The Damaged Hearts Bargain (Tetherington Hearts #2)

Chapter Twelve

C al revved the engine and made the turn out of town before opening the throttle and letting the bike growl up to speed.

Riding made her peaceful, it gave her time to think, both of which she desperately needed this morning. She’d had a disturbed night of sleep even though she’d avoided alcohol and the bar. Every time she woke up she could see Lucy bending over a box.

There were other things too. More personal things, important things, decisions that needed to be made.

Her mother’s house was going to be sold, a house that had belonged entirely to her mother and now belonged to her. Which meant for the first time in her life, Cal was about to have money. Not serious amounts, but enough. Enough to start to settle down and build a life, if that’s what she wanted.

Or enough to travel to all the places she’d put off as too exotic, too far away.

Huh, a little flat somewhere, or a long holiday in Tahiti. What kind of a choice was that? A year ago it’d have been a no-brainer. Even right now, Cal wanted to pretend that the answer was an obvious one.

Except, if she was being honest with herself, it kind of wasn’t. And that didn’t make her happy. It didn’t make her happy because she felt like she didn’t know herself .

A couple of weeks ago if someone had handed her several tens of thousands of pounds she’d have taken off on her bike and met women and had drinks and bathed in the sun and all the rest of it. Live for the moment because what else was there?

Now though, now she wasn’t so sure. And there was only one reason for that. Tetherington. She’d come back to town and suddenly something had changed inside her, something that she didn’t like.

She was not that person anymore. Not that person that had grown up here and kissed and cried and made mistakes. She was a wholly different person. One that wore men’s shirts and shaved her hair and never stayed more than six weeks in a place.

So why was she thinking that the money could buy a base? A garage to put the bike in? A kitchen to occasionally cook in?

Throw Lucy into the mix and things got even worse.

Even thinking about her set off big red blaring alarms in her head.

Yes, Lucy was attractive and funny and smart. They’d built a connection already, the way kids from unorthodox families often did. More than that, Lucy seemed to get her. The way she stood up for her, the way she was so different from anyone else in town.

Yet Lucy was looking for something that Cal couldn’t offer her. A relationship, something serious, it was blatantly obvious from even the shortest of conversations that Lucy wanted real love.

Cal didn’t do real love. Cal did motel love. Half time love. Instant love that boiled down to steam and nothingness by the end. She was good at that, comfortable with it, and, in her opinion, distinctly unqualified to offer anything more.

Which, she supposed didn’t completely make Lucy off limits. But it did make things complicated. Because she also didn’t hurt people. It wasn’t in her nature and she went out of her way to be as kind and generous a lover as she could be.

She buzzed the bike over a lane, getting ready for her exit.

Lucy was an adult though. She could make her own decisions .

Cal slid her bike around the slope of the exit ramp, her leathered knee almost touching the ground she was at such a steep angle. Then she came to a screeching stop at the top, in the middle of the two lanes.

Turn left and she’d get back on the motorway in the opposite direction and head back to Tetherington. Turn right and she’d be heading to anywhere she pleased.

The bike ticked with heat.

Cal’s heart beat in time with it.

Then she took a deep breath, revved the engine again and made her turn.

THERE WAS THE sound of ringing and then a click as the call connected. “Lucy?”

“Cal? Is that you? You sound like you’re in the middle of a hurricane.”

Cal laughed. “Yeah, I could do with a helmet upgrade probably, get better Bluetooth and all that jazz.”

“You’re calling from your bike?”

“You know about my bike?”

There was a second of silence. “Um, Rosalee might have mentioned it. Not that we were talking about you or gossiping or anything. It just, um, sort of came up in conversation.”

Cal considered this and then let it go. Gossip was one of the things she liked least about Tetherington. Which made her think that it was faintly possible that there was another reason she was avoiding getting anywhere close to Lucy. If she got close then at some point she’d be required to divulge the truth of what had happened more than a decade ago, or someone else would. She’d never talked about it before and really didn’t want to.

“Okay,” she said. “Um, you said you were going to come and help this afternoon.”

“Shit, I’m not late am I?” Lucy broke in. “I just finished.”

