Page 43 of Christmas for the Village Midwife (The Village Midwife #2)

‘Ah…’ Alex gave a sheepish grin. ‘Looks like we’re going back to the Stone Age for a bit then.’

‘It’s kind of nice,’ Zoe said, and both Billie and Alex stared at her. ‘Traditional, you know? Like an old-fashioned Christmas before they had electric. It could be fun.’

‘At least we’re here and in one piece,’ Alex said. ‘That’ll do for me. It also looks as if you’ll be staying here for the foreseeable.’

‘Looks like it. I was going to go home after the service to do some bits for tomorrow’s lunch before we settled down here, but I suppose that’s out of the question after all the unexpected drama.’

‘We’ll manage. It doesn’t matter if lunch isn’t perfect, as long as we’re together.’

‘I know, but it’s our first one together, and I wanted it to be. I offered, and I’m…well, I’m disappointed. I wanted it to be special.’

‘It will be.’ He smiled warmly at her before clapping his hands together. ‘Right…let’s see about this pan-on-the-stove business, and when we’ve had a cup of tea and warmed up, we’ll do the Christmas Eve present exchange, eh, Billie?’

‘Yeah,’ Billie said, her gaze going to a neatly wrapped parcel on the table. She’d clearly been ready and waiting for some time.

Zoe couldn’t help but feel responsible for the delay, but wasn’t sure how it could have been helped in the end.

Finally, with the feeling just about coming back to her extremities, Zoe was sitting with a blanket over her lap in front of the fire with a cup of hot tea. Billie had settled down with her while Alex went to get their early gifts from under the tree.

‘I saw Maisie,’ Zoe said to Billie. ‘I think you made quite an impression on her.’

‘Did I?’

Zoe nodded. ‘Seemed like she had a great time with you. And thanks for cooking for her. It’s good to know she’s getting some decent food.’

‘Well, if she comes over again, I’ll cook something else for her.’

‘That would be great. And good for her to see you being so sensible about your pregnancy.’

‘Yeah, she told me about her mum. What a dickhead.’

Alex burst into laughter as he came over with their gifts. ‘Billie! You can’t say that!’

Billie rolled her eyes. ‘I just did. Anyway, it’s the truth.’

Zoe paused, wondering if Billie would share anything more of her afternoon with Maisie. She hadn’t yet asked Billie about what Maisie had said regarding supporting one another after their babies were born, and Billie hadn’t volunteered any of the details either.

Alex had been an even trickier prospect.

Zoe had been desperate to share what she knew with him, but she was painfully aware of the dangers of creating false hope.

If Billie was changing her mind about the adoption, the news needed to come from her, and she had to have made her decision without any pressure or expectation from anyone else.

‘Well, here you go…’ Alex said, handing a parcel to her, and as she took it, Zoe realised the moment had gone. For now, she put it from her mind and smiled as she watched Billie open her Christmas Eve gift.

‘It’s lovely!’ she said, standing to open out a heavily beaded and embroidered wall hanging.

‘I had it shipped from Spain,’ he said. ‘From that shop you loved in Seville – remember?’

‘The handicraft place…’ Billie gaped. ‘It must have cost you so much to get it sent here! You should have saved it for my main present!’

‘I was going to, but I was too excited for you to open it.’

‘Dad!’ Billie laughed. ‘You’re like a kid!’

‘It’s been said.’

‘Aww…’ She kissed him on the cheek, and Zoe wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her look so happy. ‘I love it! Can you help me put it up in my room later?’

‘It would be my pleasure, mademoiselle !’

Right.’ Billie nodded at the coffee table, where a neatly wrapped parcel was sitting. ‘Your turn.’

He reached for it and undid the ribbon. He was silent for a moment as he opened the paper and studied what was inside.

‘Wow…’ he said finally.

‘You like it?’ Billie asked. ‘I know it seems a bit random, but?—’

‘Of course I like it,’ he said. ‘It’s brilliant.’

‘I thought when we’re all done here and Hilltop is how we want it, it might be nice to have those pictures to look back on.

To see how far we’ve come, you know, remember what it was like when we got here.

I took some of the countryside too, when I was walking around those first couple of weeks.

I didn’t know I was going to make a book for you, but I had some space, and I thought I’d put them in too. ’

‘Can I see?’ Zoe asked, craning to look over his shoulder.

He handed the book to her. Lit by the warm yellow glow of the candles, she flicked through to see photographs of what Hilltop had looked like before he and Billie had arrived and started to transform it.

They’d come so far already, she silently remarked as she turned the pages, even though they often said there was a lot more to do.

