Page 43 of Broken-Hearted

Martha doesn’t respond for several seconds, then she blows out a long breath. “You are reckless and too impulsive, Clara.”

“But you still love me?” I hold my breath as I wait for her response.

She sighs. “Of course I still love you. Why do you think I was so worried?”

“I’ll call every day while I’m here,” I promise her. “I don’t think Nathan would mind if I used his phone.”

“Okay,” she says. “And I’ll call you.”

“How are you and Ty? Still going at it like?—”

“Not talking about this, Clara,” she cuts in.

I smile. “Is he there doing things to you while you’re on the phone with me?”

She sighs again. “You truly have your mind in the gutter, don’t you?”

“Always.” I continue toward the cabin and move to open it. “I better go. I’m desperate for a shower.”

And to investigate my new temporary home.

I’m getting ready to hang up when Martha stops me. “Clara?”

“Yeah?”

“When you want to move on, can you please tell me? I know you’re twenty-two and you need to live your own life, but I’ll worry about you.”

Whennot if.

My big sister knows me far too well.

I’ve never been as happy or as settled anywhere as I was back in Ohio. Maybe a person can only set down roots in one place, and I set mine already. Now nowhere will ever feel like home.

“I’ll let you know,” I promise her.

“You could always come back to Dawley,” she quietly suggests in a tone of someone who already knows what my answer will be.

“Maybe.”

She blows out a sigh. “Clara…”

She’s my sister, so she knows a lie when she hears it.

“I’ll stop by for a visit,” I say, because that’s one thing I can promise and mean it.

“And pick up the clothes you left behind when you ran off.”

I wince. “I know I shouldn’t have but?—”

“Sorry. I don’t mean to keep complaining. I just worry.”

“I get it.” It’s just us in the world now. Of course she would worry. “We’ll speak soon, okay?” I push the cabin door open and wander in, pausing at the entrance to admire the cozy space.

Unlike Matilda and Simon’s cabin outside of Rosenwood, this one is all open concept. Each corner of the room has everything I would need. A bed, a living space, a kitchen, and a door which must lead to a bathroom.

I hope to hell it leads to a bathroom because I didn’t pass any outbuildings and I’m not eager to have to go outside to use the toilet.

“Speak soon. Love you.”

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