Page 10 of Christmas for the Village Midwife (The Village Midwife #2)

Zoe had agreed to meet Ottilie and Simon’s partner, Stacey, for a trek around the perimeter of the village.

Stacey was still on the fitness kick Simon was encouraging her to be on (though she admitted it was hardly a kick and more of a limp flex of her toes) and was always glad of company.

Ottilie was getting too pregnant to go far, though Zoe would have liked to have ventured out beyond the village, and in the end, the company was more important than the activity.

There was a vantage point she’d heard about called Stanley Ghyll, not far from where they were, and she’d been meaning to go up and take a look, and had almost suggested it until she’d remembered how breathless Ottilie was becoming and how bad the weather was.

It would have to wait, and it would probably be somewhere for her and Alex to explore alone when the spring came.

There were pockets of snow all over the hills, hardened like glass in hollows, while what had fallen on the roads and lanes of the village had become frozen slush, crunching underfoot as Zoe stepped on it.

Some people had hung Christmas tinsel and baubles onto the bare branches of the trees outside their houses and on the lanes, and the village postbox was wearing a rather fetching knitted topper that depicted Santa and his reindeer pulling a laden sled.

So, eager to make the most of a few spare hours, the friends had settled on a circumnavigation of the village boundaries and a walk of a mile or two along the riverbank, if Ottilie was up to it.

She was on her way to the rendezvous at Stacey’s house when she noticed a van outside Simon’s old place.

He’d rented it from Fliss for a time, but had now moved in with Stacey and freed it up for Emilia to take possession of.

Zoe recalled a doubtful conversation with Stacey about that.

She’d worried that he wasn’t moving in with her because he wanted to but as a practical measure, a consideration for his new GP colleague.

Of course, Ottilie and Zoe had told her not to be so daft, and that even he wasn’t that much of a people pleaser, and though she’d told them they’d made her feel better, Zoe wondered if it had.

As Zoe approached, Emilia herself was in the doorway giving directions to the removal crew.

At her side was a woman who could only be Georgia.

Nobody could forget that distinctive flame-red hair, especially not Zoe, who had always been so envious of it and had always viewed her own as drab in comparison.

Of course, Georgia herself had hated it, and perhaps understandably when it was often the source of bullying.

But she seemed far more comfortable with it now, wearing it long and curled.

She was also clearly very pregnant, her belly visible even beneath a heavy coat.

With a kick that was both excitement and trepidation, Zoe changed course and hurried over.

‘Hi, Emilia…’ she began and was about to address Georgia when the words were snatched from her mouth by a high-pitched squeal.

‘Zoe! Oh my God!’ Georgia flew down the path to fold Zoe into an enthusiastic hug. ‘Em said you were here! Isn’t that the craziest thing? Of all the places we could have moved to, we came to the exact village where you are!’

‘I only moved here recently myself,’ she replied, noting vaguely how Georgia had referred to her own arrival in a far more permanent way, but too distracted to process the information as she hugged her old friend again before holding her at arm’s length to appraise her.

‘Which makes it even madder! It’s so good to see you – and you look so well! ’

Georgia beamed. ‘So do you. Incredible, in fact. Life here must suit you.’

Zoe nodded and then, smiling, sent a pointed look to Georgia’s belly. ‘And you’re blooming nicely.’

‘Waddling is more like it,’ Georgia said with a laugh. ‘Em tells me you’re the surgery midwife. That’s even crazier. So you’ll be looking after me? Imagine telling us in primary school that this is where we’d be – we’d have thought it mental.’

Zoe laughed. ‘Especially as I was rubbish at science. I had to take my biology exams twice to get on the course.’

‘I’ll leave you two to catch up,’ Emilia said before going inside.

Georgia gave her a vague nod and then turned back to Zoe.

For a second, Zoe was distracted by it. Something in both Emilia’s and Georgia’s expressions during the brief moment told her all wasn’t well.

But then Georgia spoke again, and she sounded so bright Zoe wondered if she’d imagined the tension.

‘But you did it. Always were a determined one. Em says you’re brilliant at your job, so you must have been better at biology than you thought. Anyway, what do exams count? Everyone knows they don’t mean anything really.’

‘I’m sure Mrs Crisp would disagree with you there.’

‘Oh, that old cow! She’d disagree with anything that came out of my mouth – she hated me.’

‘It might have been something to do with the impression she caught you doing of her…?’ Zoe lifted an eyebrow, and Georgia began to laugh again.

‘Maybe.’

‘So, I don’t even know where we start, but how are you?’

‘Well, we’ve got quite a lot of years to cover, so in answer to that question, I expect we’ll need a decent night out together to get to them all.

