Page 45 of Barging In

“I get it. You want her. But if she’s not free, you have to accept it and move on, even if you know she feels the same.

Some people’s lives are messy. You can’t force these things; she has to come to it willingly.

All you can do is be a friend, if that’s possible.

Either that will be enough to entice her away from the dark side, or it won’t, but at least you keep her in your life. ”

“Isn’t that worse?” Clem winced. “Being friends when all you want is to be lovers? I know she wants me. She even admitted she wanted to sleep with me.”

Max tightened his lips and shook his head. “You have to find a way to make friendship enough.”

Clem nodded, more in thought than agreement.

“You know, she dropped everything last week to take me to the hospital.

" Noticing his concern, she added quickly, “My mum broke a finger. Victoria hung around at the hospital, then gave us all a lift home. And this was after my parents had been rude to her. My ex wouldn’t have even turned the television down so I could take the call.”

“Sounds like someone cares about you,” Max allowed, “but divorce is a big step. Give her time. I doubt anyone could resist you for too long, especially when the alternative is her creepy husband. He gave me the right ick.”

“You and everyone else.”

“I’ll never understand men like that. All shiny shoes and smiles. Suits filled with muscles, hunting for their next lay so they can feel like the big man. Give me a belly in a flamboyant waistcoat any day.”

Clem chuckled.

“What are you going to do about the job offer?”

“I don’t even know if it’s still on the table,” she admitted, “and yet it’s all I can think about. I loved history at school and really wanted to do something around it, but I was never very good at it. ”

“If it was anything like my GCSEs, it was a matter of regurgitating facts.”

“Yep. The only knack I have for recalling anything offhand is my recipes.”

“Maybe this is life’s way of bringing you back to where you wanted to be,” Max suggested, “combining your passion for marketing and history in a roundabout way.”

Clem chuckled. “A very roundabout way.”

“Life takes its time. I’ve been trading here for a year, almost as long as I’ve been pining for Jasper. Then you show up, and within a few weeks we’re thrown together — all thanks to you.”

“I never thought of it like that.”

Max gave her a slow grin. “Well, I’d best go see your girl.”

“Ha.”

“Want me to convey any messages of love?”

Clem was about to kick him in the shin when she paused. “Yes, actually. Tell her I miss her.”

Max gave a small shrug; smile gone, his lips were now pressed into a line. “Okay.”

She watched as he jumped onto the towpath.

That wasn’t adding pressure, was it? A simple statement of fact — she missed her.

Victoria resisted the urge for the hundredth time that day to spin her chair and stare out of the window.

The one time she’d done it — without thinking — Clem was at her sink, looking out.

Victoria had swiftly swivelled back around.

It wasn’t like she was avoiding her; she just wasn’t making a point of seeing her.

Clem hadn’t contacted her either, so perhaps she understood Victoria needed some breathing space to think.

Now, though, almost a week had passed, and it was beginning to feel like avoidance.

She didn’t intend to ignore Clem forever — only long enough to process that kiss and clarify some things with a solicitor, the result of which had done little to ease her concerns.

He’d pointed out that the wharf was likely a business asset, not a personal one, and therefore more complicated than transferring the ownership of something like a house.

He had at least reassured her that she was entitled to half of everything.

Not that she wanted or needed millions in the bank.

She wanted to do an honest day’s work in a place she loved and reap whatever rewards there may be.

The last thing she wanted was to collapse Drew’s empire, lose people their jobs again, or get accused of fleecing him — no matter what she was legally entitled to.

“Knock, knock,” Jasper’s voice rang out, stirring Victoria from her thoughts.

“Come in,” she said, looking up from her laptop.

“Oh, dear. Why the long face?”

“I have to head to London tomorrow for an awards ceremony at The Guildhall,” Victoria groaned. “I’m expected to accompany Drew.”

“Swanky. Can’t he go on his own?”

“No. We keep up appearances for the business, and this is one event where I need to show my face.”

“Don’t forget to arrive late and then leave halfway through,” Jasper said, smirking.

Victoria snorted, grateful for the injection of humour, even if it wasn’t funny, more a bleak reminder of what her life had become.

“Not to change the subject, but is Clem taking the job you offered?” he asked .

“I’m not sure.” Victoria frowned. “It seems unlikely now.”

Jasper took a seat. “Why?”

