Chapter Twenty Five
“I can’t be in two places at once, Luce,” George said.
“Well, neither can I,” said Lucy, sitting on one of the cafe chairs. “And I’ve got to work so it’s a no-go from me.”
“Could you ask the Guptas for time off?” he asked, leaning against the counter.
“They’re off to some trade show, so that won’t work,” Lucy said, propping her chin in her hand and thinking.
“Crap. Maybe I should just close the bakery and then deal with the book delivery alone.” George sighed.
“Yeah, except you wanted to prove to Pen and Ash that you’re up to the job and you’re afraid they’ll think you’re not if you have to close the bakery for a day,” said Lucy.
He glared at her. “You know, you can be very irritating at times. You don’t have to read everybody.”
“It’s a skill,” Lucy said. “It’ll rust if I don’t use it. I suppose we could ask someone else to run the bakery for a few hours. I mean, it’s not even all day. You just need someone to stand behind the counter and serve customers. Whoever it is can always come over to the bookshop and ask you if there are any problems.”
George sighed. “Yeah, I suppose. I’ll give it some thought.” He frowned at her. “And where are you going all dressed up to the nines?”
“I’m not dressed up to the nines,” said Lucy, looking down at her cotton summer dress and flats.
“You’re wearing lipstick,” George pointed out.
“Well spotted. I am wearing lipstick. And in answer to your question, I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” he looked confused. Fabio, the bookshop cat strolled through the connecting door and jumped up on the bakery windowsill. George moved over to stroke him.
“It’s a surprise,” Lucy explained. “Cal told me to wait here and she’d pick me up, that’s all I know.”
“Mysterious. Hope she’s not taking you down a dark alley to murder you.”
“Hope you stop listening to those true crime podcasts soon,” Lucy said, sticking her tongue out at him.
“How’s it going then, I’m taking it that you’re all made up and back to being lovey-dovey.”
Lucy nodded. “Yeah, yeah we are. Billy was right about her. She looks strong but honestly, she’s hurting more than she’d ever let anyone see. These false accusations about her have really done a number on her. She can’t see past them, she can’t put them behind her, she just runs away and doesn’t deal with them.” She sighed. “I’m not really sure why she doesn’t defend herself better, try to find some answers or something.”
“Maybe because she did it,” said George, leaving Fabio alone and coming to sit at one of the tables. Lucy gave him a death-glare. “Just putting it out there,” he said. “That’s one reason why she might be weird about it.”
“She didn’t do it,” Lucy said with absolute certainty.
But there was still something going on. She could tell. And that something definitely involved the jade box that Deb had taken.
“Stop it,” George said.
“Stop what?”
“Put away your Miss Marple hat. Remember how it got you into trouble just this afternoon? Whatever you might think, Cal obviously doesn’t want you digging around. Which, frankly, is suspicious.”
“It’s not suspicious. She’s just… sensitive about it. But you’re right.” Lucy sighed. “She just wants to be trusted, that’s all. I feel like she needs to prove to me, to herself, that she’s trustworthy.” She stopped and looked at George. “George…?”
“What?” George said. Then he saw the look on her face. “No. No, not a good plan.”
“Oh, come on. You need the help. Cal can spend a couple of hours here. It’ll show her that we trust her. It’ll be good for everyone.”
“It will be up until half the town comes in to spit on her and by extension all my sandwiches.”
“That won’t happen. Everyone’s getting used to her. And people here aren’t bad people, you know that, George.”
George patted her hand. “You think that because everyone here took you in, because we all love you. And you’re right that we’re a close community, that we care for each other. The problem is that once that trust gets broken, we’re also very focused on looking after our own. You can’t blame people for being angry with Cal. She broke their trust.”
“Except she didn’t.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. They think she broke their trust. Better?”
“Which means she just needs a way to prove that she is trustworthy again, right?” Lucy pressed. “Come on, George. You know that you like her really.”
“I don’t know her. Neither do you,” he protested.
“But I do,” Lucy said. She took a deep breath. “George, I feel like I’ve known her all my life. I just don’t know everything about her. Does that make sense?”
He closed his eyes. “I suppose,” he groaned. “I mean, it’s how I feel about Billy.” He opened his eyes again. “Except in his case I have actually known him all my life.”
“Known who all their lives?” Cal said as she came into the bakery .
“Billy,” Lucy supplied, grinning at Cal and jumping up to kiss her cheek. “And George has a favor to ask you, don’t you?”
“Do I?” he said giving her a challenging look.
“Fine, I’ll ask,” said Lucy. Because this was a good idea. This would prove to Cal that she was trusted, that Lucy trusted her and George too, and that the whole town would come to trust her at some point.
