Page 81 of Barging In

All parties smiled and nodded politely, much to Clem’s relief.

“I hope you are okay, Barbara?” Victoria asked.

Clem was surprised to hear a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“I am, thank you,” Clem’s mum accepted her well wishes. “It’s a clean break, so I’m told it should heal quickly.”

“Oh. Good,” Victoria pronounced.

“I’ll go outside and call a taxi,” Clem’s dad said.

“I could give you a lift,” Victoria countered. “Save you the trouble.”

“That would be super, thanks,” he replied.

Five minutes later, the four of them stood in the car park, staring at the Jaguar.

Clem’s dad scratched his head. “Erm.”

“Yes, sorry. It will be a bit of a squeeze,” Victoria admitted sheepishly. Leaning into Clem, she whispered, “How far is it to the marina?”

“About fifteen minutes.” Turning to her dad, Clem said, “Dad, you and I can squeeze in the back. You get in behind the passenger seat, and then I’ll help Mum in.”

“Does this thing even have seat belts?”

“Yes, Mum, of course it does.”

“Oh, err, not in the back, it doesn’t,” Victoria corrected her. “They weren’t legally required in cars of this age.”

“Well, we’re not going far, are we?” Clem said quickly, itching to have her parents as far away from Victoria as possible.

She let the seat fall gently against her dad’s knees and pulled the seat forward to give him some room.

“There you go, Mum. Mind your hand.”

With everyone squeezed in, they finally set off. Clem wished she’d bundled them into a taxi instead, but as the gentle scent of Victoria’s fragrance filled her nose it also soothed the tension inside her.

“I believe I have you to thank for reviving my jumper, Barbara,” Victoria said.

“Oh. No need,” she replied, ever so politely.

Clem eyed her dad and smirked. He shot a grin her way. It was typical of her mum to be rude behind someone’s back and oh so polite to their face.

Much to Clem’s relief, the rest of the journey passed in blissful silence aside from her dad giving the odd direction to Victoria. On the way, she checked the weather report tosee what she needed to bake for the morning. A large sun greeted her in the app, and she bit back a sigh. The last thing she wanted to do when she returned to Florence was work. Evenings once spent watching TV, bingeing a series, or getting lost in a book felt like a distant memory, sacrificed the moment she started working for herself.

“Here is good,” her dad said as they finally pulled into the marina car park.

Victoria got out, allowing Clem to escape and rush around to help her mum out.

“Can you go and get some photographs of what the builders have done this week for me?” her mum asked as Clem helped her out of the awkwardly low car seat.

“Yes. I can go in tomorrow when I—” She stopped herself from saying,When I go to Victoria’s for dinner, and swiftly corrected to, “When I pass.”

Her mum eyed her. The woman could read a book without any words. Clem hugged her, hoping it would serve as a distraction.

“Consider that job,” her mum whispered in her ear. “Who knows what it might lead to?”

What did she mean by that? Before she could ask, her dad appeared beside them. Clem passed him her mum’s handbag.