The Damaged Hearts Bargain (Tetherington Hearts #2)

Chapter Twenty One

P erhaps, in a way, Cal was right. Perhaps she was broken, or at least not traditionally made. Maybe she didn’t know what love and relationships were supposed to look like. After all, she didn’t exactly have much experience.

Perhaps she could do this. Short-term. Just for fun. Grab life by the horns and take what she wanted.

Lucy sighed and put her breakfast dishes in the sink. The house was quiet. Billy was still doing his rounds and George had disappeared off early, anxious to get started running his little fiefdom on the high street. With Pen and Ash now officially on honeymoon, George was firmly in charge. She’d promised that she’d drop by at some point this morning to check up on him.

By rights she should be happy. No, she was happy. Every time she closed her eyes she could summon up the feeling of Cal next to her, under her, on top of her, and the memories thrilled her to pieces.

Cal might not have been her ideal woman when she was planning her dating profile, but Lucy wasn’t foolish enough to believe that she hadn’t fallen for her and fallen fast.

She was gentle and kind and for the first time in a very, very long time, Lucy felt safe with someone. And Cal needed someone to take care of her .

She’d agreed to all this short term business, but feelings were growing here and she was becoming less sure by the minute that she wanted Cal to walk away. But Cal could never stay, not here.

Not without some drastic changes.

She looked out of the window to the beach where people were walking and dogs were running and came to a decision.

Cal needed help and she was going to give it, in one way or another. She’d clear Cal’s name and then, well, then maybe Cal would see that things were more serious than she’d imagined. Maybe. And if she didn’t, well, at least she might be able to come to town to visit without being lynched.

She tapped her fingers on the kitchen counter, but in the end there was only one person she could think of to talk to about all of this now that Pen was flying away to adopt a baby and surprise them all.

“WE’RE NOT OPEN,” Rosalee said, not even looking up as she arranged glasses behind the bar.

“Door wasn’t locked,” said Lucy.

Rosalee looked up and grinned. “Oh, it’s you. Fancy a coffee?”

“Why not?” Lucy smiled back. She and Rosalee had always gotten along well, despite the slight age difference.

While the machine warmed up, they talked about the wedding, how Mikey Hadley had spewn up all over the car park and Doris Renton had belied her age and danced the night away with the rest of them. Until Rosalee set a cup down in front of Lucy.

“Now, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?” she asked, eyes narrowing as she watched Lucy.

“Cal,” Lucy said honestly.

Rosalee snorted. “I might have thought as much. What about her then?”

Lucy took a deep breath. “Listen, I wasn’t around when… when what happened happened. I just… I don’t have a good feeling about it. It doesn’t seem right to me. You were there, what do you think about it all?”

Rosalee leaned on the bar. “At the time I was as gung-ho as everyone else,” she said. She looked down and sniffed. “Still, now that she’s back and having had some time to think about things, I suppose there are some things that don’t quite stand up.”

“Like why, if she’d stolen the money, was she in the process of putting it back?” Lucy said. “I mean, surely you’d flee from the scene of the crime as soon as possible.”

“Maybe she’d had a change of heart,” Rosalee said. “Decided she didn’t want to steal it after all. That’s something in her favor, I suppose.”

“Maybe she didn’t steal it in the first place,” Lucy said, feeling a warmth in her stomach. She knew Cal wasn’t a thief, knew it with a certainty that she shouldn’t have but did.

“Listen, you can’t know everything about a person,” Rosalee told her, standing up straighter now. “You didn’t know Cal before, though I’m not denying she’s changed now that she’s back. And I know you’ve got the hots for her, but that doesn’t mean you should be blind to her failures.”

“I thought you said that there were things that didn’t stand up?” Lucy asked, picking up her coffee and sipping at it.

“Aye, I did. But there are some things that do. I can’t speak for Cal’s motivations, can’t speak for what actually happened that night. But I do know two things. First, that Doris Renton caught her red-handed with that money in her possession having broken into the club room.”

“And what’s the second?” Lucy asked, heart beating harder.

“That that cash-box showed not a sign of being tampered with. Not a scratch. Whoever took the money didn’t break into it, they had a key and there were only two of those.”

A shiver went down Lucy’s back. “Right, Cal’s mum must have had one since she was the treasurer. What about the second one?” This could be it. Another suspect.

