Hurricane Hearts Read online

  Max thought it would just take time. I fucking hoped he was right, because I wanted Birdie just as much as I had before she’d told me what she’d done.

  “I’m gonna head home,” Max said, standing. Birdie joined him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug that lasted longer than a usual one. I knew she was thanking him for tonight because he’d helped thaw some ice between us.

  He pulled me into a hug after Birdie let him go. “Get in the fucking muck, brother,” he murmured against my ear. “Dad’ll kick your ass when he sees you next if you don’t fix this.”

  Don’t I fucking know it.

  He let me go and said, “I’ll see you in the morning”—he glanced between Birdie and me—“but you should both come for dinner tomorrow night.”

  I arched a brow. “Melissa’s good with that?”

  “Mel will have to be good with that. I don’t get to see you often enough; I’m making the most of this visit.”

  Birdie moved next to me, her arm brushing mine, sparking the need her touch always did. “We’d love to.”

  Max’s eyes questioned me and I nodded. “We’ll be there.”

  Birdie and I stood silently, watching him leave. Alone together again. It was fucking absurd how two people with the years of love behind them we had could feel so disconnected. But here we fucking were.

  I placed my hand to the small of her back and we walked to the lift. It took forever to arrive. Birdie wasn’t good with silence, never had been, and I knew she wouldn’t be now. I was right.

  She looked up at me with an expression that implored me not to pull away again. “I know you want space and I know I’m not good at it, and I’m sorry for that, but I need to know how you are, Winter. It was your dad’s funeral today and I’m worried about you. Please tell me something. Anything.” Her face twisted with the anxiety I knew she must have been feeling. “God, I—”

  I pressed my fingers to her lips. “I’m okay, Angel.”

  She opened her mouth to say something but then snapped it closed. The lift arrived and I ushered her in. Once the doors had closed and we were riding up, I said, “What?”

  She fidgeted, absently pulling stray hairs from her clothes nervously before letting her thoughts rush out the way only Birdie did. “Your idea of okay is a lot different to my idea of okay. You certainly weren’t okay last night, which I don’t blame you for, but how you were last night compared to how you are today is confusing me. Where are we, Winter? Do you still need space? Can I touch you? Will you sleep on the other side of the bed again? Do you want me to go home? Or can I stay?” She stopped for a moment, before laying her heart down, bruised and beaten. “Do we even have a future?”

  The crack I heard in her voice as she asked her last question hit me fair in the chest. Fuck, my inability to shift my anger was hurting her just as much as her confession had hurt me. And while I’d wanted nothing more than to inflict hurt last night, I didn’t want it today.

  Love keeps no record of wrongs.

  It always protects.

  “I’m angry, Birdie, but I don’t want to be. What I do want is a future with you, but I need to find a way out of this place where I’m stuck first.”

  The lift reached our floor and we walked the short distance to our room. I opened the door and met her inside where she looked at me with all the confusion she’d told me she felt.

  As I stopped on my side of the bed and kicked my boots off, her face crumpled with tears. She madly wiped them away. “Okay, I’ll keep giving you space to do that.”

  We stared at each other for a long few moments while more tears fell down her cheeks. Then, as I took a step towards her, to pull her into my arms, she made her way into the bathroom with—“I’m going to have a shower.” She’d read my moment of indecision for what it was—my failure to keep no record of wrongs.

  Fuck, how long was I going to keep that fucking record for?

  28

  BIRDIE

  I eyed Melissa with caution and hesitation when I entered her kitchen the next night. Max had met Winter and me at the front door and let us in while Melissa was nowhere to be seen. The boys had greeted us with excitement. And I had wondered how Melissa felt about us coming over.

  When she heard me enter, she faced me with the same caution. Then she surprised the hell out of me when she said, “I owe you an apology. I’ve been a bitch to you when I shouldn’t have been.” She wrung the tea towel she held, her nervousness on full display. “Max and I have been going through stuff, and I took it out on you and Matt. I’m sorry.”

  I moved closer to her. “Apology accepted, because honestly, none of us are perfect. But seriously, Melissa, if you go after Winter again, you’ll have to hold me back. He’s a good man and he doesn’t deserve to be treated the way you treated him.”

  Displeasure flashed in her eyes, but she held it in. Max had clearly let her know he wouldn’t put up with her shit. I figured her apology was mostly because he’d told her to make it. However, I also hoped she had it in her to change, which was why I accepted it.

  Winter and Max joined us, and Melissa turned back to the dishes she was washing after greeting Winter with a quick hello. I noted that he received no apology, but was unsure if that was because of what I’d said. It would be interesting to see how dinner panned out.

  “Birdie, would you like a drink?” Max asked.

  I left Melissa and followed Max and Winter into the formal lounge. “I’d love some of the wine we bought, thanks.” We’d ubered it over because Winter intended to have some drinks with his brother. On the way, we’d stopped at a bottle shop and picked up some of my favourite wine. Today had been a shitty day and I needed a drink.

  Max exited the room to get our drinks, and Winter and I sat next to each other on the two-seater couch. As he spread his arm over the back of the couch, I said, “Did you guys get everything finished up at your dad’s?”

