Page 25 of Christmas for the Village Midwife (The Village Midwife #2)

‘We’re so glad you’re joining us,’ Magnus said as they began to walk.

Geoff was balancing the box containing Magnus’s prize-winning creation in his arms, while Magnus carried a bag with all the extras he’d used to display it.

The decorative wooden spoon he’d won was in his other hand, held aloft like a mystical sword of old.

Zoe couldn’t help but grin. He looked so proud, and he obviously hoped people would stop and ask about it.

‘Thanks for asking me,’ Zoe replied. ‘I haven’t been to one of your parties yet.’

‘You haven’t, have you,’ Magnus said.

‘I don’t know how we managed that,’ Geoff put in cheerfully. ‘Nobody in Thimblebury escapes them forever, though.’

‘I hope you like cava,’ Magnus said. ‘Geoff bought lots of it last week.’

‘For today?’ Zoe asked.

‘No, for the shop, but I’m sure it won’t matter if a few bottles go missing from the shelves.’

‘Naughty,’ Zoe said, and they both laughed. ‘Should I have picked up some food or something? I’ve just realised I’m turning up empty-handed. It’s not very polite, is it?’

‘We don’t care about that,’ Geoff said. ‘There’s plenty of food at ours. We’ve always got nibbles in because you never know when you’re going to have guests.’

‘Exactly,’ Magnus said. As they passed Emilia’s house, he angled his head at it. ‘I wonder if the new doctor would like to come.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Zoe said.

‘We could knock and ask. Or her sister and her husband might want to come.’

‘Really, I don’t think they would. Georgia’s very pregnant for a start.’

‘I’m sure we have some juice or sparkling water for her to drink. It wouldn’t have to be for long, just an hour to get to know everyone and then they could go.’

‘I’ve got her number,’ Zoe said. ‘Better I message to see rather than us knock.’

‘But—’ Magnus began again before Geoff cut him off.

‘I think Zoe probably knows best, love. I know you’re all giddy about today, but not everyone will want to come to our party.’

‘I only wanted to be neighbourly,’ Magnus said with a note of offence in his voice.

‘Emilia is a bit serious,’ Zoe said. ‘I don’t think she’s the partying type. She won’t even get involved in the Christmas stuff at work, so…’

‘Oh,’ Magnus said. ‘I see.’

Zoe suspected he didn’t see because he looked bemused. Perhaps someone who was such a gregarious party lover could never understand why someone else wouldn’t want to go to one.

‘Who else is coming?’ she asked.

‘I’m not sure,’ Geoff admitted. ‘We asked everyone who was at the church hall today, and we’ve texted one or two others. It’s quite a casual affair, really; people will drop by if they can – at least that’s the general idea. We haven’t gone to a lot of trouble, so we don’t mind either way.’

‘At least we’ve got you, eh?’ Magnus smiled. ‘That’s one guest straight off.’

‘I’m sure you’ll get more than just me!’

‘Yes, I think so,’ Geoff said. ‘People want to go home and get straight first. That’s all right – we need to get straight really ourselves. It’s not going to be full catering, but we’d like to put one or two bits of food on.’

‘I can help with that.’

‘Bless you,’ Geoff said. ‘That’s sweet of you.’

‘I don’t mind at all. I’m not doing a lot else today, and I will be eating some of it. In fact, I’ll be eating a lot of it because I’m starving!’

‘Oh, love!’ Geoff looked as if she’d just announced her imminent demise. ‘You should have said! The first thing we’ll do when we get home is fix you a bit of something to keep you going!’

‘I didn’t mean…I can wait, of course. All I meant is I’m looking forward to a few nibbles.’

‘I insist.’ Geoff looked at Magnus. ‘We still have some of that casserole from last night, don’t we?’

‘Yes, but all the dauphinoise were used up.’

‘That’s all right,’ Geoff replied cheerfully. ‘We can make more.’

‘Oh,’ Zoe began to protest, ‘I really don’t want you to go to loads of trouble!’

‘It will be no trouble,’ Magnus said. ‘It will be a pleasure.’

In the end, Zoe had argued against them cooking a whole new pan of potatoes just to feed her, and they’d given in, serving the casserole with some crusty bread instead.

Zoe hadn’t realised how hungry she’d become until it was in front of her and she began to wolf it down.

She was also eating quickly so she could finish up and pull her weight.

As she sat at the kitchen island, Geoff and Magnus were busy around her, preparing salads and crudities, whipping up dips in the food processor and baking savouries.

They’d said ‘a few nibbles’, but Zoe had seen full-on weddings catered less opulently.

