The Damaged Hearts Bargain (Tetherington Hearts #2)

Chapter Fifteen

T he next morning, Mrs Gupta asked Lucy for a favor.

“He won’t eat properly otherwise,” she said as she handed Lucy a series of metal tins stacked one on top of the other.

“Are you sure?” Lucy asked. “Arjun’s a big boy you know.”

“I’m his mother, he’ll never be a big boy to me,” Kashvi Gupta said primly. “Now please, I beg of you, take him his lunch. I would do it myself but I need to sign for the deliveries when they come.”

“Alright,” said Lucy. It was no skin off her nose. Besides, she welcomed the chance for a quick walk in the sun.

And time to think about what Cal had told her.

She wasn’t exactly planning on doing anything. In fact, as far as she was concerned, the matter was finished and none of her business. Except… except she kept seeing the look on Cal’s face when she admitted her shame and couldn’t quite forget it.

“Arjun?” she said when she got into the station.

“Mmm?” The tall policeman looked up from his computer and then he groaned. “My mother’s got you running errands, hasn’t she?”

Lucy grinned. “It’s not a big deal. She needed to sign for the deliveries, so I came. We can’t have you not eating.”

“My mother’s words, not yours. And what she really means is that she couldn’t possibly have me eating oh, a nice ploughman’s from the pub, or a sandwich from the cafe, or anything that hasn’t been prepared by her own two hands,” grumbled Arjun.

“Hush, she loves you and this is how she expresses it.”

Arjun rubbed a hand over his growing belly and laughed. “I suppose I shouldn’t complain.”

“You shouldn’t,” Lucy said. “And while I’m here, I’ve got a question for you.”

“Shoot,” Arjun said, lifting the dhabba up over the police station counter with a clatter.

“Alright,” said Lucy putting her elbows on the counter and leaning in. “A while ago there was a presumed robbery at the women’s club. Some money went missing. About…” She did some mental calculating in her head. “Probably fifteen years or so ago. Maybe a bit more or less.”

“Hold on,” said Arjun, turning back to his computer. He typed rapidly. “Yeah, here it is. The theft was reported, over eight hundred pounds went missing.”

“Anything else interesting in there?”

He eyed her. “This is police business, you know.”

Lucy snorted. “It happened yonks ago and anyway, I just bought you your lunch and you adore me, remember?”

“You’re a pain in the backside,” Arjun said, but he was reading the file on his screen. He shook his head. “Not much more to say though. The report was withdrawn, the money was found apparently. This is long before my time.”

“Right.” Lucy sucked air in over her teeth. “Not much use that.”

“You looking for a mystery to solve?” Arjun asked. “Because if you are, you could start with who keeps peeing in the bus shelter by the pub.”

“Everyone keeps peeing in the bus shelter,” said Lucy. “That’s what happens when you put one next to a pub.”

“Fair point.” Arjun grinned at her. “Thanks for the lunch, and tell mum thanks too.”

“Will do,” Lucy said.

As she walked back toward the newsagents she had plenty to think about. What exactly had happened? Pen was sort of right. As much as she really did believe that Cal was innocent, it was tough to think of another explanation for what had happened to the Christmas money.

She was still pondering the problem when she got back and Mrs Gupta sent her out for her own lunch break.

“I just got back!”

“But that was an errand,” Kashvi said. “Not your break. Go on, off you go. I won’t have it said that we’re breaking the labor codes.”

Lucy rolled her eyes but turned around and walked straight back out and down the street to the bakery.

The bakery that turned out to be oddly empty.

“Where is everyone?” she asked George who was sitting with a cup of coffee and a book at one of the small tables.

He put his book down. “Just me. Pen went to the supplier to get eggs, Ash had to go to the bank. I figured it was good practice for next week when they’re gone on their honeymoon. So I’m running the joint now.”

“Mmm. Not terribly busy though, is it?” Lucy said, sitting down opposite him.

“Because it’s like half eleven. Things’ll pick up soon,” said George. He pouted at her. “Anyway, aren’t you supposed to be working? Or helping whats-her-name pack boxes.”

“Cal, and I’m on my lunch break, thank you very much.”

George sniffed but didn’t say anything.

“What?” asked Lucy.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing my eye, what do you want to say that you’re not saying, George?”

“Nothing,” he said again, but he wiggled in his chair.

