Page 62 of Barging In

“So they’ve never seen what you’ve achieved here? What you’ve created?”

Victoria shook her head. “No. And everything I did here was for me; it was about me. But, yet again, it all came back to Drew.”

The injustice made Clem’s jaw clench.

“Have you never thought about divorcing Drew?” she asked cautiously.

“Of course I have,” Victoria said, her voice tightening, “but I’m not risking the house or the wharf. They’re all I have left now.”

“Have you tried talking to him? Expressed your concerns?”

“No.”

“Things might not be as bad as you expect. He can't leave you with nothing.”

“I know that, but I will lose control of what happens next if I do. He could sell the house and the wharf just to spite me. I don’t trust him to act reasonably, and I’ve already lost too much.” Victoria fidgeted in her seat and then continued, a little more sharply this time. “Everything needs to stay exactly as it is.”

“With him cheating on you behind your back,” Clem muttered.

Victoria’s jaw tightened, and she snapped, “It’s not behind my back.”

Clem jumped out of her seat and pressed her palms into the side of her head “Argh! That doesn’t make it any better, Victoria. It only makes it worse.”

Victoria turned her head away, voice sharp with frustration. “You don’t understand. It’s complicated.”

Itching with irritation she didn’t want Victoria to see, Clem climbed onto the gunwale and jumped onto the towpath. Her chest tightened, breaths coming fast and shallow as she paced along the length of Florence.

“Clem, please come back,” Victoria called out.

The soft plea stopped her. She paused, took a deep breath, and slowly turned back.

“These are my issues, not yours. Why are you so angry?” Victoria asked, her brow furrowing tightly.

“Why aren’t you?” Clem pushed, breathless as she climbed back on board and sank onto her seat. “He treats you like shit, and you let him get away with it. You deserve better. You deserve to be happy.”

Victoria rested her hand on Clem’s leg. The warmth radiated through Clem’s tense muscles, easing some of the tightness in her chest.

“I am happy,” Victoria muttered.

“Bullshit,” Clem shot back.

Victoria took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m not a complete doormat. I set rules.”

Clem desperately wanted to find out what they were, but she already felt she was overstepping.

Fuck it!

Victoria was a grown woman; she wasn’t forcing her at gunpoint to reveal anything.

“What rules?” Clem pressed gently.

Victoria remained silent for a moment. Then, to Clem’s relief, she spoke.

“He doesn’t go near any of my friends.”

“You don’t have any other than Jasper, remember?” Clem replied flatly.

Although he’d had his eyes on her tonight. It made her wonder if Victoria noticed at all. And if she had, if she had said anything.