Their house was decorated for Christmas, and it didn’t surprise Zoe one bit to see everything was perfectly matched and complimentary, tasteful and very expensive-looking.

The tree was hung with silver and white baubles, with silver and white tinsel and streamers and a collection of silver and white Christmas-themed ornaments dotted around.

There was a large silver and white nutcracker soldier standing in one corner of the garden, dusted with snow, and there were white lanterns adorning the trees.

Just as she emptied her bowl and took it to the dishwasher, Stacey and Simon arrived.

After a few words, Simon was ordered to sit with a mince pie and mulled wine while Stacey joined Geoff to cut some sandwiches, chatting family politics as they worked.

Zoe went to have a quick word with Simon while she could get a quiet moment with him.

‘I don’t know if I should be saying anything, but something was going on at Emilia’s house earlier when I called.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m gossiping because that’s not the intention.

I only thought you ought to know in case…

well, I don’t know. I suppose in case you notice something off at work.

If you did, it might go some way to explaining it. ’

‘What sort of thing?’

‘I don’t want to say because I’m not sure I’m seeing the whole picture. It might even be nothing at all, really.’ Zoe shook her head. ‘Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn’t have said anything. Ignore me; pretend I didn’t.’

With the intention of going to see if she could help Magnus, she took a step away but then halted as Simon called her back.

‘Sorry,’ she said.

‘What for?’

‘For sounding like I’m spreading rumours.’

‘Don’t be silly. You’re just concerned. As you said, it might be nothing, but if I feel something’s off at work, I’ll at least have a heads-up that it might be a personal issue.’

Zoe gave a brief nod and then left him with his wine.

Almost as soon as she had, Ottilie arrived with Heath.

She wore a loose burgundy dress of thick cotton that draped over her very obvious bump, and though she’d admitted to Zoe she was often tired now, the flush in her cheeks from the cold and the extra gloss of her hair made her look lovely.

In Zoe’s opinion, she was very definitely blooming.

Ottilie and Heath had left Flo at home because she’d felt tired – though Ottilie offered the opinion that she was also a little resentful that she hadn’t even placed in the winners again that year, because she’d said more than once that she would probably be dead soon and she’d never get to win the blasted thing – which meant that the last place she wanted to be was at Magnus and Geoff’s, celebrating someone else’s victory.

Ten minutes later, Magnus and Geoff had more or less finished their preparations, and in the end Zoe was given very little to do to help.

So she took a moment to message Alex to let him know she was here and that he ought to come down to join her.

Not only would it be a nice excuse to mix with their neighbours, but it was also a perfect opportunity to win hearts.

There were still some who viewed them both as outsiders and some who were not happy at the prospect of Alex’s plans to open a campsite on the land of Hilltop Farm, but if they could charm even a few of those, it would go a long way to smoothing that path.

Alex replied that it was a great idea and that she was a savvy little Machiavelli, and though she wasn’t sure what that meant, she took it as a compliment.

‘Alex says he’d like to come but he’ll be around an hour,’ she said to Magnus. ‘That’s not too late, is it? You won’t be wanting to wrap up by then?’

Magnus laughed. ‘That’s crazy talk! We’ll just be getting warmed up by then! Of course he can come when he’s ready – the more the merrier! Do you think Billie might change her mind and come along too, now she’ll have had a rest?’

‘I don’t think so. She seemed pretty tired.’

‘Poor love,’ Magnus replied. ‘Geoff and I talked about adopting a baby once, you know. I often wonder if we made the right choice when we decided not to, but we had such a lot to do here with the shop, and it never seemed like the right time. But I do love little ones. It’s nice we have so many on the way in the village now.

At least we’ll get to see them grow up, even if we don’t have our own. ’

‘It’s a big decision,’ Zoe said. ‘I can understand why you hesitated.’

‘When do you think you’ll be ready?’ he asked, and Zoe tried not to wince at the question. Magnus probably didn’t know about the baby she’d lost at the beginning of that year because she hadn’t made it common knowledge, so she could hardly be upset at his inadvertent mistake.

‘Not yet,’ she said. ‘I’d need to find a man willing to cooperate first.’

Magnus laughed. ‘You have one.’

‘I do, but perhaps we need to have been together longer than a few weeks before I ask him that question,’ Zoe said.

‘Patience is a thing I’ve never had much of,’ Magnus said. ‘At least, that’s what Geoff says.’

‘I think he might be right. Anyway, the surgery is already about to be down one member of staff on maternity leave; I don’t want to add to that.’

‘When is Ottilie going to leave?’