  The reason I didn’t already know this was because Winter had left me at the hotel this morning while he went to his father’s house. After yesterday, where I’d sensed a softening from him, he’d gone back to barely talking to me. That was after he’d told me he was angry last night, after which I’d told him I’d continue giving him space, after which I’d broken down while he stood watching me.

  One step forward, two steps back.

  I’d known we’d go through hell before we’d find our way back, but fuck, this shit was hard. Especially when he opened to me but then closed right back down. It was confusing, because I didn’t know what he wanted from me—space or no space.

  So here I was making the kind of small talk strangers made, hating every minute of it.

  “Yeah,” he answered my question.

  I picked at my clothes, pulling stray hairs from my pants. “Yeah” didn’t really tell me much.

  We sat in excruciating silence while waiting for Max to return. I almost pounced on him when he did, needing a friendly face, but I didn’t. I took the glass of wine he offered with a “Thanks,” and practically skulled half of it.

  He’d just taken a seat when Melissa came in with a platter of dips and crackers. She placed it down on the coffee table without a word. As she tried to leave, Max reached for her. “Don’t worry about dinner just yet. Come and talk with us.”

  The way she didn’t stiffen in his hold told me they’d done some serious talking since the last time I’d seen them. And the way she said softly, “I’ll just get the other platter and then I’ll be in,” confirmed it.

  God, if they could get from where they’d been to where they appeared to be now, surely Winter and I had hope. But then, she probably hadn’t done anything near as bad as what I’d done.

  After Melissa left, Max asked me, “What did you get up to today?”

  “I went for a run and found a Pilates studio to take a class. Then a little retail therapy.” My sweet-as-pie smile was in direct contrast to my feelings on the inside. On the inside, I was screaming that I wanted to help them today. I wanted t
o be useful and give them the support and help I came to give.

  Melissa returned with a platter of cheeses and set it down next to the other platter before taking a seat next to Max. Smiling tightly at Winter, she said, “Max told me you guys got everything moved to the storage unit. Thank you.”

  Winter shifted in the seat next to me, his body tense. “I’ll head over there tomorrow to let the guy in who I’ve organised to clean the carpets, and then on Friday, the cleaners will be in. I’m going to get out into the garden tomorrow and give it a tidy up. The place should be ready to rent by next week.”

  It concerned me how fast he and Max had moved on this job, but I figured it was the Morrison way—get shit done fast and don’t think too much about it. God forbid it might stir your emotions.

  Fuck, I needed to shake off my shitty mood if I had any hope of making it through the night without getting into a fight with Winter.

  Max picked up the conversation from there, discussing which real estate firm they would use to rent the house out. That conversation seemed to go on and on, and I tuned out. My senses were in overdrive sitting next to Winter, drinking wine from a glass that Max refilled twice before Melissa brought me back to the discussion.

  “What have you been doing with yourself since we last saw you, Birdie?” she asked, her tone holding genuine interest.

  The wine I’d drunk had gone straight to my head, loosening me up and pushing my taut edges away. Relaxing, I shifted in my seat, angling my body towards Winter while bringing my leg closest to him up and slipping my foot under my other leg. His gaze dropped to my knee that now rested on his thigh, but he didn’t react in any other way.

  “I’ve gone into business with my best friend,” I said to Melissa. “We own a physiotherapist and Pilates studio. I’m a Pilates instructor now.”

  “Oh, I remember how you used to do Pilates all the time. That’s great that you have your own studio.”

  Goodness, Max must have really given her a good talking to.

  Why is she being this nice?

  Or maybe I’ve just drunk enough to think she’s being nice.

  “What are you doing with yourself?” I can be nice too.

  Her features tightened a little and she glanced at Max briefly. Weird. “Umm, I’m in between jobs at the moment, but I took a course a few years ago in bookkeeping, so that’s what I do now. I gave up retail after all those years. Best thing I ever did.”

  “I bet,” I agreed. “I remember those long days you used to do.” God, kill me now. Before this superficial conversation does. Or before the fact Winter has barely responded to my leg resting on him does.

  As I took the last sip of wine from my glass and eyed the bottle with the intention of getting a refill, Winter leaned in close and said quietly, “I think you need some water instead.”

  My gaze snapped to his. “I don’t think I do.”

  “Yeah, you do. I’ll get it.” He pushed my leg off his and made a move to stand, but I stopped him.

  Gripping his arm, I said, “No.” I then picked up my empty wineglass, got up, and refilled it. When I sat back down, I ignored his frown and squished myself as far away from him as I could. He and his mixed signals could have that end of the couch while I had this end.

  29

  WINTER

  Birdie was in a mood and I was bouncing off it. Melissa was moody too, which meant dinner had turned into a fucking wreck. Melissa wavered between being nice to Birdie and then bitchy to me. In the kind of passive-aggressive way I fucking hated. I hadn’t expected less from her, and I’d been prepared for it, but Birdie’s mood screwed with my headspace. Not that my head had been in a good place today.

  Max and I spent the day clearing out Dad’s study and his bedroom. It took a lot longer than either of us had thought it would. Hell, neither of us were mentally prepared for the task. Looking through all the belongings that meant something to our father, and touching each item, had been far worse than sitting through his funeral yesterday.

