The Damaged Hearts Bargain (Tetherington Hearts #2)

Chapter Thirty Five

“I s this seat taken?”

“Very funny,” Lucy said. “What are you doing here?”

“Listen, this train is about to leave any second now and I’ve made enough mistakes without falling on my bum in the middle of the aisle and making myself a laughing stock.” Cal’s eyes glimmered. “So, any chance that I could sit down?”

Lucy sat down and moved over so Cal could slide into the seat next to her.

“I saw the mural that you painted at the pub,” Cal said.

“Good, I was hoping that you would. I did some digging and—”

“No, hold on,” Cal said. “Let me go first. Let me do this. I appreciate what you did, but my point in being here is, well, it’s that that stuff shouldn’t matter. So let me say my piece first, if that’s okay?”

Lucy bit her lip but nodded. All stress was gone. She knew what was happening here and she knew that everything was going to be fine. It might take a minute to work out the kinks, but having Cal sitting beside her just felt right.

“Alright, where do I start?” Cal took her hand. “I screwed up. I’m an idiot and I let my own insecurities get in the way of something that I think frightened me a bit. ”

“I frighten you?”

“Immeasurably,” Cal smiled. “See, I go through life thinking that I’m on my own, thinking that I’m the only person that I can count on. And it’s… fine. Then I meet someone like you and realize that there are people I can count on and then it gets scary. Scary because I’ve been let down before and because that hurts.”

“It does,” Lucy agreed. “So what changed?”

“Me,” Cal said as the train pulled away from the station. “I changed. I saw what you did. I saw that you were there for me even when I wasn’t there for you. I was so afraid that all you were looking for was a wife. But in the end, you just went on supporting me and believing me even when I wasn’t yours to support or believe in.”

“You’re not wrong,” Lucy said with a sigh. “I was looking for a relationship. At the beginning I just didn’t want to be alone. You showed up at the right time and I sort of… set my sights on you, I suppose. But it wasn’t just because you were there. I truly felt, I truly feel a connection to you.”

The train started to speed up.

“We haven’t known each other for long. And maybe you’re right, maybe I’m broken,” Lucy continued. “Maybe I don’t have a good template for what a relationship is supposed to look like and I’m just fumbling around in the dark.”

“Or maybe not,” Cal said. “Because I’ve been thinking about this and it works both ways, doesn’t it?”

“What does?” Lucy asked, confused but still happy because Cal’s hand was still in hers.

“Well, if you grow up with shitty parents or bad relationship role models or whatever you might turn out to be terrible at relationships yourself because you’ve never been shown how they work properly. But on the other hand, maybe you’ll be amazing at them because you’ve been shown what terrible relationships look like and you know what to avoid.”

Lucy laughed. “That’s one way of looking at it.”

“And I sort of figure that there’s really only one way of finding out,” Cal said. She squeezed Lucy’s hand. “Give it a try and see how things go.”

Lucy nodded. “Seems like the best way to me.”

Cal shuffled in closer until their shoulders were touching. “Lucy Evans, you are something amazing. You’re funny and smart and oh, so pretty. But you’re kind and protective and generous as well. You make me feel… safe. That’s the only word for it. Like I can do anything just because you’re there with me. But for the life of me, I don’t think I’ll ever understand what you see in me.”

They were quiet for a long few seconds. Then Lucy blinked back her tears and took a breath. “You give me hope,” she said quite simply. “Hope that I’m not lost, that I’m not broken, hope that no matter where or what I come from that I can end up in a good place with good people.”

“Oh, Lucy.”

Lucy felt Cal’s hand slide under her chin and turned her head and then Cal’s deep blue eyes were looking into hers, Cal’s lips were coming closer, Cal’s breath was warm on her cheeks.

“Tickets, please,” the conductor said.

“THIS IS, VERY distinctly, your fault,” Lucy pointed out as they sat on the bench outside the station in the hot sun.

“I swear to you, Syd told me that I could buy a ticket on the train,” Cal said.

“Yeah, well, that conductor didn’t seem amenable.”

“At least we avoided the hundred pound fine,” pointed out Cal.

“At least Billy’s finished work and can come and pick us up,” pointed out Lucy.

Cal threaded her fingers through Lucy’s. “This isn’t really the romantic moment that I imagined.”

“You thought a train would be more romantic?”

“It worked in old films, didn’t it? What was that one on a train?”

“Strangers on a Train? That’s the one where they kill people,” Lucy said .

“No, not that one. Never mind. Just… it’s not quite what I imagined.”

“That’s true. You haven’t even kissed me yet,” said Lucy.

“That’s something that I can probably take care of now,” Cal said, leaning in.

A car horn beeped. “It’s a double yellow line,” Billy shouted out of the window. “Can we leave the kissy stuff for later?”

“I’m not sure there’s ever going to be any kissy stuff,” Lucy lamented as Cal picked up her suitcase and the two of them walked toward Billy’s car.

SUN SHONE brIGHT through the bakery window and George put two coffees down on the table. “I knew this would work out,” he said smugly.

“You did not,” said Lucy.

“Did so,” George said. But before he could say more, the bookshop bell rang. “I’ll be right back.”

“He won’t be,” Lucy told Cal. “He has to talk for half an hour with any customer. He just can’t help himself. Town gossip that he is.”

“He’s kind,” said Cal.

“He’s a gossip,” repeated Lucy. “Which reminds me. I was talking with Deb, as well as with Rosalee and a few other people. And I think I know what happened all those years ago, if you want to hear it.”

“I’m not sure I do,” Cal said. “I mean, I need to get over it, don’t I?”

“You should hear it,” Lucy said. “Because I don’t think what went down happened exactly the way you think it did.”

