Page 33 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

Cal started slowly and Lucy steadied herself, then the bike took over and they were flying through the streets and Lucy was clinging on for dear life. She closed her eyes tight and buried her helmeted head into Cal’s back. Her arms felt the muscles in Cal’s stomach, felt the comforting bulk of her, and what, with the vibrations of the bike and all, her breath started to come faster.

Cal pulled the bike up in front of the house, pulling off her helmet and tapping on Lucy’s. With shaking arms, Lucy took off her own helmet. She was practically panting and could feel the heat in her face.

“Enjoyed that, did you?” Cal said, an amused look on her face.

“I…” Lucy coughed, then tried again. “I most certainly did. Or did not. Not entirely sure.”

“It’s an experience,” said Cal. “You get used to it. Fancy standing up and going inside?”

“Don’t know if my legs are going to work.”

“Sitting out here in the heat all afternoon seems like a good way to get sunstroke.” Cal got off the bike and held out her hand like Lucy was some kind of princess or something.

Lucy grinned and took it. “So, let me guess, you invite all the girls to ride your motorcycle and then they all fall at your feet?”

“Are you thinking about falling at my feet?” Cal said, letting go of her hand as Lucy climbed off and turning toward the front door.

“Wouldn’t think of it,” Lucy said with a secret smile.

“Good to know,” Cal said, but there was a laugh in her voice.

Lucy noticed that Cal still hesitated a moment before she opened the door, even if she did welcome her in cheerfully once the door was open.

“Tea?” Lucy asked when she was in the hall. She could use a sweet cup of tea.

“Ah, there’s no milk,” Cal said. “There’s a shop on the cornerthough, I could…”

And Lucy knew why she was trailing off. Knew that she really didn’t want to have to deal with the death glares and attitudes today. So she shook her head. “Nah, we’ve got too much to do to go shopping.”

“There’s probably some herbal stuff in there?”

“Yeah, alright. I’ll make some of that. Where we starting today?”

Cal took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. “The bedroom.”

“Really? You sure you’re ready for that?”

Cal shrugged. “This is always going to feel like my mum’s house. But maybe with the bedroom empty it’ll feel a bit less like she still lives here.”

“Alrighty then, whatever you like. Want to go up and get started and I’ll bring some tea up?”

“Yeah, alright then.”

She left and Lucy could hear her climbing the stairs as she pottered around the little kitchen looking for tea bags.

There was too much that she didn’t know. There were certain things that she could guess, of course. Mikey had called Cal a thief, so presumably the town thought she’d stolen something. Or many somethings. Though Cal denied that.

The way they treated her though, the way they avoided her like in the pub, you’d have thought that she’d stolen the crown jewels, or at the very least one crown jewel.

In all seriousness, Lucy couldn’t think of anything that Cal could even have been accused of stealing that would make the people here hate her as much as they obviously did.

Come to that, she couldn’t think of anything she could do at all that would make people behave this way. The people here had always been warm and welcoming to her, even when she’d been a homeless stray wandering around the streets.

People here went to church on Sundays and joined the birdwatching club and made casseroles when someone was sick and looked after each others’ kids when they were playing in thestreets and all the things that she’d always imagined good people did.

Or maybe she was living in a little bubble. Maybe she’d lucked out and the small section of the town that she was close to just happened to be the good ones. Ones like Pen who helped her out, like George who teased her, like Ash who quietly observed and helped only when asked.

The kettle started to boil.

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