Lucy sighed. “If you do not tell me what it is that you’re so gleeful about, I swear to god I’ll come into your room tonight and shave off your eyebrows while you’re asleep.”

George stuck his tongue out at her. “I’m not gleeful.”

“You look like you’re sitting on the secret of the century and it’s giving you hemorrhoids.”

He sighed. “Fine. But just so you know, this isn’t me gossiping. This is Doris Renton gossiping and me listening.”

Lucy had a horrible idea that she knew where this was going. “Go on then.”

“I know why your Cal is being treated like the plague.”

It was Lucy’s turn to sigh. “So do I.”

George looked disappointed. “You do? I thought I was the only one clever enough to run background checks on your potential girlfriends. Oh well, at least you know, I suppose. So, do you need me to send Billy over there to give her a talking to, tell her to stay away from you?”

“Billy is more likely to bake her scones,” Lucy said. “And no, thank you very much. Firstly, because I don’t need your approval for who I date, and secondly, because Cal herself told me about the money, and she says that she didn’t do it.”

“Obviously she says that,” said George. He frowned. “But… I mean, how could she not have done it? From what I heard, she got caught red-handed with the money in the club rooms.”

Lucy was struck with a thought. “You’re right, she was. But doesn’t something strike you as odd about that?”

“Er… like what?”

“Well, if she’d already stolen the money, then why was she breaking back into the club rooms with the money still in her pocket?”

George’s eyes opened a bit wider. “Huh, didn’t think of that. Maybe… maybe she was trying to put it back before she got caught?”

“Maybe, and if she was, at least that’s a point in her favor, isn’t it? But she says she didn’t steal it, she just found it.”

“Where?” asked George.

Lucy breathed out. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “She wouldn’t say.” And it had seemed like a subject that Cal really hadn’t wanted to talk about.

“Look,” said George. “I know that your dating life is really none of my business, and I swear to you that I’ll stand by any decisions you make. I don’t know this woman and, like Pen said, whatever happens, everyone deserves a second chance, so I’m not going to hold anything against her.”

“You just liked being the secret-keeper,” Lucy said, shaking her head. “I know you, George.”

“Then you’ll know that I’ve only got your best interests at heart. I can tell that you like her, Luce. But is all this a good idea?”

Lucy stole a piece of the croissant that was on the plate by George’s side. “No, probably not. Mostly because she’s going to leave sooner rather than later. But then, you regret all the shots you don’t take, right? I mean, isn’t it better to go for something and be disappointed than never to take the risk?”

“You barely know her,” said George. “And I hear what you’re saying about this whole money heist being a misunderstanding. But you don’t know her, you just like her. And sometimes, good people do bad things.”

Lucy leaned back a little in her chair. “I know that. I used to be homeless, remember? I grew up in care. No one is more aware of self-protection than I am. I don’t get any of the red flags from her though. I feel… myself with her. I don’t know, I can’t really explain.”

George nodded. “I understand. But maybe that’s a part of the problem too.”

“What?”

He sighed and looked at her, his eyes dark and kind. “You do like an underdog, Luce. Someone to fight for. Someone to mother. Maybe because you never had anyone do those things for you.”

“Bullshit,” Lucy said, getting up.

“Come on, I’m not criticizing you.” George got up too. “And I’m not saying that you shouldn’t see where this thing goes. I’m just saying that you need to be careful, aware of your own biases, that sort of thing.”

“Christ, I wish you’d stop listening to those self-help podcasts,” Lucy said. Even if maybe he was right, maybe she did need to be a bit more self-aware around Cal .

“And I wish you’d stop leaving hair in the shower drain, but we can’t all get what we want, can we?” He went behind the counter. “Now, you should probably have some lunch on your lunch break, what’ll it be?”

She surveyed the sandwiches and chose one while George made her a coffee.

She would be more careful, she decided, more circumspect, even if she did believe that Cal was telling the truth. No harm could come from looking after herself. And on that note, she vowed that she wouldn’t go to the house this afternoon.

She’d go home and get some much-needed painting done. Her work for the residency was already photographed and turned in, but she wanted to keep pushing herself, just in case she needed to make a case for herself.

The thought of not seeing Cal made her feel a little sad inside, but she’d have to get used to it. Cal wasn’t going to be around forever.