But in summary, I’m fine. Life throws its usual curveballs, but…

’ She shook her head, as if the thought of those curveballs had shaken her mood for a fleeting moment, before smiling again.

‘How about you? Last I heard, you’d got married. You’re still with him?’

‘Actually, no. Ritchie and I split last year.’

‘Zoe…I’m sorry to hear that.’

‘Don’t be. I’m not – well, I was at the time, obviously, but I’m not now. It wasn’t meant to be, and I’m seeing someone else and he’s lovely, so I think it worked out in the end. Emilia tells me you’re married. Is your husband with you?’

Georgia nodded towards the van. ‘Brett!’ she called to one of the men who was moving things around inside it. ‘Have you got a minute?’

‘Yep, just— Careful with that!’ he snapped to a crew member. ‘It’s over a hundred years old, and I can’t just go to IKEA for another!’

Zoe tried not to frown, and she was too distracted by her current situation to dwell on what she’d later note with more curiosity.

He’d told them to be careful with a side table that he’d claimed belonged to him.

But if it was Emilia moving in properly and Georgia was only here on holiday, why was Brett moving his own furniture in?

Brett was blessed with thick dark hair, cut short and shot through with cables of steely grey.

Zoe had never been very good at guessing ages, but she thought he looked older than Georgia, perhaps by ten years or so, though it may have been the grey hair giving that impression.

There was some evidence of a fondness for beer hidden well beneath a thick sweater, but other than that he seemed strong and fit.

Wiping his hands down his trousers, he leaped from the back of the van and strode towards the gate.

‘Brett,’ Georgia urged him over. ‘Come and meet Zoe! I told you about her – remember? We were friends in primary school, and how crazy is it she’s here? Like, in Thimblebury, where there’s only about ten other people and Zoe just happens to be one of them!’

Brett offered a surprisingly formal hand for Zoe to shake. ‘Ten other people and not one decent shop,’ he said in a tone that seemed quite uncharitable to Zoe. ‘How do you do? Pleased to finally meet you after hearing of nothing else for the past week.’

Zoe sensed some reservation, but she tried not to let it throw her.

He knew nothing about her, other than the fact she’d been friends with his wife many years ago, so she supposed it wasn’t as weird as she felt it was.

And she had a history with Georgia that he might have heard all about, and Zoe couldn’t be sure how Georgia had reported their falling-out.

To Zoe it was all water under the bridge, and it seemed Georgia felt the same now, but it was hard to say how Brett might have viewed it.

‘Georgia’s really been looking forward to meeting up with you again,’ he added.

‘Me too,’ Zoe said with a warm smile for her old friend. And then Brett took the opportunity to go back to the van.

‘Have you got time to stick around?’ Georgia asked her. ‘We’ve got a bit to do here, but as I’m banned from carrying anything, I’m sure Em wouldn’t mind if we have the kitchen for an hour to catch up.’

‘I’d love to, but I’m meeting friends for a walk. I was on my way there when I happened to see you, so I’m afraid I really only meant to pop across for a minute. In fact, I’m probably already running late.’

‘Oh, of course…’

Georgia’s reaction was not what Zoe had expected.

Mildly disappointed would have been normal, but Georgia’s tone was suddenly so flat, if she hadn’t thought it an overreaction, Zoe would have said she seemed almost crushed by her refusal to stay.

And it wasn’t really a refusal at all – it was simply that she didn’t have the time at that moment.

‘But I can totally do another day,’ she added quickly. ‘Just name it and I’ll clear a space in my diary.’

‘Oh, I will! How about tomorrow night?’

‘Tomorrow…?’ Zoe paused. It was sooner than she’d meant, but that didn’t matter because she had nothing else planned, though she’d hoped to see Alex.

Then again, she always hoped to see Alex, and Georgia looked like she really wanted to catch up.

‘Tomorrow sounds good. Great. I’d like that.

Shall I come here? Kestrel Cottage – where I’m living – is quite a trek, especially with all the snow, so it might be better for me to come to you.

Or we can go out, if you’re worried about being a bit upside down here.

There’s a lovely pub nearby, the Happy Greyhound.

I expect it’ll take a few days to put everything in order and?—’

‘Here is great; I’m sure we can make space…right, Brett?’

He stopped on the way past them with a lampstand in one hand and a box balanced on the other arm. ‘Huh? Fine…whatever it is, I’m sure it’s fine.’

‘Perfect!’ Georgia beamed at Zoe as he went on his way. ‘About seven? Is that too early for you? Because I can?—’

‘Seven’s fine. It’s a date.’

‘I can’t wait to find out everything you’ve been up to since we last saw one another!’

‘Me too,’ Zoe said. ‘Sorry, I’ve got to…’

‘Oh, sure, of course. See you tomorrow!’