Page 70 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

Lucy looked at George again, raising an eyebrow.

“Alright, alright,” George said. “I get your point. Let me get those biscuits first.”

He got the biscuits, wrapped them up, and Moira paid. Lucy couldn’t wait for her to be out of the door before she spoke. “See? There are other possibilities!”

“Like what? Like a burglar snuck in while Moira was standing here waiting for her biscuits?”

“Oh no,” Moira said, overhearing them as she corralled her youngest back out of the shop again. “I’d have noticed a burglar. There definitely wasn’t one of those. Elspeth was in though.” She finally succeeded in getting all her children out of the shop.

“Elspeth?” Lucy asked, wondering what the school teacher could have wanted.

“I’ll call her,” George said immediately, looking slightly less pale. He pulled out his phone and then stood there for a few seconds looking at the screen.

“George?” Lucy said. She growled. “Fine, I’ll call her myself.” She was about to pull out her phone when George shook his head.

“No, don’t, listen…” He took a deep breath and his cheeks turned red. “I’m sorry Luce. I really am. I thought… Well, with her past it was hard not to think that…” Another deep breath. “Lucy, I really apologize. And I’ll go find Cal as soon as I’ve locked up here and apologize in person.”

“Wait, hold up, what’s happening?”

Silently, he handed her his phone. She read the message and read it again. “I thought Pen was out of touch during the honeymoon.”

“She is,” George said. “About business stuff, Ash insisted. But I guess Elspeth didn’t know that and texted her anyway.”

“And then came in to get the sixty pounds she was owed for the fundraiser while Cal was in the back,” groaned Lucy.

“She must have been in a hurry.” George looked faintly sick. “Lucy, there’s no way I could have known, I’m so sorry.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Lucy said. “If Pen was a little more financially responsible, that would help.”

“You know Pen,” George said.

She did know Pen. The Pen she had first met had been deep in debt. And whilst Ash had helped her get her finances straight, she still didn’t really have a head for money. Which might explain why she’d had the bakery and the bookshop sponsor a readathon for the school and had failed to set aside the money to donate.

Lucy pulled out a chair and sat down, her legs weak and her heart beating too fast. “Oh George, what am I going to do?”

He sat down opposite her. “We’ll both go. I’ll apologize profusely. And you’ll explain everything. Cal’s a good person, she’ll see that it was all a mistake.”

But Lucy knew Cal. She knew just how important being trusted was to her. It was part of the reason that she’d encouraged George to let her take over the shift in the bakery in the first place. To show Cal that she was trusted around town.

And now this.

She felt guilt weighing hard in her stomach. She should have spoken up sooner, should have defended Cal while Cal was here to be defended. But she’d been so shocked, so surprised, that she hadn’t opened her mouth. Now she regretted it deeply.

“She’ll understand, Luce,” George said gently.

“Will she?”

He sighed. “Listen, I know that you’ve been feeling lonely, I know that you’ve been looking at me and Billy and at Pen and Ash and that you’ve been thinking that you want what we have. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But you need to remember that you’re only seeing the surface of things.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you see us all at our best. You don’t see the work that goes into having a healthy relationship. That stuff happens behind closed doors.” He smiled at her. “I’m not an expert at all this either, Billy’s been the best teacher. But I have learned one thing. And that’s the number one rule to a healthy relationship is healthy communication. So if you’re going to do this right, then you need to go and talk to Cal.”

“She’s going to be so hurt and so angry.”

“It’s her right to be those things. But she’ll never understand if you don’t explain to her,” George said.

Lucy took a deep breath and then nodded. “You’re right.” She looked at her watch. “I’ll go now, I just hope that I can find her.”

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