Page 55 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

Legs wobbly she turned around.

“I thought you were going to change your shirt?” Rosalee said.

Cal didn’t bother to reply, walking out of the pub and away from Rosalee as fast as she could without running. She was halfway down the street before she realized that she was still holding half a sandwich. She tossed it into the nearest rubbish bin and blinked away something that might have been a tear.

Why was it, she thought, that no one, no one thought that she needed protecting? Looking after? Was it because of how she looked? Was it some weird masculine energy that meant other women thought she didn’t need to be cared for? To be taken into account?

Either way, one thing was clear to her. She could depend onno one other than herself. She should have known better, should have known that she shouldn’t let someone get so close, so quickly.

Which was all very well, but when she turned the corner of her street she saw a figure waiting on the doorstep of the house and her heart involuntarily started to beat harder.

Lucy.

Lucy standing in the sunlight, her skin gleaming and her hair blowing in the breeze, her thin cotton dress pressed against her body in a way that made Cal’s insides clench with longing. Until she remembered.

“What are you doing here?” she said, striding up to the door.

Lucy frowned. “I thought… Didn’t we say that I’d come over and help this afternoon?”

Cal wanted to yell, wanted to shout and scream and cry and tell Lucy how unfair it was that she couldn’t be trusted, that she couldn’t be loved and protected the way she deserved, the way everyone deserved.

But she just couldn’t do it.

“I think you’ve done enough,” was all she said. “And I’ve been to your wedding, so we’re even now. No need for anything else.” She brushed past Lucy to put her key in the door.

“Oh,” Lucy said. “Oh, um, okay, I suppose. I…” She paused. “I just thought.” There was a shaky deep breath. “I don’t know what I thought. Just…”

“Just nothing,” Cal said. She cleared her throat. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got things to do.”

“Right,” Lucy said taking a step away from the house.

Cal couldn’t quite let it happen that way. “I hope you got the information you needed from Rosalee,” she said.

“What?” Lucy asked turning back.

“You heard me. I hope you got answers to your questions.”

Lucy blanched like the words had physically hit her. “Is that what this is about?” she said. Now she stepped forward again, came closer until Cal could smell her perfume. “Cal, is that why you’re angry with me? For asking questions?”

Cal blinked, the light strong and bright and hurting her eyes. “No,” she said. “I’m not upset about questions.”

“Then what is it?” asked Lucy, holding out her hands in a way that made Cal think she was going to touch her.

She blinked again and turned the key in the door. “Couldn’t you just have believed in me?” she said before pushing through the door and slamming it shut behind her.

The house was empty and echoing and silent until a hiccuping sob erupted from her throat.

Chapter Twenty Three

George put a mug of coffee in front of her and then sat down. “I’m so sorry, Luce,” he said. “Do you need me to go and… throw Lego over her bedroom floor so she has to walk on it barefoot every night?”

Lucy managed a small laugh. “No, no thanks. Thanks for the thought though.” She clasped her hands around the coffee mug, feeling the warmth trickle in through her fingers.

“I could maybe key her bike,” said George helpfully. “Or, I don’t know, throw a red sock into her washing machine so all her whites turn pink?”

Lucy snorted but shook her head. “It’s fine. Really. No revenge necessary. Zero retaliation.”

“Except it’s not fine, is it?” asked George gently, reaching out and taking her hand.

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