Lost Before You (Heart's Compass Book 2)

by Brooke O'Brien

  “You should really take your own advice. Halle isn’t going to wait around for you forever. You’d be a fucking idiot to let her go, too.”

  The stone expression he wears regularly is locked back in place. If it wasn’t for the slight twitch in his jaw giving him away, I would think he was unaffected by hearing her name.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I chuckle, nodding my head before I turn and continue down the hall, effectively ending the conversation.

  It was after nine o’clock when I pulled into the drive leading to my parents’ house last night. Knowing tomorrow we would be getting up early to go out and cut down a tree, I opted to head to bed early. After spending seven hours in the car, I wasn’t in the mood to stay up much longer.

  Waking up the next morning, I jump in the shower and quickly get ready. Walking out into the kitchen, I am surprised to see Callum and Ellie sitting at the table with my mom and Randy. Ellie is drinking a cup of coffee as Callum and Randy are talking about a job they have coming up.

  “Good morning, Princess!” Callum jokes.

  I flash my middle finger to him in greeting. “Good morning,” I grumble, shuffling toward the fridge, pulling out the container of orange juice. Opening the cabinet, I take a glass and pour before taking a big drink.

  Callum stands up from where he’s seated, approaching me. As much as he is a pain in the ass, it’s great to see my brother.

  “Good to see you, bro.” I say, clapping his hand, pulling him in for a hug.

  Looking over his shoulder, I see a smiling Ellie standing behind him. “I still don’t know how you got lucky with this one.” I laugh, leaning forward to slide my arms around Ellie’s petite frame.

  She looks a lot better since the last time I saw her; the bruises and cuts have long since healed. The smile she wears nearly takes over her face.

  “Hi, Ellie,” I whisper in her ear. “It’s good to see you.”

  “You, too.”

  “I hear the trial wrapped up earlier this week,” I say, looking between Ellie and Callum. The man who attacked Ellie happened to be her mother’s boyfriend. Now that the news is out, I’ve since learned he had sexually abused her when she was younger. Ellie came to Arbor Creek trying to run away from that part of her life, only for him to turn up here and find her after he had been released from prison.

  My brother later shared with me the hardest part; Ellie’s mom didn’t believe the abuse had taken place and up and left her when Ellie had him put away the first time.

  Ellie nods her head as Callum moves closer to her, slipping his arm around her shoulder drawing her near.

  “I’m glad to hear you’ll finally get the peace you were searching for.”

  Taking a step back to give them some space. Callum leans down, pressing his mouth against her temple. Her eyes close, as if letting the words and his affection sink in.

  When she opens her eyes, I see the tears fill her eyes and she struggles to fight them off.

  “I finally know what it feels like to be happy, genuinely happy.” she smiles as a lone tear streams down her face.

  Callum doesn’t waste a second before he pulls her into his arms, pressing his chin into her neck.

  “Oh, honey,” my mom says, coming up behind us wrapping her arms around Callum and Ellie.

  I hear my mom whisper she loves Ellie as she lets out a choked sob. Randy comes up behind us, smacking me on the shoulder.

  Turning around, I clap his hand, shaking it. “Good to see you, Randy.”

  “It’s good to see ya, too. Glad to have ya home.”

  Randy, although he isn’t my biological dad, raised me as if I were. I don’t remember much from my parents’ divorce. I was too young and my mom kept a lot of it from me. What I do remember is from the point I was in elementary school on, having both my father and Randy in my life.

  Randy was the one who taught me how to fish and how to ride a horse. He took us camping and made sure we understood the importance of taking care of your family. When I think about the hard life Ellie was handed, I can’t help but be grateful for having someone like Randy step in.

  The sound of knocking on the door breaks us all from the seriousness of the moment. Heading to the door, I turn the knob, swinging it open. A cool breeze wafts through the air, hitting me in the face.