Victoria clicked the end of her pen in and out, pondering her answer — or whether to give one at all.

“Why?” Jasper asked again, his tone intrigued and insistent.

Victoria dropped her pen onto her desk. “All right?” She blew out a shaky breath and muttered, “We kissed.”

“Is there a problem with that?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

“I’m married,” she said flatly.

“It doesn’t stop Drew.”

Victoria narrowing her gaze at Jasper. Exactly how much did he know — or think he knew?

He tetched, then admitted, “I saw him kiss that young woman when he got in his car.”

The word young made her body twitch. “Why didn’t you say?”

He shrugged. “It was your birthday. I didn’t want to ruin it completely.”

“It wouldn’t have been you ruining it,” she muttered. “It would have been him, but he’d already done it.”

Jasper twisted his lips. “Why have you never spoken to me about it? You didn’t need to go through this by yourself. We’re a team, on and off the field.”

“I was… am embarrassed,” Victoria admitted quietly.

“Why? His behaviour isn’t a reflection of you.”

“Isn’t it?” She sighed. “I let him do it. I agreed to an open marriage, even if it ripped me apart at the time.”

Jasper took a deep breath and perched himself on the corner of her desk. “And why did you agree?”

“I thought if I said it was okay for him to see other women, it would prevent our marriage and my life from falling apart. I was probably being foolish.”

“Wasn’t it already broken the moment he asked if you weren’t really on board with it?”

She flinched. What had Clem said over dinner about holding on to broken glass and choking on ashes? She did feel choked and lacerated. Victoria nodded, her gaze drifting over her black laptop screen.

Jasper gave her a sympathetic smile. “It doesn’t make you foolish. It makes you human. None of this was your fault. You compromised yourself to protect something that should have protected you. Staying isn’t failure. Surviving it and walking away… that’s strength.”

“I can’t divorce him,” she whispered.

“Why? He doesn’t deserve you.”

“That’s what Clem said.”

“And she’s right.”

“What if he sells the wharf? The house? They’re not mine. I’m afraid he might act out of spite,” she said, her voice low. “He likes to win, and people can turn nasty during a divorce. They hoard money and use it to hurt each other.”

The solicitor had confirmed as much to her and told her she would need to prepare herself if she decided to go down that road.

“Yes, Drew could convert this floor into apartments and sell them off, but he can’t take or destroy us — what we built.

We could move the museum somewhere else.

I know this building is your heritage, but it won’t be going anywhere.

He can’t erase your achievement. You saved it, Vic.

That won’t change. The next chapter might just have to begin somewhere new.

” He paused, then added more gently, “This is the rest of your life. Don’t waste it on him.

Don’t let stone matter more than living…

than loving. This pl ace will stand for centuries because of you.

But how long do you have? And how do you want to spend it?

Married to that swine or free to do what you want? ”

“The museum has always been your domain,” Victoria said, “but the building… it’s what breathes life into me.

It’s more than just stone. The wharf gives me everything I need.

I always had this connection with architecture.

As a kid, I became obsessed with historic buildings, but what we’ve built together here is something else.

It connected me to myself, to my own history, at a time when I felt like I had no future.

I’ve restored so many buildings, brought them back to life, but this one…

this one brought me back to life when I was at my lowest point. ”

“And it’s time to work on your own restoration now. Rebuild yourself, piece by piece. Start living and not simply surviving,” Jasper urged her gently.

“I know it’s been over for years,” Victoria admitted, “but I found this sort of plateau where things worked — just about — as I rebuilt the wharf and carved out a life away from him. It was working until…”

“Until Clem the Catalyst came crashing in?”

“Mmm. Something like that,” Victoria said with a noisy exhale, but she could feel her mouth pulling into a smile.

“It’s not our actions we should fear; it’s our inactions. They’re what keep us trapped. I want you to be happy, Vic, living your best life. If that means divorcing that asshole, do it. Don’t worry about me. You think I want all this at your expense? Be happy. See where things with Clem lead.”

Victoria raised an eyebrow at him.

“Don’t give me that face. Since she moored up, you’ve looked at nothing else.”

“Yes… I have feelings for her,” Victoria admitted, knowing those feelings were only getting stronger .

“Feelings?” Jasper prompted.

“Okay,” she said on an exhale. “I think I’m falling in love with her.”