Page 82 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

Cal slammed the back doors of the van closed. “I thought you had a pub to get back to? If we don’t start taking this rubbish now, we’ll never be done in time.”

“Fine, fine,” said Syd. “But we’d better stop off and get that vacuum cleaner otherwise we’ll forget.”

“The pub’s on the way out of town anyway,” Cal said, and climbed into the van.

CAL LEFT SYD in the van and slid in through the back door of the pub. She skulked around the corner until she saw Rosalee come close enough to the end of the bar that she could hiss ahello at her.

“Jesus, you about scared me out of my wits,” Rosalee said. “You’ve seen it then, I assume?”

“Seen what?” asked Cal. “I just came in to see if I could borrow a vacuum.” She hesitated. “Not to steal or anything, obviously. Just because I need to run one around the house before the estate agent drops in tomorrow.”

Rosalee gave her a funny look. “Yes, of course, you know where it is, just make sure it’s back before we need it in the morning. You haven’t seen it then?”

“Seen what?” Cal asked again, impatient to get going.

“Listen,” Rosalee said. She looked over at the bar, but it was quiet, so she stepped closer to Cal. “I need to apologize.”

“For?” Cal was really not at all sure where this was going or what was happening.

“Just know that I’m truly sorry. I’ve got no excuses, no justifications. I’m sorry and you don’t have to forgive me. And know that I’ll tell everyone that comes into this pub what really happened, as soon as you give me your permission to talk about it.”

“Talk about what?” asked Cal. She was getting more confused by the minute.

Rosalee sighed. “I think you’d better go look outside.”

“I just came from outside, I’ve got a van in the car park.”

“Go out the front door and turn right, just so that you can see that big wall that faces the road.”

“Why?” Call asked.

“Just do as you’re told for once,” Rosalee said. “It’ll explain faster than me trying to do it.”

Cal considered just taking the vacuum and going but there was something going on here and she was starting to have the sneaky feeling that she might be involved in it. So she did as she was told for once and went out the front door.

Oddly, there were people standing on the corner of the road, Syd among them. Cal hustled her way over. “I thought you were waiting in the van,” she said.

“I was. But the windows were rolled down and I heard people talking, so I came to see what was going on.” Syd was looking at her funny. She grabbed Cal’s arm and turned her.

Which was when Cal finally saw what everyone had been looking at.

The entire wall was filled with a simple mural, painted in the colors of the sea, and in letters so large that they couldn’t be missed was written ‘Cal Roberts is Innocent.’

“Makes you sound like a serial killer on death row,” Syd said.

“No, no,” said Cal quietly. She’d recognize those ocean colors anywhere. “Lucy did this.” She looked at the crowd that was gathering around the wall, taking pictures of it even. “What’s happening?”

Syd grinned. “Looks to me like you’ve found someone who thinks you’re worth standing up for.”

And Cal’s heart filled so full that for a second she couldn’t breathe.

Chapter Thirty Four

“Oh, no,” George said, collapsing onto a chair and ignoring the three customers lining up at the counter.

“Oh, no, what?” asked Cal. “And don’t say something stupid like you’re protecting her. She’s an adult, so am I, and frankly, I’m here to apologize, not to hurt her any more.”

“That’s not at all what I was going to say,” said George, looking hurt. “What I was going to say—”

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