Page 62 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

“Which means she just needs a way to prove that she is trustworthy again, right?” Lucy pressed. “Come on, George. You know that you like her really.”

“I don’t know her. Neither do you,” he protested.

“But I do,” Lucy said. She took a deep breath. “George, I feel like I’ve known her all my life. I just don’t know everything about her. Does that make sense?”

He closed his eyes. “I suppose,” he groaned. “I mean, it’s how I feel about Billy.” He opened his eyes again. “Except in his case I have actually known him all my life.”

“Known who all their lives?” Cal said as she came into the bakery.

“Billy,” Lucy supplied, grinning at Cal and jumping up to kiss her cheek. “And George has a favor to ask you, don’t you?”

“Do I?” he said giving her a challenging look.

“Fine, I’ll ask,” said Lucy. Because this was a good idea. This would prove to Cal that she was trusted, that Lucy trusted her and George too, and that the whole town would come to trust her at some point.

And alright, that might not be enough to make Cal stick around forever, but it might be enough to make her feel better about herself, to make her feel more deserving of love.

“Go on then,” Cal said. “What’s the favor?” She was carrying a large wicker basket with a blanket thrown over it and she switched it from her right to her left hand.

George gave Lucy a look but then, to his credit, he turned to Cal with a smile. “I’m in a bit of a bind. I’m expecting a book delivery for the bookshop on Friday and I need to be there. Which means I could really use someone to work the bakery. It’s just for a couple of hours, and I’ll be right next door if you need anything at all.”

Cal blinked and then a slow smile spread across her face. Yes, Lucy thought, this was it, this was what she needed. “I’d be happy to help,” Cal said.

“I’ll walk you through the cash register and everything.”

“I’m a bartender, I’ve got plenty of experience,” said Cal. “Just let me know what time you want me and I’ll be here. Happy to help.”

“Great,” said George. “That’s a weight off my mind.” He was smiling, but when Cal leaned down to put her basket on the ground he glared at Lucy.

Lucy felt a slight twinge of guilt. She’d forced him into this, but it’d work out in the end, she was sure of it. So she beamed at him and blew him a kiss before sneaking her arm through Cal’s. “So, is it finally time for my surprise then?”

Cal hugged her close and Lucy could smell the scent of her, like wind and leaves and a shudder of warmth went through her. Cal made her feel safe and that feeling was so tempting, so beautiful,that she wondered how she would ever let it go again.

CAL GRUNTED AS she put the last pile of small stones on the corner of the blanket.

“Are you sure I can’t help?” Lucy asked. She felt faintly ridiculous lying back on the beach and doing nothing.

“Absolutely not,” Cal said. “This is a date for you, and you’re going to be treated like a queen. So you just sit there and let me take care of you.”

“You know, I could get used to this,” Lucy said as Cal opened the large basket and began taking containers out. “What’s all this?”

“This is smoked salmon,” Cal said, holding up a package. “And there are blinis around here somewhere. There’s definitely some sour cream, because you can’t have blinis without sour cream. Oh, and some lemons too.”

“Blinis and sour cream and salmon?” asked Lucy. “You sound like you really know what you’re doing here.”

Cal shrugged. “Spent a little time in Ukraine. You know, before… before stuff went down there.”

Lucy settled in, rolling onto the blanket. “Where else have you been?” she asked.

Cal laughed. “Where haven’t I been is probably a better question.” She pulled out more packages. This time Lucy could identify strawberries and finger sandwiches. “I get around. Bartenders are pretty much always in demand and I’ve got the bike, so it’s pretty easy.”

“Sounds exciting,” Lucy said. She sniffed, inhaling the salt air. “And you didn’t ever feel like settling down?”

“Never had reason to,” said Cal, sitting cross-legged on the blanket. “I mean, there was a lot to see out there.”

“But now you’ve seen a lot of it,” countered Lucy. “Or more than I have at any rate.”

Cal grinned. “I have to admit that I wouldn’t mind showingyou Paris. Or Berlin. Or Amsterdam.”

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