‘I forgot just how run-down it was when Ann had it. I mean, it wasn’t horrible, but she’d said she needed to do a lot of repairs.’

Alex nodded, and Zoe went back to the book to see photos of the hills and valleys around their home, taken at different times of the day where the light was watercolour greys and blues, or where the sun was cresting a hilltop to bathe it in golden rays, or a red and orange sky was fading into twilight.

Billie had photographed flocks of birds, and a lone buzzard circling the field that separated Hilltop from Daffodil Farm and Kestrel Cottage.

She’d taken shots of the flora and fauna, and there was almost more nature in the book than there were images of their house.

Zoe looked up at her with a bemused smile.

She hadn’t meant to, but she couldn’t help it.

She’d never had Billie down as someone this connected to the world around them.

Alex’s daughter was still full of surprises, even now, when Zoe was starting to feel she almost knew her.

‘It’s gorgeous,’ she said, closing it carefully and giving it back to Alex. ‘You’re really creative. I should have known that already from your gingerbread house,’ she added. ‘But you’re actually good at everything!’

‘Not everything,’ Billie said, flushing. ‘I like taking photos, that’s all. I used to do it all the time, and I forgot for a while, but I got my old camera out and started to take some and…’ She shrugged. ‘I didn’t know I’d missed photography until I started to do it again.’

‘You’ll have cracking shots for your accounts when the campsite is up and running. Your dad says you’re taking on the social media.’

‘If I have time,’ she said, shooting a cautious glance at Alex.

‘You might get a job instead?’ Zoe asked, her mind going back to what Maisie had told her about Billie suggesting they both work at Hilltop together and the plans for their babies.

‘Wouldn’t you rather work in the family business with your dad?

I mean, it will be sort of a family business, won’t it? ’

‘Maybe,’ Billie replied, and Zoe detected that hesitation again. Clearly, she had thoughts she wasn’t ready to share yet. Zoe didn’t yet know Billie properly, but she knew one thing – she would make her feelings and her plans known when she was ready and not before.

‘I have one for you…’ Alex said to Zoe, putting his book down and reaching behind the sofa for a small square gift.

‘Oh no!’ Zoe protested. ‘You know I didn’t get you anything!’

‘I haven’t done it for that reason; I just didn’t want to leave you out.’

‘But I feel terrible I haven’t got anything for you and Billie.’

‘You’ve got actual Christmas presents,’ he said.

‘Yes, but they’re at my place for tomorrow.’

‘Then we’ll have them tomorrow. This isn’t about keeping score; we just wanted you to be able to join in our tradition.’

Zoe gave him a warm smile, knowing when she was beaten and touched, despite the gesture feeling one-sided. ‘Thank you, but you shouldn’t have.’

‘I’ll take it back then…’ he said, and she snatched it from his grasp.

‘No you won’t! I want to see what it is now!’

Tearing off the paper, she found a small midnight-blue box. Inside, there was a key. She looked up at him.

‘It’s a spare one,’ he said. ‘For Hilltop. You can come and go as you please, and maybe, when you’re ready, you can come and not go…’

Zoe’s eyes filled with tears, and she looked at Billie to see the plan had her approval.

Her head wanted to say it was too soon, that she wasn’t ready for a move like that, but it didn’t matter.

He’d phrased his hopes perfectly, so that there was no pressure.

She could come and go, and when she was ready, she could come and stay forever.

‘Thank you,’ she whispered, stroking the key.

‘I hope it hasn’t freaked you out,’ he said, sudden doubt in his eyes. ‘That wasn’t my intention.’

‘Not one bit. We’ll need time, but I think…I think I’d love to be here all the time eventually.’

There was silence, and a flood of understanding that passed between all three of them that, somehow, this was a huge moment. The key in her hand and Alex’s offer would make them a family. What was bigger and meant more than that was Billie’s acceptance.

The spell was broken as the lights went back on. A few minutes later, phones began to beep the arrival of messages.

‘There’s a lot from you,’ Alex said to Billie as he scrolled through his. ‘Anyone would think you were worried about us.’

‘Very funny,’ she shot back. ‘It’s all right for you – you weren’t sitting here alone with no electricity.’

‘I think I’d rather have been doing that than fighting my way home in a blizzard.’

‘That’s not fair. I was scared. I thought something had happened to you…’

Alex’s face fell, and Zoe knew what he was thinking.

He’d been flippant, but as soon as he’d made the joke, he’d realised that Billie had lost so much, people who were everything to her, so she’d had every right to be afraid for them.

He’d allowed himself to forget, for just a second, and it hadn’t been fair.

‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘You’re right.’