The Damaged Hearts Bargain (Tetherington Hearts #2)

Chapter Twenty Three

G eorge put a mug of coffee in front of her and then sat down. “I’m so sorry, Luce,” he said. “Do you need me to go and… throw Lego over her bedroom floor so she has to walk on it barefoot every night?”

Lucy managed a small laugh. “No, no thanks. Thanks for the thought though.” She clasped her hands around the coffee mug, feeling the warmth trickle in through her fingers.

“I could maybe key her bike,” said George helpfully. “Or, I don’t know, throw a red sock into her washing machine so all her whites turn pink?”

Lucy snorted but shook her head. “It’s fine. Really. No revenge necessary. Zero retaliation.”

“Except it’s not fine, is it?” asked George gently, reaching out and taking her hand.

“What’s not fine?” said Billy, marching into the cafe and collapsing into a chair. “It’s hotter than two rats screwing in a wool sock out there.”

“What are you doing here?” George asked.

“I’m finished with my rounds and foolishly, I thought I might offer my husband a little moral support and maybe even the opportunity to go for a quick wee without leaving two shops unattended. But if you don’t want me, I’m just as happy to go home and fill the bath with ice so I can sit in it for the rest of the afternoon.”

“No need to be snippy,” said George, grinning at him. “Your presence is very much appreciated. Especially at this most trying of times.”

“Trying times?” asked Billy, looking from Lucy to George.

“Lucy and Cal have had an argument,” George supplied.

“Not even,” said Lucy. “It was more like her just being angry with me and me standing there with my mouth flapping about unable to say a word.”

Billy smiled at her. “You sound like me when George gets on one of his rants.”

“I do not rant,” George said.

“You do,” said Billy, going on to supply examples.

Something about being with them was comforting. Seeing the way their relationship worked, seeing how they loved each other and respected each other even when they disagreed about something.

It was what she needed, what she was looking for. Because maybe Cal was right in that she didn’t know what a traditional family looked like. But she knew what a non-traditional one was. She’d seen Pen and Ash, and Billy and George, and she knew that a good relationship involved good communication.

Which was why Cal shutting the door on her had stung so much. It wasn’t so much that she was angry, it was that she wasn’t willing to put the time in to discuss what exactly was wrong.

“Why don’t you tell uncle Billy all about it?” asked Billy. “While uncle George goes and makes his hard-working husband a coffee and a sandwich.”

“Fine,” George harrumphed. “I’ve already heard the story anyway. And you’re getting an anchovy and cheese sandwich.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Billy said, growling at George.

“Fine, fine,” said George, getting up from the table.

“Alright, now tell me exactly what happened,” Billy said.

So Lucy did .

When she was done, Billy sighed and shook his head.

“I wasn’t disbelieving her,” said Lucy. “I was just asking around, seeing if I could get a better idea of what happened, that’s all. There was nothing in there that meant I didn’t believe exactly what she told me. Quite the opposite in fact.”

“Right,” said Billy. “But you need to be telling her that, not me.”

“I would if she hadn’t slammed the door in my face!” protested Lucy.

Billy sat back in his chair and crossed his legs at the ankles. “You’ve obviously touched a sore point,” he said. “Something that really upsets Cal. And at a guess, there’s really only two reasons for that. Firstly, that she did steal the money and she’s upset that you didn’t believe her lies.”

“No,” Lucy said, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. “No, she didn’t do this.”

“I’m tempted to believe you,” agreed Billy. “Her reaction seems too raw for that, too emotional. So the second option is that she really didn’t do it, and yet everyone in her life has always doubted her. Including, I assume her mother, which is why she left town in the first place.”

Lucy digested that for a second. She might not have grown up with a mother, but she could certainly understand the betrayal that came from someone who was supposed to be your security, your hope, your lifeline not believing you, not giving you worth.

“If she really likes you,” Billy said. “Then you going around asking questions behind her back might just seem like the ultimate betrayal. It makes you just like everyone else.”

“Everyone else that’s already deserted her and called her a thief,” Lucy said quietly. Her heart crumbled a little.

“Right,” said Billy. “Especially there in that place, the place where she was supposed to be safe, her mother’s house.”

“Shit,” said Lucy miserably. “She must feel awful.”

Billy nodded. “Only one thing you can do about that.”

“Yeah, right.” She sighed, drank her coffee and stood up. “Alright, I’m off to talk to Cal. I’ll see you at home later.”

“We’ll have a drink ready,” George promised, coming back to the table with a simple ham sandwich. “Either to drown your sorrows or celebrate your success.”

“Let’s hope it’s the latter,” Lucy said, not at all sure that it would be.

