Page 36 of Christmas for the Village Midwife (The Village Midwife #2)

‘Well, that’s you, isn’t it?’ Emilia said. ‘Everyone views it differently. As far as I’m concerned, I can do without the commerciality. If I have loved ones close, that’s all I need.’

Given what Zoe also knew of Emilia’s marriage split, and that Brett and Georgia were currently forced to live with her, she also had to wonder just how much comfort the notion of having loved ones close was right now. She was hardly living in a Hallmark movie.

‘Georgia said you called her in for a chat,’ Emilia added into the gap.

‘I wanted to know she was well. I mean, because she’s so close to term and she’s away from home. It can be stressful, the uncertainty. That’s all.’

Emilia nodded slowly, and Zoe wondered how much Georgia had told her. But she offered no more, except for a thank you. ‘It’s good of you to watch over her so well.’

‘It’s my job.’

‘Yes, I know, but still.’ She glanced up and down the road. ‘I don’t think your bus is coming.’

‘I’m beginning to think that too.’

‘What’s your list like tomorrow?’

‘My workload? There’s not much on it, to be honest. I’ll be done by lunch when the surgery closes for the Christmas break.’

‘Can’t you take the afternoon to do your shopping then? I don’t think it’s going to be worth your while tonight. Even if you do manage to get there, I would imagine a lot of the shops will be closing early with the bad weather. You might struggle over for nothing.’

‘You wouldn’t mind me taking the afternoon? What about paperwork…the audit after Christmas?’

‘Not at all. You and Ottilie said the other day you’re up to date already, so it shouldn’t be a problem, should it?’

‘Well, yes, we are…’

‘In fact…’ Emilia paused, and then said something entirely unexpected. ‘I could give you a lift to Windermere and do some shopping myself. That’s if you don’t mind the company.’

‘And Georgia too?’

Emilia was silent for a moment, and then she gave her head the briefest shake. ‘I don’t think she’s up to it, do you? If she were to go into labour…’

Zoe wondered whether she was being admonished.

It was certainly stating the obvious; then again, it wasn’t as if Georgia would be without very able help should that happen.

She wondered whether Emilia had another reason for not wanting to invite Georgia, but she couldn’t think what it might be, only that she might want to get her sister a gift after all, despite what they’d agreed.

‘If you’re sure it’s no bother. I thought you said you were going to do mail order or something.’

‘I will for those I won’t see, but I’d like to get some food. Better food than I can get at the shop here.’

‘Don’t let Magnus hear you say that. He prides himself on stocking nice things.’

‘Yes, they’re fine, but there isn’t a lot of choice. I’d like to see what I can get in a bigger town, and I haven’t had the opportunity to see much of the area yet, so it would be two birds with one stone.’

‘Assuming the weather will let us, I’d love that.’

‘My car’s pretty sturdy and usually good in bad weather, so I think we ought to make it in one piece. Let’s both stop work at lunchtime and go straight off.’

‘Lavender was planning to do a special lunch before we all finished for the break,’ Zoe said doubtfully.

‘I don’t think there will be time to stay for that if we’re going to get to Windermere in time to achieve anything.’

‘She won’t like it if we miss it.’

‘It strikes me she’s too vocal about a lot of things she doesn’t like. She’s struggling with the change, I think.’

‘You mean Fliss retiring? They were close – worked together for a long time.’

‘So I hear, but nothing stays the same forever, no matter how we might want it to.’

Zoe was struck by her words and the way she’d said them.

Was she still talking about Lavender now, or her own life?

As for her offer, it made sense. It looked increasingly unlikely she was going to make the shops tonight, and the only other time she’d get was the following afternoon, sandwiched between her morning at work and the carol service that evening.

If she was going to make the best of that window, she ought to get there as soon as she could.

Lavender wasn’t going to like it, but perhaps when Zoe explained her predicament, she might let her off.

It wasn’t like they were best friends or anything because Zoe was a fairly new addition to the surgery team, and if Lavender had her very close colleagues there, it was all that mattered, surely?

‘If you do decide to go, then yes, I’d love to come along. I’m going to wait for a little longer here, just in case a bus does come.’

‘I don’t think that’s wise. It looks as if the weather is only going to get worse tonight, and when you get back to Thimblebury – assuming you can – then you still have to get up to your house.’

‘In the dark, in the snow,’ Zoe acknowledged.

She hadn’t envisaged being back late or the weather making it impossible to get up the hill, but now that Emilia had pointed it out, she recognised it was a very real possibility.

Alex wouldn’t leave her stranded if it came to it, but she didn’t want to have to get him out, not only because he’d find it difficult but for the same reasons she hadn’t wanted to tell him she was heading over to Windermere tonight.

She let out a sigh of resignation. ‘Looks like I’m going to have to wait.

If I don’t find anything tomorrow, I don’t know what I’ll do. ’

‘I’m sure you will,’ Emilia said. ‘If I were you, I’d go home and settle down before the weather gets much worse. Will you be all right? I can give you a lift?—’

‘Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I’ll take my time, and I have my torch with me.’

‘Phone me if you run into trouble. I’m popping into the shop to get some milk, and then I’ll be home for the rest of the night.’

‘Thanks, but I expect if I got really stuck, Victor would come and get me in Old Banger.’