After a moment, Cal nodded and Lucy started to tell her what she was sure had happened. How both she and Deb suspected that Cal’s mum’s dementia had started much earlier than anyone had suspected.

“I found the money in the jade box,” Cal said, when Lucy was done. “I knew immediately what it had to be. And I didn’t have an explanation for it, I just didn’t want mum to get in trouble. So I went to put it back. It would have been fine if Doris hadn’t caught me.”

“No, it would have been fine if your mum had stood up for you in the aftermath, admitted what she’d done,” Lucy said gently. “That must have hurt so badly. But I honestly don’t think she knew what had happened. Deb says there’s a fair chance she didn’t know what she’d done, or that she remembered things differently.”

“Maybe,” Cal said.

“Think about it,” said Lucy. “Just like things didn’t add up with the gossip version of what happened, like how it never made sense that you got caught in the room with the money after it had already been stolen. The same holds true for your mum. Even you said that she was a great mum, that she was supportive of you. So the story that you’ve been telling yourself, that she was covering up her own crimes, that doesn’t make sense either, does it?”

“No,” Cal said. “No.” Tears were threatening. “It doesn’t make sense. But then in your version of the story I end up deserting someone ill who needed me.”

Lucy sighed. “We’re none of us perfect, Cal. We’ve all got our baggage. And if we’re going to do this, we need to be open about that and honest.”

Cal blinked hard, chasing the tears away. “You know, I think I might be able to handle that. For someone like you.”

“See, that’s the weird thing,” Lucy said. “You think you’re so lucky having me, but I feel like the lucky one.”

“That’s crazy,” laughed Cal, scooting forward in her chair so that she could turn Lucy’s face to hers.

“Or maybe that’s the way it always is,” Lucy said. “Who am I to know? Maybe the whole point of love is that you both feel like the lucky one.”

“Love,” Cal said, tasting the word. “I like that.”

“Hey, I didn’t say it yet. Even I know it’s soon for that.”

Cal nodded. “Alright, I can wait at least another three days before I say it.” She leaned in, began to brush Lucy’s lips with her own.

And the bakery door opened.

“We’re home!” Pen limped in on crutches and Lucy bounced out of her seat.

“Oh my God, what happened to you?” she said, pulling out a chair and helping Pen into it. Ash followed, both her eyes blackened and a bandage across her nose. “Were you in an accident?”

“The doctors gave us permission to fly back early,” Ash said, practically falling into a chair of her own.

Lucy looked around, peering around the open door. “But where is it?”

“Where’s what?” Pen said. “I’m gasping for a cup of tea.”

“The baby?” asked Lucy.

“You’re back!” cried George, coming in from the bookshop. “Jesus, what happened to the pair of you?”

“It might be time to spill our secret,” Ash said.

“Wait, I need to know more about this baby,” said Pen.

“The baby, the one you’re adopting,” Lucy said, still looking around as though a child might appear out of thin air.

“Good lord, we’re not adopting a baby,” chuckled Pen. “I’ve got enough to handle with George and you.”

“And I’m too old to be crawling around on my hands and knees,” Ash said.

“Um, I think you’d better tell us what’s been going on with this mysterious honeymoon,” George said, stepping around the counter to start making tea. “Before Luce starts arranging a christening or something.”

“I should have thought it was obvious,” Pen said, looking down at the bandaging around her leg. “We went to South America for a bit of tourism, obviously. But we also went for some top grade medical care. I’ve been waiting two years to get my knee operation, and over there I could get it done fast, cheap and well. And Ash has always been self-conscious about that bump on her nose. ”

“What bump?” asked Lucy.

“That’s what I said,” said Pen.

“And it’s what I’ll be saying from now on since it’s now non-existent,” put in Ash.

Lucy shook her head. “I can’t believe how many conclusions I’ve jumped to,” she said. “I really should have known better. I blame George and all his gossip. It must be contagious.”

Pen turned to smile at Cal. “We can be a bit overwhelming,” she said. “Sorry about that. Feel free to join in though, don’t feel like you have to be quiet and polite.” She smiled more widely. “And I’m glad to see that you’ve stuck around.”

Cal smiled back. “For now.”

“You’re leaving?” George said, looking horrified.

Cal cleared her throat. “I’m, um, I’m going wherever… wherever my girlfriend is going.”

Everyone was very, very quiet for a moment. Then Pen started to clap and George hugged Lucy and all in all, with tea and cake and tales of travel it was a good hour before Lucy and Cal could escape out into the bright afternoon.

“They’re all crazy,” Lucy said.

“They’re lovely, and they love you,” said Cal. “It must be nice to be surrounded by people like that.”

“It is.” Lucy stopped and turned to Cal. “But it’s nicer to be with you. And we’ll do whatever we need to do to make both of us comfortable. Including potentially leaving here.”

“This is your home,” said Cal.

“I’m starting to realize that home is a person, not a place.”

Cal wrapped her arms around Lucy’s waist. “This is all new, for both of us, I think.”

“And we’ll have time to figure it all out.”

“We will,” Cal agreed, pulling Lucy in closer. “We’ll be in London for a few months, for a start.” She looked around conspicuously.

“What are you looking for?” Lucy asked.

“I was just wondering if there are any car horns or train conductors or honeymooning friends or anyone else that might be thinking about interrupting what I’d really like to do next,” Cal said.

“Ah,” said Lucy. “Well, if you want to do some of that kissy stuff, then perhaps we should go back to your house.”

“Oh no,” Cal said. “Absolutely not.”

Lucy pulled back a little, looking confused.

“I can’t wait that long,” Cal said, finally pulling Lucy in and kissing her.

The kiss lasted for minutes, slow and deep as the hot sun shone down, until Lucy was seeing stars behind her eyes, and Cal was sated enough that she could pull back and take Lucy’s hand and walk her all the way back to her house.