Page 100 of Barging In

“Yes!” Victoria enthused. “And please take it. I’m not sure I can do it without you. We already know we work well together, and it would be lovely to spend more time getting to know you.”

“Organising a bit of party food is one thing,” Clem said with a raised brow, “but influencing the direction of your business? Would you listen to me? Take my direction? Give me free rein?”

“Of course. I need to make it a success. I own a wharf now, and I’ve got a house and bills to pay.”

“I want to be part of it. I want to help make it successful. Let’s get numbers up, and you won’t have to worry. And please, no more of this ‘I’m not sure I can do it’ business. Get to work and show yourself and everyone else you can make this place a success — because I believein you. And after what you just did, you should believe in yourself, too.”

“I think it will take a bit of time to build my confidence up,” Victoria demurred.

“Well,” — Clem grinned — “I’m always happy to help with that. I’ll never get tired of telling you how great you are.”

“You’ve done more than you know. I honestly don’t think I’d have made it this far without you. I was… stagnating. But you pulled me out of it. You seem to enjoy pulling me about — like when you dragged me into the canal that day we met.”

Clem’s grin turned into laughter at the memory.

“You know, I had no idea that canals were so shallow.” Victoria chuckled.

“I had to shout at you to stand up, remember?”

“Yes. I was rather flailing around. I seem to do a lot of that.”

“You’ve shown a lot of confidence lately, more than you give yourself credit for. Asking me to work for you, calling out Christine… now that’s leadership.”

“Ugh, I don’t even want to think about her again.” Victoria wrinkled her nose. “I’m giving Emma the catering manager role. She’s done an amazing job these past two weeks, really stepped up.”

“Perfect. She’ll need to be ready if we’re going to increase numbers.”

“How will you manage it with Florence?”

“I think I can give you ten hours a week around her.”

“If we boost footfall at the café, can you keep up with cake demand — yours and ours?”

“We’ll find out, won’t we?” Clem ventured.

“Let’s take things slow, see what works, and build from there.”

“We can figure it out as we go, together,” Clem suggested, wondering if they were still talking about work. “Most importantly, we keep the lines of communication open.”

“Agreed. As long as we’re both happy and fulfilled in what we’re doing, that’s what counts.”

Clem shot her an affectionate smile. “You’ve been listening. Good. Now, first off, I want us to have an open day. The Otterford Wharf Heritage Fest. A sort of relaunch. September would give us enough time to get our ducks in a row.”

“You’ve really been thinking this through,” Victoria observed.

“To be honest, I’ve barely thought of anything else the last two weeks — well, except for one other thing I haven’t been able to get off my mind.”

She glanced at Victoria to gauge her reaction and was relieved to find her smiling. “Did Max speak to you about that outbuilding?”

“He did,” Victoria said, taking a sip of wine. “He’s a tough negotiator. He insisted on a couple of months’ free rent to start with. Funny, though; you’d already suggested that might be a good idea.”

Clem smirked and gave a casual shrug, deliberately avoiding Victoria’s eye. “Well, you both win, so you’re welcome. I need to check with him that he’ll be ready to open then. It will be an ideal time for a grand opening. I’m also thinking of asking the landowner to allow some extra trading licences for the day. Bring a few more boats down to the wharf.”

“More competition,” Victoria said, arching a brow.

“More energy,” Clem countered with a grin. “Otterford Wharf is the destination. The traders aren’t competitors. Well, maybe one, but she’ll be busy that day, so I don’tthink you’ll need to worry. And I’m sure if you ask her very nicely, she’ll keep you stocked up with cake.”

Victoria laughed as Clem continued.