Page 26 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

“Alright, in the meantime, why don’t we start by boxing up some of those books on the shelves and you can go through that big cabinet and see if there’s anything you want to keep.”

Logical and sensible. Cal began to do as she was told.

“So, um, I guess we’ve both just made our admissions,” Lucy said as they began working.

“Admissions?”

“You know, coming out to each other. You’ve said you’re butch, I’ve said I’m femme, so we both know that we’re playing for the same team so to speak. Glad we got that settled.”

Cal froze, drawer in her hand half open. Was Lucy… hitting on her? She felt a stirring in her stomach. Yes, she knew that she was interested in Lucy. She was funny, pretty, what wasn’t to like? But Lucy seemed like she might be interested right back. Huh. She wasn’t quite sure that she’d expected that.

“Best to get these things out in the open,” Cal said with a shrug.

“Right,” said Lucy. “So you don’t mind being my date to the wedding then?”

“I didn’t say that,” Cal said. “I mean, in the sense of us both being women it doesn’t bother me. I definitely have reservations about going to a wedding filled with people from around here though.”

“Yeah, not popular, are you?”

Cal turned around, but Lucy was still working. “Tell me something, do you think about what you’re going to say before you say it, or do you just open your mouth and hope it all makes sense when the words come spilling out?” Yes, she was being spiky, but honestly, Lucy could do with learning a little diplomacy.

To her surprise, Lucy just laughed and didn’t seem offended at all. “Sometimes I forget what I’m saying in the middle of saying it,” she said. “But point taken. We don’t have to talk about this at all. We could talk about how long you’re planning on stayinginstead if you’d prefer?”

Cal went back to her drawer. “A few days. Two weeks maximum.” Her mouth got a little dry. “So, um, if you were thinking about making a move, you should know that I’m not long term relationship material.”

“At this point, any kind of relationship would be preferable,” Lucy sighed.

Cal crouched down to pull several boxes out of the cupboard. “Bit of a dry spell, huh?” Why was she encouraging this conversation exactly?

“A bit? Things are rapidly turning into the Sahara. I don’t know…” There was a thump as Lucy deposited a pile of books into a box. “I suppose all my friends are settling down, getting married, and it leaves me feeling a bit on the shelf.”

“Surely you’ve got other things going on though?” Cal asked, picking through the boxes she’d picked up.

“Yeah, course, I’ve got my painting, I’m working, I’ve got friends. It’s just that I feel I’m missing out, like there’s some kind of hole in my life that isn’t getting filled and… yeah, I didn’t mean that to come out as dirty as it sounded.”

Cal guffawed. “It definitely did though.”

“Glad to see that my pathetic dating life is taking your mind off your troubles.” Lucy paused. “How long’s it been since you saw your mum, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Not since I left home,” Cal said, dumping the boxes into a big rubbish bag. “Left and never looked back, you know how it is.”

“Not really,” Lucy said. “I got taken off my mum when I was seven. Grew up in foster care.”

“Ah.” Cal sat back on her heels so that she could see Lucy. “Horrifically traumatizing?”

“No,” Lucy said. “No, I was lucky. It wasn’t pleasant being pushed around to different places, but no one ever hurt me or anything.”

Cal scratched her nose wondering if she could ask what she wanted to. But then Lucy didn’t seem to have much of a filter, so why not? “Ever think about her, your mum?”

“Sometimes,” Lucy said. “But then, I figure, if she’d have been invested then she would have tried to get me back or at least tried to meet me or talk to me. She didn’t, so in my mind, I’m better off without her.”

“That’s… either really mature and logical or really messed up,” said Cal.

“That coming from the person who isn’t sad her mum’s dead.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t sad. I said I hadn’t cried.”

“Did you go into the system too?” asked Lucy, depositing another pile of books in the box.

---