Rosalee raised an eyebrow. “Reverend Whitaker.”

And Lucy’s heart sank again. The vicar. Of course. He was still around, white haired and charming and absolutely beyond doubt. But then, so was Cal, wasn’t she?

Rosalee shook her head. “I know that’s not what you wanted to hear.” She put her coffee cup down. “Hold on a minute.”

She disappeared into the back then came back with Doris Renton, who had obviously been cleaning, her apron still on and her hands in yellow gloves.

“Right, young Lucy here’s worried about Callan Roberts. Doing a little private investigation work,” Rosalee said. “Any doubts about what you saw that night?”

Doris shook her head. “Not a one. The girl was there plain as the nose on your face. And the money was in her hand, we counted it and everything. There’s not a doubt. You’d do better steering clear of that one, you would.”

Rosalee rolled her eyes behind Doris’s back at Lucy. “Right, thank you Doris, back to hoovering if you don’t mind.” Doris grumbled her way out and Rosalee turned back to Lucy. “Not wanting to believe something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” she said. “But I’ll grant you this, Cal’s changed. She’s a better person now than when she left. And I suppose you have to give her her due for that. Though she could have done more to look after her mum.”

Lucy nodded and finished up her coffee. “Thanks, Rosalee,” she said, even though she didn’t exactly get what she was looking for.

Back out in the sunshine she wondered where to go now, what to do. Whatever Rosalee said, whatever Doris had seen, she just couldn’t believe that Cal was lying to her, or had lied to her. She was too broken for that, too changed by what had happened to her. The false accusation had ruined her life and Lucy didn’t think anyone could make that up.

She wandered her way over to the bakery where she found George slicing up sandwiches in the kitchen.

“Everything going alright, oh King of the Bookshop-cum-café?” she asked.

“Perfectly fine,” said George. “Though, to be honest, it’s a bit quiet without Pen and Ash around. ”

“You’ve got Fabio to keep you company,” Lucy said as the fat gray cat strolled through the kitchen.

“He doesn’t talk much,” George said. “And aren’t you supposed to be with your lady-love packing boxes?”

“For someone lacking in company, you’re anxious to get rid of me,” Lucy said, pulling herself up so that she was sitting on the counter by the sink. “I told Cal I’d be there this afternoon. You might need my help this morning.”

“I’m doing just fine,” George said, knife sharp in his hand. “But you look like you’ve got things on your mind. Want to talk about them?”

Lucy bit her lip and then nodded. She could use someone else to bounce ideas off. In short order, she told George everything she’d learned.

When she was done, he sighed and shook his head. “Sounds pretty clear cut to me,” he said.

“Except it’s not, except I believe Cal absolutely and completely.”

He stood up so that they were eye to eye. “Why?”

“What?”

“Why?” he asked again. “Why do you believe her?”

Lucy blew out a breath and then shrugged. “I… I don’t really know. I just know that I do. I know that… I know we’ve only just met but I feel like we’ve known each other forever. There’s something about her, George. Something sad and broken but proud and stubborn all at the same time. And I don’t think she’s lying.”

“Alright, strike that,” he said. “Do you think she’s telling you everything then?”

Lucy closed her eyes and then shook her head. No. She didn’t think Cal was telling her everything.

“Solving a mystery without all the info is going to be hard,” George said gently. “Maybe you need to go talk to Cal about this.”

She opened her eyes. “All this for someone who’s going to be leaving in the not too distant future.”

“You asked her then?” George said, going back to his sandwich slicing.

“Asked her what?” said Lucy, jumping down from the counter.

“To go to London with you,” George said. “I was wondering when you would. I mean, she’s not happy here for obvious reasons, so I figured you’d get round to it eventually.”

But Lucy wasn’t listening anymore. She was already thinking about London. Thinking about the two of them going together. Thinking about spending more time together until Cal eventually realized that long term wasn’t so bad, until…

“Earth to Lucy,” George called out.

Until maybe they could build something together. If Cal wanted. If Lucy wanted. And Lucy was becoming more and more sure that she did want.

“Lucy!”

“What?” She snapped to attention.

“If you’re going to help, take these to the front, will you,” he said, pointing at the tray of finished sandwiches.

She could ask, she thought as she picked up the tray. Cal might say no. But she could ask. What was the harm in that?