  “Hi,” Kinsley cheers. Her smile is bright and her nose is red from the cold temperatures. Peering over her shoulder, I see Halle standing behind her with a beanie on her head. The pompom on her head bobbing as her head shakes with her shivers.

  “Can we come in?” Halle shouts. Her jaw is clenching as she raises her hands to her mouth blowing warm air.

  Stepping out of the way, I nod my head ushering them in. As soon as the door closes, I have two arms around my waist. I would expect nothing less.

  “What are you two doing here?” I ask, looking between them.

  “What, no ‘glad to see you’. Good grief, did you lose your manners in the big city, too?” Halle retorts with her eyebrow raised.

  “It’s great to see you.” I laugh, scooping her up in a hug. The sass she throws my way is what I could expect seeing come from her.

  “Yeah, yeah,” she grumbles, slinging her arm around my neck. Kinsley laughs behind me as she chats it up with Ellie.

  “We’re just here to pick up Ellie. We’re heading to Everton to do the last of our Christmas shopping,” Kinsley announces. “Are you ready?” she asks Ellie.

  Ellie’s face is a little red around her eyes from the tears a moment ago.

  “Yeah, give me a minute to freshen up and then I’ll be ready.” Ellie excuses herself to the bathroom as Callum follows along behind her. I want to shout behind him she’s capable of using the bathroom without his assistance, but I know he wants to make sure she’s alright.

  “Where’s your girl?” Halle asks, looking around the room for Brea. “She can come with us, too, if she wants.”

  Running my hand along my jaw, I look over at my mom who has her eyebrow raised in question. We haven’t talked about the fact I’m here, minus one guest.

  “Mason, honey, I was surprised to see you didn’t have Brea with you when you got in last night. Is she in Cleveland with her family?”

  The mention of Brea causes a weight to settle in the pit of my stomach. I knew this conversation was coming, but I wasn’t prepared to answer the questions.

  “Brea’s not here,” I clarify, looking at Halle. “I haven’t talked to her actually, so I’m not sure what her plans are. I’m sure she’s spending it with her family,” I reply dejectedly, looking at my mother.

  I sense her concern as she studies my face.

  Callum and Ellie enter the kitchen and I’m glad to see Ellie’s smile is back on her face.

  “Alright, I want you to make sure she treats herself to something while you guys are out,” Callum says, looking between Halle and Kinsley. I’m thankful for the change in conversation, steering it away to lighter topics.

  “Are you giving us permission to spend your money because, honey, I can promise you that will never be a problem for me,” Kinsley promises as Halle barks out a laugh. Halle walks over and eases her arms around Ellie’s waist.

  Callum and I put on our coats and head outside to walk the girls out. As soon as they are backing down the driveway, we head to the stables wanting to check on the horses.

  The cold air bitter makes it hard to breathe much less talk. That doesn’t seem to deter Callum though.

  “How are things going with you? Where’s Brea?” Callum asks. He wasn’t in the room when she was brought up earlier and I should’ve known he would ask about her, too.

  “Honestly, I haven’t talked to her since the last time we were here. Other than that, things aren’t too bad.”

  “Just friends, huh?” he asks, picking up on the topic from the last time w
e were here. I thought we did a decent job of acting like everything was fine, but he has always been good at knowing when something is wrong with me.

  “We were never just friends, at least not to me. I guess she saw things differently.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Callum says, looking genuinely sorry. Opening the side door, we enter the stables. It’s heated in here; I rub my hands together, working to add warmth to my skin getting my blood flowing again.

  “Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t have expected any different. She deserves better than I could ever give her. What about you and Ellie? How is she taking things now that the trial is over?”

  “That girl is a rock, man. Don’t get me wrong, the trial was rough, especially having to go through the testimony and resurface a lot of the memories she’s worked to bury. Thankfully, Dad really helped make sure she was prepared for what to expect,” he says, and I’m so glad to hear that he’s been able to turn to our dad during all of this. Although he’s a defense attorney, he knows what it’s like in the courtroom, and I know it helped ease some of the stress weighing down on them.