‘In what?’

Zoe smiled. ‘His Land Rover. He calls it Old Banger.’

‘Right, I see…Well, goodnight.’

‘See you tomorrow.’

Zoe watched Emilia go into the shop, and then, with a last glance up and down the road to find only darkness in both directions, she gave up and headed for home.

Annoyingly, the snow stopped falling as soon as Zoe and Emilia had parted and, even more annoyingly, as she made her way to the path home, she saw the bus she’d wanted lumbering through the village, too far away for her to catch, even if she ran.

But perhaps Emilia had been right – Zoe would have arrived into Windermere late and would have been rushing around, with no guarantee she would get what she’d been looking for or that she’d have transport home.

The winding road up to Kestrel Cottage had been more challenging than normal, though that was to be expected, but perhaps not as challenging as it might have been because someone had tried to clear it.

The following morning she woke to a message from Ritchie, her ex.

With a frown, she opened it to find an electronic Christmas card.

It was strange because they’d barely spoken since Thimblebury’s quincentenary event, where she’d clarified, once and for all, that they were never going to get back together.

They’d had essential contact, of course, because they were still going through the process of divorce and settling what to do with the things they’d owned together, but that had been it.

Perhaps, she thought with relief that was tinged with some regret for the way things had gone between them, he’d started to forgive her and move on.

It would be a nice Christmas gift to think so.

Work had thankfully been low-key. It was a welcome slow down after a hectic few weeks.

Most of her expectant mums hadn’t wanted appointments on Christmas Eve, and the ones who did come only wanted reassurance that someone would be on call over the festive season should they need it.

Zoe’s clinic list was done by eleven, and then she spent the next couple of hours making sure all her paperwork was up to date for the audit they were expecting in the new year.

She’d managed to schedule a quick catch-up with Ottilie too – she’d changed her mind about her maternity leave and now wanted to wait until the very last minute again before she stopped work.

Zoe wasn’t hugely happy about it but recognised that if Ottilie felt well – and she insisted that she did – it was her decision to make.

She didn’t blame her for wanting to save her maternity leave entitlement for after the baby was born, rather than using it up before.

The one thing Zoe had needed to do she’d been avoiding, and that was telling Lavender that she was going out with Emilia once they’d closed the surgery instead of having a last-day-of-work celebratory lunch with the rest of them.

She’d mentioned it to Ottilie, who had seemed surprisingly disappointed about it, though she understood the reasons why, but who also warned her that Lavender wouldn’t be happy.

‘I’m sorry,’ Zoe said when she eventually plucked up the courage to go through to reception and tell her, shortly before lunchtime. ‘It’s just that I really need to get to Windermere, and the shops will probably close early today. So I can’t hang around. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.’

‘Next year?’ Lavender’s tone was sullen, and she was making no attempt to hide it.

‘Yes…well, before then I expect. There’s New Year’s, isn’t there?’

‘Assuming I’ll be here. I might have given in my notice by then.’

‘Lavender…’ Zoe tried to pat her arm, but she moved it out of the way.

‘Don’t Lavender me. This surgery is falling apart. I knew it would, the minute Fliss left. We used to be like family, and now nobody cares.’

‘But you’re the surgery mum.’

‘I doubt it. There’s no point trying to butter me up. I’m disappointed in you, Zoe. I thought you’d be on my side.’

Zoe wanted to laugh at the absurdity of Lavender’s statement, and it wasn’t unlike something her actual mum would have said. But she also realised that, though it sounded silly to her, it was important to Lavender.

‘I am,’ she said. ‘But I have to get a present for Alex. You understand, don’t you?’

‘I suppose so,’ Lavender said grudgingly. ‘You can’t even stay for one drink and a sandwich?’

‘I can’t, sorry.’

‘Hmm…’ Lavender looked sceptical but then went back to her computer. ‘OK then. I take it you will manage to come to the carol service later?’

‘Definitely. I wouldn’t miss that.’

‘See you later then.’

‘I’ll see you before I go this afternoon,’ Zoe added, but Lavender only gave a dismissive nod. She didn’t feel at fault, but Zoe did feel bad for letting Lavender down. Maybe she’d buy her a little something in Windermere too as an apology.

‘Lavender…’ Emilia came to the desk, giving Zoe a brief look before turning back to their receptionist. ‘Could you phone this patient to see if he can come in before we close today? I need to see him ideally before Christmas.’

‘Yes, Doctor,’ Lavender said, viewing Emilia with such reproach that there was no way Emilia could fail to recognise it. But if she did, she saw no reason to comment. She didn’t even look a bit concerned; she only nodded. ‘Let me know what he says. Please impress on him the urgency.’

‘Is it bad news?’ Lavender asked.

‘It’s not the best.’

‘Then surely you should wait until after Christmas to give it to him? There’s no point in making him worry over the whole break.’

‘Christmas or not, there are time limits that we need to adhere to. I want to see him before we break up.’

‘But he’s got literally an hour to get here!’

‘How far away is his house?’

‘A couple of streets away.’

‘And he’s retired. Shouldn’t be a problem.’

‘But—’

‘If you could,’ Emilia insisted before leaving them again.

Lavender glared at her retreating figure, and Zoe decided to get out of the way before she got dragged any further into their feud.