn’t expected that they’d be considered.

Noah hadn’t felt any pressure from his family to join the family business, but he had fallen into it anyway. At least not being good at cooking meant he also hadn’t ever fried or cooked himself with the electrical currents either.

Noah snorted, amused at his own internal joke, and got a sideways glance from the couple exiting the hospital in a wheelchair. He immediately felt bad and wanted to tell them he wasn’t laughing at them, but they were already long past him by the time he turned to explain.

The hospital contract had only come up in the last three weeks, when the original contractor retired and had recommended them. So far, it had kept them coming by regularly, although today was the first day that Terry assigned Noah there. Terry had been looking after it mostly himself and with the apprentice, Tom that he’d put on, to give them a good opportunity for learning while he knew that Noah was about to handle the other work they had booked in already. Today Terry was taking Tom out for a big job that needed two hands, so Noah had let him know he could fit the hospital call out in.

Putting on an apprentice was a needed step, as there seemed to always be something that needed to be looked at for the hospital in addition to the maintenance program that they had in place.

Today’s job was part of the regular maintenance, simple testing and tagging of equipment in the eastern wing storeroom. The hospital rotated the machines they used every other week so the ones that needed doing were all kept in storage until they were checked. It meant doing only a few at a time, so that they weren’t short on machines but by attending once a week to do it, they got through them all in no time. It had been scheduled to be completed anytime this week, but when Noah realised he had time to do it that afternoon, he’d added it to the schedule. Save his Dad some time. He didn’t mind, it was a simple job, and he was more than happy to not have to think too hard after his morning of replacing some old wiring in a renovation. It would have been easier to knock it down and start again, but the place was heritage listed and, well it was quite beautiful, despite the extra hard work and effort needed.

The hospital front reception was empty when he arrived, and he tapped on the bench wondering whether it would be rude of him to ring the bell. It was there for a reason but the receptionist might literally have just stepped away for a moment. He decided to find a bin for his coffee cup first and if they didn’t return by the time he was back, he’d call for them.

Glancing around the waiting room, Noah found the bin in the corner, noticing the empty room. How unusual for a hospital! He took a step closer and aimed, basketball shotting his cup straight into the middle of the hole for the bin. Shot! He did a little fist pump in the air, happy with his efforts.

Noah turned back around to see the receptionist sliding into her seat, and his cheeks flushed. He hoped she hadn’t seen him acting like a kid there, his dad would be so upset with him if he found out. He decided to plaster on his best smile and pretend nothing happened, just in case.

The woman behind the counter smiled at him, if she had noticed then she was carefully hiding it behind her polished exterior.

Hello there! Noah took in every aspect of the gorgeous woman who had just smiled at him. She was small, petite even, with gorgeous brown hair that sat just below her shoulders, caramel highlights throughout. Noah didn’t recognise her, and he had grown up in this town. She looked to be around his age, but it wasn’t even that fact that made him feel like he would have known her if she was from here. Noah felt an instant attraction to her, and it was completely disconcerting.

Yes, she was beautiful. Her smile lit up the room, her lips looked soft and completely kissable. The way her tongue darted out over her lips for a brief second sent shivers down his spine. But it was her eyes that stood out to him.

Her long eyelashes framed the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen, and as she had smiled at him, he could see them sparkle like they had silver flecks in them. Maybe they actually did? He was rooted to the spot, wanting so badly to move closer to her so he could see better, but also knowing that would just be completely weird if he did.

Ah, can I help you? The voice was soft, but firm and professional as well. It made him tingle all over. Imagine hearing that voice whispering in my ears?

Noah shook his head slightly, trying to throw out all the inappropriate thoughts that were crowding his brain and remembering why he was there in the first place.

Sorry, yes – Noah Brady, Brady Electrical. I believe you should have a job sheet there for me somewhere?

He took the opportunity to take a step closer and tried to subtly peek into her eyes once more. His mum always said it was polite to look into someone’s eyes when they were speaking, but he wasn’t sure staring into them was the same thing.

The young woman searched the desk, looking for the maintenance sheet. His eyes lighted on it just as she found it, and he reached out to pick it up. His fingers collided with hers as he did so, feeling a zap of electricity snap between them like you get as a kid when you rub a balloon against your clothes or hair and then touch someone else. Only the electricity between them felt like it remained post zap, he could feel the tension between them hanging thick in the air.

Her eyes shot up to his, and immediately he felt the shock hit his system. They did have silver flecks! Amazing!

It wasn’t until he heard her breath catch in her throat that he realised he could still feel her hand resting against his, both holding onto the work sheet. He didn’t mind in the slightest, in fact he wanted nothing more than to keep that connection with her but he also recognised it wasn’t too professional of him to stand there, basically holding her hand and staring at her when he didn’t even know her name.

Reluctantly he withdrew his hand, tearing his eyes away from her, and looked down at the paper.

Oh, here it is. Sorry… I… umm. She handed him the piece of paper, clearly lost for words and Noah gallantly jumped in to rescue her.

Thanks, appreciate it. He glanced down at the paper to check what he needed for access.

I’ll just need to sign out the B9 key if you have that handy?

The small time it had taken him to glance away from her had allowed her the time to recover, and Noah was once again looking at the ultimate professional.

Yes, of course. She opened a cabinet next to her desk, her fingers trailing along the keys until she found the one she was looking for. Noah wished so badly that he could be one of those keys, her fingers trailing over him. Stop it. He scolded himself mentally.

He signed the register that she had placed in front of him with the key, picking it up. She had signed it out first, and Noah smiled. Now he knew her name. Grace Jones. It suited her.

Chapter 3.

It felt as though time had stood still for the moment when Grace met Noah’s eyes. If her heart hadn’t literally thudded heavily in her chest, she’d have been sure it had stopped as well. Which was a ridiculous thought for someone who was in fact training to be a nurse. Hearts don’t just stop like that. She would have died. Not that she didn’t actually feel a little like she was walking on clouds since that moment. When she’d watching him shoot his rubbish into the bin and celebrate his shot, she’d thought he was cute. Up close, he was more than that, he was breathtakingly handsome.

She discretely pinched herself just to see if she was going to wake up from a dream, only the pain of the pinch just hurt and nothing more. It did bring her focus a little more into reality though, which was just in time for Cally and Jordan to be returning from their emergency, ready to start their final rounds of meds for the patients.

The girls were excited, which was unusual after an emergency call. Those calls usually ended in the