Page 116 of Barging In
“Did you know my parents named me after her colour?”
Victoria’s lips twitched. “I didn’t know your name wasGarish.”
Clem narrowed her eyes. “Clementine.”
“Ah, right,” Victoria said. “I presumed your mum must have been looking at a fruit bowl when she was coming up with names.”
Clem let out a low chuckle. “Yeah, I did, too.”
“Hmm. Speaking of food, I’m quite hungry. Do you think it would be bad to have Christmas cake for breakfast?”
Victoria couldn’t get enough of Clem’s homemade one. It was better than any shop-bought one she’d ever had.
Clem pulled her phone from the bedside table. “Breakfast? Brunch, more like. Have you seen the time? If you aren’t prepared to eat seconds at Christmas lunch, my mum will take offence, so on your head be it. I think I’d rather tuck into a bit of Victoria sponge again, see how moist it is.” She waggled her eyebrows before diving back under the duvet.
Victoria giggled and tried to push Clem’s head away as she kissed her stomach. “Come on or we’ll be late. I do not want to upset your mum.”
“True. We’d never hear the end of it,” Clem said as she resurfaced. “I’ll fetch us some coffee. Do you want to shower first?”
“Sure.”
Ten minutes later, Clem returned with two steaming mugs just as Victoria finished dressing. Victoria sipped from her mug and watched Clem slip out of what was technically Victoria’s dressing gown. It looked good on her, but without it, she looked even better. Clem caught her eye and winked as she headed towards the en-suite, sending butterflies tumbling through Victoria’s stomach. Temptation gnawed at her to throw Clem on the bed and take her all over again, just as she had done when she’d woken. Fearing a reprimand from Barbara, though, she headed to the kitchen instead.
As she descended the stairs, the gold and silver tinsel wound around the spindles shimmered. She couldn’t help but smile, recalling how Clem had spent ages winding it in different ways to perfect the best method. The large Christmas tree in the hallway sustained her smile as she passed it on the way into the kitchen.
She’d never bothered with Christmas decorations before, not to mention a tree. There was no point when itwas only her, especially as she always went to London for the festivities. Cooking Christmas lunch for the in-laws had been her job. On Boxing Day, she and Drew would head to the company box at Spurs if there was a match on to wine and dine business contacts. Then they would spend the evenings with the in-laws again, this time at their house in Holland Park.
Today was the first Christmas Day she didn’t have to cook, and she couldn’t have been happier. It was also her first Christmas in the house — their house, she could think of it as now. She’d loved going out with Clem to pick the tree and decorations, then decorating the house together. It was partly what had spurred her to ask Clem to move in. She missed her when she wasn’t there. Clem made the house feel whole — made her feel whole, too.
Opening a kitchen drawer, she took out a large envelope and placed it on the worktop. As she perched on a stool, she sipped her coffee and stared at the official court stamp. She opened it with a deep breath and drew out a single sheet of paper, light as a feather compared to the symbolic weight it carried. It felt like a door closing on another life, one she should have left behind long ago, yet she was grateful for it, too. It had led her here — to another door and to the beautiful woman behind it, the one she’d fallen in love with.
“Don’t you have a Christmas jumper?” Clem said, stepping into the kitchen and slipping her mug into the dishwasher.
“No, and I like this one.” She fingered the cashmere sweater. “It reminds me of you dragging it out of the canal for me.”
“It looked so good on you, draped around your shoulders, all cute and sexy. I had to rescue it.” Clemleaned over and kissed Victoria’s smiling cheek. “What’s that?”
“My divorce papers.”
“Oh, when did they come?” Clem asked, taking the stool beside her.
“A couple of days ago. I wanted to leave it for today.”
“A Christmas present to yourself?”
“Something like that,” Victoria mused.
“‘Final Order’,” Clem said, reading it. “What does that mean?”
“It’s the new term for ‘decree absolute’.”
“So… that means you’re divorced, right?”
“Yep,” Victoria exhaled, setting the papers down. “All done and dusted.”
“How do you feel?”
“It’s time to move on,” she said, placing the sheet of paper back in the envelope and tucking it into the drawer. “New year, new start.”