  “Ever since she heard the verdict, it’s like she’s been able to breathe. He’ll spend the rest of his life in jail. There is the possibility of parole after twenty-five years, but I’ll make it my life’s mission to ensure he will never see the free light of day as long as I’m still walking this earth.”

  I hear the relief in his voice. Leaning against the gate, I rub the palm of my hand on Trixie’s nose. She has been my mom’s horse for the past ten years. It’s kind of fitting considering she tends to mother to all the other horses.

  As if sensing Callum’s tension, Trixie runs her nose along his forearm asking him to pet her and he does.

  “I think I’m going to ask her to marry me,” he says, catching me off guard.

  “Really? That’s amazing, man!”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to do anything over the top. She’s so low key she’d probably kill me if I did.” He laughs. “I don’t want to wait though either. I was thinking maybe I’ll do it sometime this week like on New Year’s Eve morning, so we can celebrate with everyone when we get up. Maybe we could make a trip to Chicago in a couple of weeks to visit.”

  “That’s awesome. Let me know when and I’ll try to get some time off from Velvet. If not, you two can always stop by and see me there.”

  “Awesome, we’ll do that. I’m going to surprise her so don’t mention it. I wouldn’t mind taking her to Velvet. I know she’ll be excited to see Brea again.”

  “No, uh… Brea actually isn’t working at Velvet anymore. Remember the restaurant I mentioned I was working at during the summer? She’s working there. I guess she really didn’t want to be around me anymore.”

  “I’m sorry, man. You know, when Ellie and I first started talking to each other, she kept me at arm’s length for quite a while. She did everything she could to stay away from me, but I was persistent as hell. I knew there was something between us and, for whatever reason, she was determined to stay away. I never gave up though. I knew she was worth it.”

  The truth is since I got back to Chicago, I haven’t spoken to Brea once, although it’s killed me. I knew she was worth it though and, if I was going to get her back, I had to prove it to her.

  “Brea, get your sexy ass out here right now!”

  Standing in front of the mirror, I take two steps back toward my bed and sit on the side of the mattress.

  I’ve been dreading this night all week. When Lissa called me earlier this week to tell me that Mason took time off for winter break to head home to Arbor Creek, I knew what was coming next. She was trying to convince me to work at Velvet for New Year’s.

  I had fully planned to stay in for the night and become one with the couch while consuming unhealthy amounts of ice cream, watching the ball drop on TV.

  When I told her what I had planned, she told me I was depressing and it was time we got off our ass and move the hell on.

  Watching how happy my mom was with David this past week made me realize she was right. Mason hadn’t even attempted to reach out to me, and by the looks of his pictures on Facebook, it’s clear he wasn’t drowning in his sorrows like I was.

  It’s time for me to put on my heels and get ready for a night out. Brushing the hair behind my ear, I pick up my clutch from my bed and open it, pulling out my lip gloss. Running the nude gloss along my lips, I rub them together.

  My hair and makeup is on point tonight. It had been a while since I’ve put in the extra bit of effort to get ready. Hell, I can’t even remember the last time I wore heels.

  Standing up, I look at the black strappy sandals wrapped around my foot and ankle. The dress I am wearing is sexy, a champagne color with a black lace overlay. It is shorter than I normally like to wear but not too revealing.

  Standing up, I run my hands along my stomach and turn to check my appearance in the mirror.

  “You look smokin’ hot, B! Seriously, what the hell does Mason think he’s doing?” Lissa says, fanning herself.

  Rolling my eyes, I turn to face her. “You don’t look too bad yourself. I can’t believe Craig said I could work tonight!”

  “Are you kidding? Do you realize how busy Velvet is going to be? We need all the help we can get. Not to mention, you have experience and the customers love you.”

  “If that’s the case, I’m surprised he let Mason off knowing how busy they are supposed to be,” I say, turning to look at Lissa.

