Page 15 of Christmas for the Village Midwife (The Village Midwife #2)

‘You can say that again. How long have you been married?’

‘Only five years. It took me ages to find a good one and pin him down. I was beginning to give up hope before I met him.’

‘Sounds like it was worth the wait.’

‘It—Oh, blimey! I haven’t even offered you a drink! I’m wittering on, and you’re dying of thirst! I was so excited to see you…’

‘So it’s my fault?’

‘Ha ha, yes, totally! So what can I get you? Tea? Coffee?Wine? Juice? I mean I’m not sure what juice we have, but I can check – Em is bound to have bought something healthy in.’

‘Tea’s fine. It’s a weeknight, and as I assume you’re not drinking and there’s nobody else home, it’s probably best not to open a bottle of wine. There’s a danger I’d feel obliged to drink the lot.’

‘I’m sure we could put a stopper in it and leave it for Brett, if you wanted some. He’d definitely drink it – have no fear.’

‘That’s just it – I’d be drinking and drinking and then I’d look and it would be gone. I’d be feeling guilty and have a lovely headache tomorrow morning. Best to stick with the tea, I think.’

‘No problem. Come through if you want to carry on chatting while I make it.’

Zoe followed her into the kitchen, which was almost as chaotic as the other rooms in the house she’d seen, but it looked as if there had been some attempt at organisation here.

Considering they’d want to cook, it made sense they’d try to get this one sorted first. But there were still boxes stacked in corners, labelled as food mixers and utensils and all sorts of other paraphernalia.

Once again, there seemed like an awful lot for one person, so did some of it belong to Georgia and Brett?

Georgia chatted as she put the kettle on to boil and busied herself finding mugs and spoons. Mostly about how her pregnancy had challenged her and vague hopes for the personality of her baby when he or she was born. Then, on opening the fridge for milk, she let out a loud tut.

‘Everything all right?’ Zoe asked.

‘Oh…’ Georgia took out the milk and what seemed to have been a thunderous expression smoothed into something gentler again.

It had happened so quickly that Zoe couldn’t be sure she’d seen it at all.

‘It’s a good thing you didn’t want the wine.

We had a bottle of white in here a few hours ago, but someone seems to have laid waste to it. I couldn’t say who.’

As Emilia was working at the surgery then surely Georgia knew it could only be Brett? And if it was Brett and it was their wine to drink anyway, why had Georgia looked so annoyed about it?

‘Never mind,’ she said, not knowing what else to say. ‘It’s done me a favour, whoever it is. The temptation is definitely out of the way now.’

‘Biscuits?’ Georgia held up an open packet. ‘At least we still have those.’

Once again, Zoe sensed a subtext that she couldn’t quite read.

They’d settled down, laughing more about old times than updating on new ones, when the sound of the front door slamming echoed through the house.

‘Brett?’ Georgia called. ‘Is that you?’

‘It’s me.’ Emilia came into the living room, looking anxious and tired. ‘Sorry to disappoint you. Hello, Zoe.’

‘Hi.’ Zoe gave a sympathetic smile. ‘Hard day?’

‘A lot to get up to speed with. I’ll have it sorted in a week or two. Fliss’s notes were…well, she doesn’t do notes like I do them.’

‘I doubt she did anything like anyone else does it,’ Zoe said with a light laugh. ‘I didn’t work with her for all that long, but she’s a legend around here, and I’m not sure that’s only for her skills as a doctor.’

‘I’m beginning to see she had quite a unique take on the world. Where did you say she was right now?’

‘Singapore, I think. At least that’s where the trip was meant to start.’

‘A bit too far away to have a chat about some of her patients then.’

As Fliss had retired, Zoe assumed nobody would be wanting to chat to her about patients. After all, it was no longer her job, but perhaps Emilia was finding her predecessor’s way of doing things so difficult that she felt the need to. She certainly seemed stressed.

‘Probably,’ Zoe agreed.

‘You want a drink?’ Georgia asked. ‘I can?—’

‘Don’t get up – I can see to myself,’ Emilia said. ‘I think I’ll open that bottle?—’

‘It’s not there,’ Georgia said quickly, flushing. ‘Sorry. I’ll get another one tomorrow.’

Emilia let out an impatient hiss and then seemed to check herself. ‘Tea it is then. At least there’s no danger of me developing a drink problem…’ she continued as she left the room.

‘Is she all right?’ Zoe asked.

‘Yes, I think so. It’s all been a bit sudden, the move here and all the new patients. She thrives on order and routine, and so I think it will take some time for her to feel settled. But she said it herself – she knows she’ll get there.’

Then the front door slammed again, and this time Zoe could hear a man’s voice in the hallway. Then Emilia’s, and then both of them faded as they went to the kitchen.

‘I should…’ Georgia began, but then the front door slammed once more. One of them had gone out again. As Zoe wondered which of them it was, Emilia came back into the living room.

‘I hope you don’t think I’m being rude,’ she said to Zoe, ‘but I’m going to have a shower and then catch up on some reading upstairs. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.’

‘Not rude at all; I’m sure it’s been a long day,’ Zoe said.

Emilia gave a short nod and then was gone. When Zoe turned back to Georgia, she could see her friend looked worried. Given what she’d witnessed tonight, and what she’d gathered from it, Zoe was hardly surprised by that. This didn’t seem like a very happy household at all.