  I’d left his place feeling all kinds of fucked up. When I’d returned to the hotel to get ready for dinner, I knew Birdie wanted me to catch her up on how we were going with Dad’s house, but I hadn’t had it in me to get into it. Not because I didn’t want to give her the information or talk to her about it, but because I couldn’t talk about it.

  It was too fucking hard to discuss the fact my father’s clothes no longer hung in his wardrobe where they’d hung for decades. Or to discuss the fact his refrigerator no longer stood in his kitchen, covered with childhood photos of Max and me. Or to discuss the fact that everything he and Mum had owned now sat lumped together in boxes that were stacked on top of each other in some dark, cold cement storage shed.

  I’d helped my brother pack my parents’ lives up this week and it was one of the hardest fucking things I’d ever had to do. And as much as Birdie wanted me to rip that information from my heart and give it to her, I couldn’t do it this afternoon. And so we sat next to each other all night with our simmering tension twisting and grating.

  “So, when are you guys heading back to Sydney?” Melissa asked as we finished eating dessert.

  Birdie had pushed her piece of chocolate cake around her plate for the last five minutes, seemingly unable to eat but a few bites. At Melissa’s question, she looked at me with arched brows that I didn’t like the look of.

  “I’d planned to leave Sunday, but it looks like I may be needed back for work before then. Maybe Friday,” I said, taking my last bite of cake while trying like fuck to ignore the irritation that Birdie had flared with. This had been going on all night. Almost everything I said appeared to piss her off.

  Melissa looked at Birdie. “And you’re heading back at the same time?”

  Birdie nodded. “Yes.” Then, glancing between Melissa and me with a flicker of doubt in her eyes, she said, “Well, I think so. Unless Winter—”

  Fuck.

  I cut her off. “Yes, we’re heading back at the same time,” I said with a tone that called for no argument. Of course we fucking were.

  Birdie scowled at me and drained her glass of wine. Thank fuck she’d reached the end of her supply for the night. The alcohol she’d drunk was mixing with whatever the fuck she was angry about, making her mood worse.

  She shoved her chair back. “I’m going to the bathroom,” she snapped.

  Melissa stood and cleared the plates, also throwing a scowl my way. I hadn’t said a thing out of place to her tonight, so I figured she was holding onto her anger and resentment towards me over the will.

  As she left the room, Max said, “Birdie’s pissed off tonight, brother.”

  I reached for my whisky and nodded before drinking some. “Don’t I fucking know it.”

  “Did you two get into it before you came?” he asked, but before I could answer, Thomas called out for his father.

  Max excused himself, leaving me alone when Melissa came back into the room. She looked to be on a mission to clear the table, so I stood to help her, but she shook her head. “I’ve got it.”

  I ignored her and grabbed the empty glasses. I didn’t make a habit of not helping clean up after someone cooked me a meal.

  “Suit yourself,” she muttered. “You always do.”

  I stopped what I was doing. “Have we still got a problem, Melissa?”

  She stopped, too. “Just because Max and I are sorting out our problems, doesn’t mean I’m good with you all of a sudden. Nothing has changed between us as far as I’m concerned. I’ll be civil towards you, but that doesn’t mean I like you. I still think the way you’re controlling your brother by refusing to sell your mother’s house is a big power trip for you. I don’t think you’re doing it for any other reason.”

  “It’s clear to me that you’ll never even try to understand my reasons, let alone understand them, so I won’t bother trying to explain them to you again. But you should know that Max and I have spoken about this again and he understands.”

  Her lips pressed
together. “That’s because he thinks the sun shines out of you.”

  “He doesn’t, but like I said, I know you’ll never understand me or our relationship.”

  “God, you are so fucking high and mighty. How the hell Birdie loves you is beyond me.” She paused. “I feel sorry for her that she can’t have children. I can only imagine the pain she must have gone through when she discovered that. But I was never convinced you’d make a good father anyway with the way you try to control everything and everyone.”

  Fucking hell, she was a piece of work.

  I was about to respond when Birdie stepped next to me, a gush of wild, angry energy hitting the room. “Don’t you ever say that again, Melissa,” she practically breathed out like a flame of pure hot fire. “Winter will make the best father any child could hope for. And if I’m lucky enough to be the mother of his children, it will be all my dreams come true.”

  My gut tightened at her words and the conviction with which she spoke.

  Melissa was less than impressed. “I don’t know how you put up with him or why you even got back together with him. He’s always been—”

  My little spitfire had my back and didn’t fail to let Melissa know what she thought of that. “He’s solid and loyal and caring and protective and so many other things you’re too blind to see. And I’m really tired of your attitude towards him, Melissa. Do you not know the meaning of family yet? I mean, I don’t know how you don’t since you married into the Morrison family whose core fucking belief is that family runs deep and is everything worth fighting for. FYI it’s not you and Max against Winter; it’s all of you for each other. All I can think is that you’re so unhappy with yourself that all you do is look for flaws in other people to make yourself feel better. It’s time you did some work on yourself so that you can start appreciating the people in your life.”