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“I’m trying to get you to listen,” she replied impatiently. “You need to prove yourself to Vicky again. You need to make her see that you love her, and that it had nothing to do with Margot’s money.”

“How am I going to do that?”

“Figure it out, you big idiot,” Lottie snapped.

Ugh, I had harpies attacking me on all sides now. Why weren’t my two best friends keeping their women occupied and out of my bloody business?

“She needs you, Mikey,” Lottie said softly.

And, in the end, it was that that got me. Despite my dizziness I finally pushed up to sitting.

“What?” I croaked.

“She needs you. Did you know that Janet and Rebecca are harassing her?”

“What?” I was shouting now, but when I tried to surge to my feet, a wave of dizziness forced me back down. Ugh. Theharpies were right—I was pathetic. “But I blocked them from her phone.”

Lucy snorted. “They’ve been using Vicky for years. Did you think blocking them would stop them? They’ve been going to her house and even turning up at work.”

“Is she okay?”

“Do you deserve to know that?” Lottie asked in a soft but accusatory voice.

I groaned and put my head in my hands. “No,” I muttered. “No, I don’t, but I need to know anyway. And I know I don’t deserve her, but I want her anyway.”

“Were you only with her to hang on to Margot’s investment?” Lottie asked, her eyes narrowing on me.

“No!”

Ah, Christ. My shouting made my head hurt so badly I felt like I might throw up. “No,” I said in a quieter voice. “It was never about that. I agreed to go to the gala, but as soon as I held Vicky, it was never about the money. I bloody love her, okay?”

I looked up at Lottie. She was studying me with narrowed eyes, then her head tilted to the side, and she smiled.

“Well, prove it then.”

I hadn’t toucheda drop of alcohol since Lucy and Lottie’s visit two weeks ago.

It had taken me a few days to work it out, but finally, I came up with the solution. Yes, the cabin was my dream, but I didn’t want that dream anymore without her.

I didn’t want anything without Vicky.

“Are we leaving all the furniture?” Pete asked, and I nodded.

I knew I should be happy the buyer wanted everything, but as I ran my fingers over my hand-finished kitchen table, the one I’d spent two days sanding, the one with the driftwood legs that took weeks to dry and treat properly before they were ready to use, I was struggling to be grateful.

Pete shook his head. “Fucking hell, mate. I can’t believe you’re giving this up. This is your dream.”

I shrugged. “Dreams change.”

“Do you even know who bought it?”

“Some London high roller who wants a second home is what the agent said.”

Everyone had been pissed off when they heard I was putting the cabin on the market.

Ollie and Felix offered to buy it, of course. In fact, they offered to simply give me the money. But I told them all to bugger off. They were missing the bloody point.

I needed to pay back Margot’s investment myself. It was the only hope I had of winning back Vicky’s trust. So when the agent told me about the offer, I jumped at it.