The Damaged Hearts Bargain (Tetherington Hearts #2)

Chapter Thirty Four

“O h, no,” George said, collapsing onto a chair and ignoring the three customers lining up at the counter.

“Oh, no, what?” asked Cal. “And don’t say something stupid like you’re protecting her. She’s an adult, so am I, and frankly, I’m here to apologize, not to hurt her any more.”

“That’s not at all what I was going to say,” said George, looking hurt. “What I was going to say—”

“Excuse me, sorry, but I’m really in quite a hurry,” said a woman that Cal didn’t recognize.

Without missing a beat, Cal stepped behind the bakery, wrapped up the loaf of bread the woman wanted and took her money. “What were you going to say?” she asked George, handing the woman her change and moving onto the next one.

“I should give you a job.”

“Not funny,” said Cal, putting two sandwiches into a bag and accepting a five pound note.

“I think I might have ruined your happy ending, is what I was going to say,” said George. “And then I’m going to have to resign from working at a romance bookstore because I’ve defied romance, I’ve canceled the happy ending, I’ve thwarted true love. ”

“Thank you very much,” Cal said to the teenager that wanted a croissant. She wiped her hands on her pants and came back around the counter, all out of customers. “Alright, stop having a break down. What exactly have you done? And I mean that in the literal sense, not the over-dramatic whatever it is that you’re doing kind of way.”

George blew out a breath. “We bought her a train ticket,” he said miserably.

“A train ticket.”

He nodded. “Billy and I thought it’d be good for her to get away and practice being in London for a weekend. We didn’t think… I didn’t think, that we’d be ruining her grand gesture moment. I mean, how was I to know that you’d finally come to your senses and decide that Lucy is the greatest woman on earth?”

Cal thought about this for a millisecond. “London. A train to London. What time did it leave? Where is she staying?” Because this wasn’t going to wait.

“Um, she’s staying at that art institute place and the train left at…” He checked his watch. “Actually, it’s going in ten minutes.”

Cal didn’t have time to say anything else, she just dashed out of the bakery and jumped into the van. “To the train station,” she said to Syd.

“Um, I don’t know where that is.”

“I’ll direct you, get a move on.”

???

It wasn’t that she was afraid exactly. She’d lived on the streets. She’d spent plenty of time alone. It was more that she was… anxious perhaps. Going all the way to London, being in a big city, and doing it all alone. She was definitely prepared to do it, she definitely wanted to do it, but equally she was just slightly terrified of doing it alone.

Of course, a week ago she wasn’t going to do it alone. Cal was going to come, was going to help, was going to support her, and that had seemed so right at the time. So perfect.

Lucy heaved the suitcase she’d borrowed from Billy up onto the rack above her head. The train was half empty .

She wasn’t blaming Cal. Not at all. She just wished things could have turned out differently. She wished that for them both. And now that she knew the truth, or as close as she was likely to get to the truth, she genuinely hoped that Cal would… what? Feel better? Live differently? Maybe she wished that Cal would see herself a little more like others did.

The mural had been a snap idea, something that she’d put little thought into but had known she needed to do. People needed to know that Cal wasn’t who they thought she was. She hoped that Cal would see it, that she might even go into the pub and talk to Rosalee about it.

Rosalee knew the truth and could fill her in on the details. And maybe, when Lucy came back, maybe Cal might still be around. Not that she was expecting a grand reunion. But she’d like to explain things to her.

As for right now, well, she was fancy free and on her way to London. The future awaited wide and open. Oh, and scary. That too.

She settled into her seat, the material scratchy against the back of her head.

This was just a weekend, she reminded herself. She’d be back. And even when she left for her residency, she’d still be back. Tetherington was home. And home meant a lot to her, even the word meant a lot. It made her joyous and warm inside and she wasn’t going to give that up now she’d found it.

She just hoped that one day she’d find a person to go with that home.

She checked her phone. Five minutes until the train left.

???

“Bloody, bloody, bloody traffic,” moaned Cal. “This is why I ride a bike.”