“No, no, that’s not the problem at all. I just wondered if, well, I’m out on my bike and I could pick you up, that’s all. I mean, if you need it. Not a requirement or anything.”

It had seemed a good idea at the time. Not that Cal always used her bike as a way to pick up women. Not that she was attempting to pick up Lucy. Well, not other than in a very literal way. Unless she was, and her hormones very much really wanted her to.

Both adults, both able to make decisions, she told herself. She wasn’t going to start anything, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a friend, did it? Just one nice person in her day. It might not be enough to dilute the fact that she got death stares continually around town, but having someone there for her was important.

Syd was right about that.

And Lucy was helpful. They’d already cleared the living room. At this rate, Cal might get out of town faster than planned, so that was a good thing.

“Are you kidding?” Lucy was saying now.

“Um, I don’t know. Is that kidding in a good way or a bad way?”

“I mean, I’d love to have a ride on your bike,” Lucy laughed.

The laugh rang through Cal’s helmet and made her stomach twist in somersaults. “Great. I’ll pick you up then. At the newsagents?”

“Um, I’m at the bakery actually. Just a few doors down, you can’t miss it. I’m with Pen.”

Cal’s heart dropped. She could hardly back out now, could she? But the last thing she wanted was to have to meet yet more people. People who hated her and would almost certainly tell Lucy what she was all about and then…

The thought of Lucy thinking badly about her stuck in Cal like a knife. She didn’t usually care what people thought of her. But Lucy was different.

“Hey,” Lucy said, voice lowering until it sent tickles through Cal’s ear. “These people are my friends, it’ll be fine, I promise.”

CAL TOOK OFF her helmet and placed it on the saddle of the bike. The bakery itself was new to her, it hadn’t been around when she’d lived in town. The bookshop right next door wasn’t new. She’d always scampered past it as a kid, slightly weirded out by the fact that it was a romance bookshop.

Now she wondered if she could disappear into its shelves for a few hours and avoid the next few minutes. Because Lucy was sure to want to introduce her to her friends. And those friends were sure to recognize her and once they did…

Fuck it. Cal Roberts did not walk away from difficult things, whatever Syd might think.

Mostly.

Not since she was seventeen anyway.

She took a breath, held her head up high, and marched into the charming little bakery.

The first thing she saw was Lucy’s smile, radiant and shining in a way that made her heart swell. Jesus, she had it bad this time. Still, it was a crush and she’d had those before. Nothing she couldn’t handle.

“You came,” Lucy said.

“And we’re so glad that you did,” said another voice. Cal turned to see a plump blonde woman in a loud print dress smiling and holding out a plate. “Care for a biscuit? They’re fresh baked.”

Cal cleared her throat. “Uh, thank you?” she said.

“Nice to see you back in town,” said the woman, still unbelievably smiling.

Cal cleared her throat again. “Um, I’m Cal,” she said because she might as well get it over with. The woman obviously didn’t recognize her.

“Of course you are,” she chuckled. “And I’m Pen. Penelope Robson? You probably don’t even remember me I was so far ahead of you in school.”

“No, no, I remember,” said Cal, very confused now because Pen was still smiling.

“You’d better take that biscuit,” said another voice. “Or I’ll have to eat it for you.”

“This is Ash,” Pen said. “My fiancée and better half. Except when it comes to baking, I’m definitely the better half for that.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Cal said faintly, taking the plate that Pen was offering and wondering when the other shoe was going to drop.

Of course she recognized Pen Robson. She’d had a crush on her as soon as she’d figured out that women were her thing. Pen had been out and loud and proud and everything that Cal had wanted to be in life but had been too young and intimidated to ask for.

What she didn’t recognize was the friendliness that was happening here. Pen was more than old enough to know why Cal had left town. So why was she pretending like everything was alright?

Lucy took a step toward her. “So,” she said. “Are we getting on that bike or not?” Cal looked from Pen to Ash and then to Lucy. Lucy’s smile widened. “Told you it’d be fine,” she whispered. “Now, about that bike ride?”

All Cal could do was nod and let Lucy lead her out of the bakery.