Page 56 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

“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 gohome 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.”

---