“So you can slide through side streets like a leather-clad James Bond?” Syd said .

“So that I can avoid the stupid traffic. We’re never going to make it.”

“We will, one more light and we’ll be on our way, just be patient.”

“I won’t have time to buy a ticket!”

“You’re getting on the train?” asked Syd.

“Dunno, maybe, I really have no idea.”

“Actually, you can buy a ticket on the train providing that certain circumstances are met. Paragraph 6.1 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel states that if there is no working ticket machine, a closed ticket window, if disabilities mean you are unable to buy a ticket, or if your chosen method of payment is not accepted then you can purchase a ticket from the conductor of your train or at your destination.”

Cal just stared at her.

“What? I like trains,” Syd said.

The light changed and Syd pressed the accelerator, zooming away from the traffic snarl and toward the sign for the station. A minute later, she was pulling up outside.

“I’ll deal with everything here,” she said, without waiting for Cal to say more. “Give me the house keys.”

Cal handed over her keys and leapt out of the van.

???

Lucy’s phone rang and she quickly pulled it out of her pocket.

“What?” she hissed into the receiver.

“It’s me,” caroled George. “And guess what?”

“George, I’m in the quiet carriage.”

“Wait, you’re on the train already?” he said. He sounded worried now.

“Yes, obviously. You bought the ticket. I’m in the quiet carriage and I’m not supposed to be on the phone. Well, I’m not once the train gets started anyway, which is going to happen any minute.”

“Oh, no,” said George. “Um, look out of the window. ”

“What? No! What do you need?”

“Just… just look out of the window,” George said. “Where’s your bag?”

“On the luggage rack, where it’s supposed to be.”

“Well, maybe take it down, have it ready, just in case.”

“Just in case of what?” she asked.

“Lucy, why do you have to ask so many questions?”

“George, why do you have to be such a drama queen?”

“I’m not a drama queen, I just have a flair for the dramatic.”

“Which most of us would call being a drama queen.” Lucy shuffled uncomfortably. People were starting to look at her.

“I swear to God, Lucy, look out of that window or I’ll… I’ll let Fabio sleep in your bed while you’re gone. You know how much he likes to pee on a pillow.”

Lucy gritted her teeth and looked out. She saw the platform, emptying out now as the train readied itself to leave. “What am I supposed to be looking for?”

“Just… just look,” George said, sounding like he was on the edge of his seat.

???

Cal didn’t remember the Tetherington station being that busy. She ducked around a crowd of people standing outside Costa Coffee and skidded to a halt in front of the departures screen. She couldn’t find the train she needed and she was rapidly running out of time.

Screw it. There were only two platforms. She ran out of the door and saw immediately that she was on the wrong side. This platform was empty. But a train was idling at the other side. Taking a deep breath and gritting her teeth, she started sprinting to the footbridge that would take her over the tracks.

?? ?

“I don’t see anything,” Lucy said.

George growled in frustration. “Get off the train.”

“Absolutely not.”

Another growl. “Lucy, do you love Cal?”

“Not talking about this, George.”

“Why do you love her?”

The question wasn’t what she was expecting. “Because she gives me hope,” she said quietly without thinking.

“Then for the love of God get off that damn train,” hissed George.

Lucy looked around, looked at the people looking at her. Then she stood up and pulled at the suitcase over her head.

???

Cal made a flying leap and slid through the doors just as they were closing automatically. She looked to her left and then to her right and going by instinct decided on the left. Then she started to run again.

She stumbled over people and coats and cases and bags. She pushed through the connecting carriage door, and then, finally, beautifully, relievingly, she saw the back of a dark head.

A dark head that was pulling a suitcase down and turning toward the exit of the carriage.

“Lucy!”

It came out far louder than she’d expected.

“Honestly, this is the quiet carriage,” tutted a woman to her right.

But Cal wasn’t listening. She wasn’t listening because Lucy was turning around. And finally, after a long, long time, Cal knew that everything was going to be alright.