  She runs her hand through her hair, checking herself out in the mirror, trying to ignore the way her cheeks turn a rosy color as she rubs her lips together. As soon as she catches me looking at her, she turns to pick up my lip gloss and runs it along her lips.

  Narrowing my eyes at her, I say, “He did let him off for the night, right?”

  Lissa acts like she’s surprised by the question out of my mouth. “What? Do you think I’m lying?”

  “Yes, I do. You’re acting weird, and I can tell something is up.”

  Letting out a heavy sigh, she spins around to face me and grabs me by both of my hands so I can’t run. “Alright, so I may have fibbed just a little bit. He did get time off to go to Arbor Creek, but according to Graham he got into town on Thursday. He’ll be working the bar tonight.”

  Yanking my hands out of Lissa’s grasp, I let out a frustrated groan. “Are you frickin’ kidding me? Why would you do that?”

  “I know you have it in your head he’s all partying it up and moving on, but the truth is that’s a load of shit. He hardly will talk to me now, but from what I’ve heard, you two are about as depressing as they come. I knew if you thought Mason was going to be there, you would never agree to help Craig and work tonight. I also think it’s time for you and Mason to put aside your shit and stop avoiding each other.”

  “I would’ve thought you would understand, considering your ex-boyfriend just broke up with you in an equally shitty way.”

  “Maybe that’s true, but I know for a fact he isn’t thinking about me. Mason, on the other hand, is. You seriously look hot as hell right now. I can’t wait to see that struck stupid look on his face when he sees you, too.” Lissa laughs.

  Rolling my eyes at her, I pick up my clutch before taking a second look in the mirror. As annoyed as I am with her, I can’t say I disagree with her. The way the dress hugs my body, accentuates my curves, and the color looks great against my olive skin. The heels make me taller and more confident. Despite how bad my feet are going to hurt tomorrow, I know they make my legs look killer, too.

  I don’t talk to Lissa for the entire way to Velvet. I’m so annoyed she lied to me I don’t even bother waiting for her as we get out of the car. Walking toward the employee entrance, I watch as Graham takes a step outside and watches as we both approach. He has his arms crossed in front of his chest.

  Taking the steps up to the side door, I
flash a small smile at Graham.

  “Hey, B! How are you doing?”

  “Hi,” I say. “I’m alright. Just ready to get this night over with.”

  “She told you, huh?” he asks, the side of his mouth curving up slightly.

  “You knew about this, too?” I say, peering up at him, letting him see how annoyed I am.

  He lightly chuckles as he looks past me to where I’m sure Lissa is before his eyes fall on mine. “Yeah, she did. It was my idea. You two are just so stubborn about things I knew you wouldn’t put yourselves in the same place without a little shove.”

  “It will be okay, I promise,” Graham says, running his hand along my shoulder reassuringly. “You look beautiful tonight, B. Something tells me he isn’t going to get any work done tonight because I have a feeling he won’t be able to take his eyes off you.”

  I let out a subtle laugh as I shake my head, letting out a slow breath.

  “Do me a favor though…make him work for it. He deserves it!”

  “Oh, don’t you worry. I fully plan on it.”

  Graham laughs as he turns to grab the door handle and swings the door open, holding it for us to enter.

  Walking down the narrow hallway toward the employee locker room, I’m relieved when I enter to find it empty. We are a few minutes late so it appears everyone must already be out on the main floor as people start entering through the door. Lissa and I quickly stuff our purses into the locker and slide the lock back on it.

  The sound of the locker room door swinging open has us both turning our heads to see who it is, as Sierra struts in. She’s dressed in high heels and a black halter dress. Her high heels make her legs look even longer as her platinum blond hair drapes over her shoulder.

  I can tell she’s surprised when she sees me. What I didn’t expect to see was the smile lining her face. It’s not the sinister smile I expected to see, but a genuine smile and it’s immediately setting off warning alarms in my head.

  “Brea, I didn’t expect to see you around here.”