Page 30 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

Pen paused for a second, then smiled. “That’d be just fine.”

Lucy took her hand and squeezed it. “Thanks, Pen.” She imagined bringing Cal to the bakery would be a bit like bringing your girlfriend home to meet your parents for the first time. Having Pen on side made things easier.

“So, um, you don’t need those online dating profiles we set up then?” Pen said.

“Dunno,” said Lucy. She looked down at her hands. “I mean, I like her. I know it’s fast and we haven’t spent much time together, but there’s definitely something there, a spark or whatever.”

“But?” asked Pen.

“I don’t know. It’s early days.” Lucy looked over at Pen and couldn’t help grinning. “I really like her though. She could be the one.”

Pen patted her hand. “I hope she is, Luce. But don’t get too carried away. And we’d better be going, we don’t want to be late.”

Lucy wondered, as they left, if Cal could crochet. Probably not, she thought, she didn’t seem the type. But maybe she’d like to learn.

Chapter Twelve

Cal revved the engine and made the turn out of town before opening the throttle and letting the bike growl up to speed.

Riding made her peaceful, it gave her time to think, both of which she desperately needed this morning. She’d had a disturbed night of sleep even though she’d avoided alcohol and the bar. Every time she woke up she could see Lucy bending over a box.

There were other things too. More personal things, important things, decisions that needed to be made.

Her mother’s house was going to be sold, a house that had belonged entirely to her mother and now belonged to her. Which meant for the first time in her life, Cal was about to have money. Not serious amounts, but enough. Enough to start to settle down and build a life, if that’s what she wanted.

Or enough to travel to all the places she’d put off as too exotic, too far away.

Huh, a little flat somewhere, or a long holiday in Tahiti. What kind of a choice was that? A year ago it’d have been a no-brainer. Even right now, Cal wanted to pretend that the answer was an obvious one.

Except, if she was being honest with herself, it kind of wasn’t. And that didn’t make her happy. It didn’t make her happy because she felt like she didn’t know herself.

A couple of weeks ago if someone had handed her several tens of thousands of pounds she’d have taken off on her bike and met women and had drinks and bathed in the sun and all the rest of it. Live for the moment because what else was there?

Now though, now she wasn’t so sure. And there was only one reason for that. Tetherington. She’d come back to town and suddenly something had changed inside her, something that she didn’t like.

She was not that person anymore. Not that person that had grown up here and kissed and cried and made mistakes. She was a wholly different person. One that wore men’s shirts and shaved her hair and never stayed more than six weeks in a place.

So why was she thinking that the money could buy a base? A garage to put the bike in? A kitchen to occasionally cook in?

Throw Lucy into the mix and things got even worse.

Even thinking about her set off big red blaring alarms in her head.

Yes, Lucy was attractive and funny and smart. They’d built a connection already, the way kids from unorthodox families often did. More than that, Lucy seemed to get her. The way she stood up for her, the way she was so different from anyone else in town.

Yet Lucy was looking for something that Cal couldn’t offer her. A relationship, something serious, it was blatantly obvious from even the shortest of conversations that Lucy wanted real love.

Cal didn’t do real love. Cal did motel love. Half time love. Instant love that boiled down to steam and nothingness by the end. She was good at that, comfortable with it, and, in her opinion, distinctly unqualified to offer anything more.

Which, she supposed didn’t completely make Lucy off limits. But it did make things complicated. Because she also didn’t hurt people. It wasn’t in her nature and she went out of her way to be as kind and generous a lover as she could be.

She buzzed the bike over a lane, getting ready for her exit.

Lucy was an adult though. She could make her own decisions.

Cal slid her bike around the slope of the exit ramp, her leathered knee almost touching the ground she was at such a steep angle. Then she came to a screeching stop at the top, in the middle of the two lanes.

Turn left and she’d get back on the motorway in the opposite direction and head back to Tetherington. Turn right and she’d be heading to anywhere she pleased.

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