And alright, that might not be enough to make Cal stick around forever, but it might be enough to make her feel better about herself, to make her feel more deserving of love.
“Go on then,” Cal said. “What’s the favor?” She was carrying a large wicker basket with a blanket thrown over it and she switched it from her right to her left hand.
George gave Lucy a look but then, to his credit, he turned to Cal with a smile. “I’m in a bit of a bind. I’m expecting a book delivery for the bookshop on Friday and I need to be there. Which means I could really use someone to work the bakery. It’s just for a couple of hours, and I’ll be right next door if you need anything at all.”
Cal blinked and then a slow smile spread across her face. Yes, Lucy thought, this was it, this was what she needed. “I’d be happy to help,” Cal said.
“I’ll walk you through the cash register and everything.”
“I’m a bartender, I’ve got plenty of experience,” said Cal. “Just let me know what time you want me and I’ll be here. Happy to help.”
“Great,” said George. “That’s a weight off my mind.” He was smiling, but when Cal leaned down to put her basket on the ground he glared at Lucy.
Lucy felt a slight twinge of guilt. She’d forced him into this, but it’d work out in the end, she was sure of it. So she beamed at him and blew him a kiss before sneaking her arm through Cal’s. “So, is it finally time for my surprise then?”
Cal hugged her close and Lucy could smell the scent of her, like wind and leaves and a shudder of warmth went through her. Cal made her feel safe and that feeling was so tempting, so beautiful, that she wondered how she would ever let it go again.
CAL GRUNTED AS she put the last pile of small stones on the corner of the blanket.
“Are you sure I can’t help?” Lucy asked. She felt faintly ridiculous lying back on the beach and doing nothing.
“Absolutely not,” Cal said. “This is a date for you, and you’re going to be treated like a queen. So you just sit there and let me take care of you.”
“You know, I could get used to this,” Lucy said as Cal opened the large basket and began taking containers out. “What’s all this?”
“This is smoked salmon,” Cal said, holding up a package. “And there are blinis around here somewhere. There’s definitely some sour cream, because you can’t have blinis without sour cream. Oh, and some lemons too.”
“Blinis and sour cream and salmon?” asked Lucy. “You sound like you really know what you’re doing here.”
Cal shrugged. “Spent a little time in Ukraine. You know, before… before stuff went down there.”
Lucy settled in, rolling onto the blanket. “Where else have you been?” she asked.
Cal laughed. “Where haven’t I been is probably a better question.” She pulled out more packages. This time Lucy could identify strawberries and finger sandwiches. “I get around. Bartenders are pretty much always in demand and I’ve got the bike, so it’s pretty easy.”
“Sounds exciting,” Lucy said. She sniffed, inhaling the salt air. “And you didn’t ever feel like settling down?”
“Never had reason to,” said Cal, sitting cross-legged on the blanket. “I mean, there was a lot to see out there.”
“But now you’ve seen a lot of it,” countered Lucy. “Or more than I have at any rate.”
Cal grinned. “I have to admit that I wouldn’t mind showing you Paris. Or Berlin. Or Amsterdam.”
Lucy couldn’t even imagine such places. “You know, I’ve only been to London once.” She looked down. “As much as I wanted this residency, the idea of being in the city is a bit… overwhelming.”
“You’ll love it,” Cal told her, shuffling a little closer. “There’s so much to do, so much to see. And think of all the art works you can see.” She paused and looked down at Lucy who was lounging on the blanket. “You know, you’ve never shown me any of your work.”
“You’ve never asked to see it,” Lucy said.
“Give me a break, I’ve known you all of five minutes!”
Lucy laughed. “Fine. Let’s have this lovely picnic and then I’ll show you, deal?”
“Deal,” Cal said. She started opening containers. “And just so you know, I, uh, I can be around. In London, I mean. If that helps it not be so overwhelming.”
Lucy stroked her knee. “There’s no need to sound so nervous about that. We’ve already decided that I get another six weeks in London.”
Cal grinned at her, leaned over and brushed her lips against Lucy’s. “That’s true. We did decide that. And maybe we could even take the train one weekend to Paris. I mean, if you wanted to.”
“Are you kidding?” Lucy squealed. “That would be amazing. This is turning out to be the best surprise anyone has ever given me.”
Cal leaned in further, kissing her harder and Lucy’s insides warmed. She’d given herself a summer to find a girlfriend. And wouldn’t you know it? The fates had agreed.
She didn’t think she’d ever felt so happy. Happy and… hopeful. Cal gave her hope.