Page 22 of Christmas for the Village Midwife (The Village Midwife #2)

‘More like he didn’t want to get involved in the village politics,’ Zoe said. ‘As if you need to know anything beyond “does it look good?” and “does it taste nice?” to judge some gingerbread houses.’

‘I’d say that’s about right, but…’ Ottilie angled her head subtly in Flo’s direction. ‘You can hardly blame him for wanting to stay out of it.’

Zoe was distracted from their conversation by another thought. ‘Georgia said she was going to come and bring a little something.’

‘Emilia’s sister?’

Zoe nodded. ‘At least I thought that’s what she said. Last time I saw her, she mentioned joining in. She’s not here, though. Hope she’s all right.’

‘She could be running late. Or she might have decided not to bother in the end. She is almost ready to pop, after all.’

‘True. I was hoping she would, though.’

‘Why’s that?’

Zoe turned to her. ‘No reason. Well, there is a reason, but it’s nothing important, just that I thought it might be good for her. She seems a bit…’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t know. Sometimes you get a feeling about something, don’t you?’

‘You think something isn’t right with her? It would explain Emilia. Every time I talk to her, I get the sense she’s stressed out about something, and it’s nothing to do with work.’

‘I get that too. It must be a lot, when you think about it, though.’

‘Moving to a new place, new job and having your sister and brother-in-law staying with you? You can say that again! I mean, I loved having my sister living with me for those few months, but it wasn’t plain sailing.’

‘It can’t have helped with what happened between your sister and Victor’s son-in-law either.’

‘The affair, you mean. Well, no, but…’ Ottilie paused.

‘Has Georgia ever said why? Not that there’s any law against staying with your sister, of course, but it does seem an odd way to go about things.

Like, sure, you’d ask her to come and stay at some point but maybe not when you’re trying to settle in yourself. ’

‘I’ll text her before this starts,’ Zoe said, starting back to her own table where she’d left her phone. ‘Sorry, you don’t mind…?’

‘Of course not. I’ll catch up with you later.’

Zoe composed her text to Georgia:

Not sure if you’ve forgotten but the gingerbread competition is about to start. You’ve changed your mind about entering?

Zoe paused, watching the screen of her phone as if she might will a reply.

After thirty seconds or so, she put it down, close by so she could hear a reply if it came through, and went about making some last-minute adjustments to her own display.

Not that it would really make any difference.

She had to agree with Flo on one thing – looking at both Corrine and Billie’s entries and then glancing across the room to see Magnus’s cathedral looking impressive too, there didn’t seem any point in fretting about her own entry.

The winner was going to be one of those three, and anyone in that room would be forced to agree if asked.

She checked her phone again. There was still nothing from Georgia, and for reasons she couldn’t put her finger on, that bothered her.

Part of it was the obvious fact that Georgia was now very close to term and the potential for her to go into labour while she was a guest at Emilia’s house was very real, but there was another aspect to the situation that troubled Zoe, and it was that underlying, unshakeable feeling that all was not right with her, no matter how happy she tried to look when Zoe was around.

Zoe had to admit she could have been mistaken, and perhaps she simply didn’t know Georgia that well any more.

But even taking that into consideration, there was Brett’s unfathomable detachment whenever Zoe ran into him, and Emilia’s obvious preoccupation that Zoe was convinced had to be about more than just work.

It was frustrating because Zoe hardly knew them, really, and she had no baseline to know for sure that anything was wrong.

Her gut was telling her something – she just wished she could be certain of what it was.

‘How long do we have before they start the judging?’ Zoe asked Corrine.

‘Around ten minutes, I’d say, though these things never start on time. Why do you ask?’

‘I need to pop out. Could you keep an eye on things here?’

‘Yes, but is there anything I can do to?—’

‘No, no…I don’t think I’ll be long; I just want to check on something.’

‘Something or someone?’ Corrine asked with a shrewd look.

Zoe smiled. ‘Someone.’

‘Go and check on her then,’ Corrine said. ‘If it will put your mind at rest.’

‘I’ll try to be back before the judging starts, but if I’m not, would you please apologise to them for mine and let them know I don’t plan to subject their eyes to such horrors again next year.’

Corrine smiled, and though it was warm, it was tinged with a hint of concern. Zoe hadn’t wanted to worry her, but perhaps her own vague, unknowable worries were tangible enough to spread. She grabbed her coat and headed out into the cold.