She needed to talk to Cal, needed to explain herself, needed to let her know that she believed her. But she wasn’t at all sure that Cal was going to talk to her. Getting her to even open the front door was going to be the first hurdle.

THE BLUE DOOR was solidly closed. Lucy hesitated for a second before knocking on it. Once, twice, no answer. The third time, still no answer.

Crap. Maybe Cal had left already. Maybe she’d written the day off and gone back to the pub. No, that would mean seeing Rosalee and she was probably the last person that Cal wanted to see just now. Gone for a ride maybe.

Lucy rubbed her face.

This wasn’t her fault, she knew that. But she could also see why Cal would feel hurt, and the thought of soft, squishy, lovely Cal being hurt was enough to make her want to cry.

What was she supposed to do now?

She supposed she’d better go back to the cafe and wait until later. She wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of waiting.

Almost as an afterthought, she tried the door handle.

The door opened.

Of course it did. No one in Tetherington locked their doors during the day. Cal had grown up here, she knew that. Pure force of habit had her leaving the door open. Lucy stepped inside the cool hallway and closed the front door.

“Cal?” she said.

“Go away,” came a voice from the living room.

“Go away? Seriously? You sound like you’re five,” Lucy said, trying to be funny and failing.

“Just… go away.”

Lucy stepped further into the hall, until she was in the living room door, until she could see Cal sitting on the couch staring at her furiously. Except her eyes were red and the tip of her nose was red and Lucy knew that she’d been crying.

And every word that she’d planned flew out of her head all at once.

With two steps she was inside, then she was on the couch, pulling a now sobbing Cal into her arms and holding her tight, rubbing her hand across spiky hair, feeling Cal’s body shudder as she cried.

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” she murmured.

“It’s not,” Cal said, pulling away and heaving in a deep breath to calm herself. “It’s not alright. I lost my temper and I shouldn’t have.”

“You were hurt and defensive,” said Lucy. “Everyone has the right to defend themselves, even if you really had nothing to defend yourself against.”

Cal blinked and swallowed, shaking her head slightly. “I can’t do it, Lucy. I can’t have another person lack faith in me. It was hard enough…” She trailed off.

“It was hard enough when your own mother didn’t believe you?” Lucy asked, sure that she and Billy had guessed correctly.

“I thought she’d stand up for me,” Cal said, looking down at the ground. “I thought when everyone accused me, she would stand up and tell them that I hadn’t done it.”

“And she didn’t.” Lucy touched her arm.

“Everyone was there, or it felt like it anyway. The vicar, Doris Renton, bunches of townspeople. And my mum. They kept talking and talking. And I was sure that at any moment mum was going to stand up and say something. I kept waiting for it to happen, kept telling myself that this wasn’t so bad, that I just had to wait it out. But she didn’t, Lucy. She never said a word.”

“That must have been very hurtful,” Lucy said quietly. She took Cal’s hand. “But I’m not your mother, Cal. I’m me. I’m me and I’ve believed you from the very beginning. I told you that I’d ask you once and then that would be it, and it has been.”

“So why were you talking to everyone? Why were you asking questions?”

“Because I watched too much Poirot and Miss Marple growing up,” Lucy said with a quiet laugh. “Because I thought maybe I could solve the mystery and clear your name and then you’d never have to worry about it again. Then…” She paused.

“Then what?” asked Cal, blue eyes shining.

“Then maybe you wouldn’t have to go away so fast. Or at least you could come back and visit or something.”

“I see.”

“I know, it’s not really what we agreed. But I like you, Cal.”

Cal smiled. “I like you too. But, you know, I have this rule. No more than six weeks. For anyone.”

The words both hurt and gave her hope. Lucy grinned. “Well, I’ve had nowhere near six weeks, have I?”

“That’s true, I suppose,” Cal said, smiling right back.

“And I’m going to London, so you could always go there. I mean, after you’re done here. Not just for me or anything.”

“There’s plenty of bar jobs in London,” Cal agreed.

Lucy squeezed her hand. “Would meeting you again in London give me another six weeks?”

Cal tilted her head to one side and narrowed her eyes. “You know, it just might. I mean, that’s a whole new place.”

“Cal, I really, really like you. I really feel like we’re making something here. I don’t want to scare you, and I’m not asking for any commitment. I’m just asking that we see where this goes. For six weeks. Or twelve. Whatever. What happens after that is… the future and not important right now.”

Cal looked at her for a long moment, then finally nodded. “Alright,” she said. “You’re right. And, um, just for info, I like you too.”

“Careful,” Lucy said, looping her arms around Cal’s neck and pulling her in. “Or I might start to take you seriously.”

For a few seconds there was no sound at all. Then, very, very quietly, Lucy heard Cal whisper into her neck. “Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.”