Page 52 of Christmas for the Village Midwife (The Village Midwife #2)

It was funny, but Zoe had to agree with Alex.

While she wasn’t especially religious and never went to the Christmas Day service ordinarily, something about this one touched her in an oddly spiritual way.

Perhaps it was the drama of the night before, the fact that she’d helped to bring a life into the world in this very building, or the deep sense of community that she’d simply never experienced anywhere before, but something was different.

She felt safe and loved and part of something far bigger than a tiny village full of people who were all as different as they were the same.

It wasn’t until the service had ended, however, and people were drifting away that she noticed some absences. The vicar stood at the doors, issuing his blessings for the season and the coming year, and Zoe scanned the congregation as they waited their turn to speak to him.

‘I wonder where Victor and Corrine are,’ she said to Alex.

He shrugged. ‘I suppose they decided not to come.’

‘But…’ Zoe shook her head slightly. ‘I always thought they were regulars. I mean, not regulars all year, but I imagined they’d be here for special things like this. No Magnus and Geoff either.’

‘I don’t have them down as churchgoers.’

‘But they came yesterday.’

‘So, one is enough for them? I don’t know.’ Alex allowed his gaze to wander too. ‘See, not everyone is here anyway. No Ottilie and Heath, no Stacey and Simon…’

‘But I’m not surprised by them – I know they wouldn’t want to come anyway.’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t know what to say. We’ll see Corrine and Victor at their Boxing Day thing tomorrow, so I wouldn’t worry.’

‘I’m not. I just thought it was odd.’ Zoe let out a sigh. ‘I imagine this all means we’re going to be eating our lunch a lot later than we’d planned. I haven’t even got the turkey on yet.’

‘That doesn’t matter. We’ll eat when we eat.’

‘I know it doesn’t really, but I wanted our first Christmas to be perfect…’ She looked up at him. ‘It’s far from perfect. Everything’s gone wrong, and I know it can’t be helped, but it’s still not what I wanted for us.’

‘It’s only lunch.’ He stroked her hair with a warm smile. ‘And it’s not like we won’t eat it at all.’

‘My presents for you are crap too. I ran out of time, and I didn’t know what to get?—’

‘I don’t care about that. Having you with me is enough.’

‘And I look like crap. And the cottage looks like crap because I haven’t been there to get it ready. I mean, we did the tree and some other bits, but I was going to do some extra cleaning, and I haven’t had time, and I wanted to, you know, make it perfect.’

‘We don’t care if it’s perfect, and I bet it is anyway, but if it bothers you that much, then grab everything you need and come to ours. It doesn’t matter which house we spend the day in.’

‘But that means you’ll have to do the work and make the mess at yours, and I wanted it at mine so you could have a break and be spoiled because I know Christmas can be hard for you. I wanted to make it lovely for you and Billie.’

‘You already have! Stop worrying!’

‘I’m not worrying; I’m just…disappointed. I wanted more for us.’

‘How much more do you want from this Christmas?’ he asked with a light laugh. ‘You delivered a baby! By yourself in a church!’

‘Not exactly by myself?—’

‘Zoe, stop! Would you listen to yourself for one minute? You don’t owe one word of apology to anyone!

We will have an awesome Christmas – I’ve already had the most amazing Christmas and we’re not even past lunch yet!

I love you, you loon! After yesterday, I don’t think I could love you any more!

You showed everyone just who you are, and it’s the most beautiful person.

We’ll have lunch when we have lunch, and I’ll love my gifts, and everything will be perfect as it is. ’

Zoe still felt sceptical, and she wondered if her face showed it.

Of course, his words meant more to her than anything, and she loved that he was so content with the Christmas they were having, but she’d wanted so much more.

She couldn’t help but feel that if she’d simply been a little more organised in the weeks leading to it, if she could have managed better, made more sensible decisions, things might have been perfect.

Perhaps, she reflected, a little common sense managing to break through, she only felt so disappointed because she was so tired, and it was hard to feel anything but negative when someone was as exhausted as she was.

‘Come here…’ he said, pulling her into a hug. ‘I don’t want you to worry about anything for the rest of the day.’

‘I’ll have to worry about lunch – I did promise to cook, after all.’

‘We’ll work something out,’ he said.

When it was their turn to speak to the vicar, he had plenty to say about the drama that had unfolded in his church overnight, and Zoe could see people listening in with shocked expressions.

It led to many of them coming to her and Alex afterwards to ask about it, and all they did for the following half hour was relay the story again and again.

It was as their audience finally dispersed that Zoe realised she hadn’t seen Billie in a while.

Alex’s daughter had been at the service with them, but when was the last time Zoe actually remembered speaking to her?

Certainly not as they’d waited their turn to wish the vicar merry Christmas or when they’d been chatting to members of the congregation outside.

‘Where’s Billie?’ she asked sharply, surprised that Alex hadn’t already said anything about her absence.

‘Oh, she’s gone over to Emilia’s,’ he said.

‘When did she do that? Why didn’t she say anything?’

‘She did…You weren’t looking.’

‘I thought she might have said goodbye, though.’

‘She did. She said it to me.’

Zoe tried not to frown, but there was something evasive about Alex’s excuses. Yes, that was it – they sounded like excuses.

At the gates to the church, they were met by Leon, who hadn’t been to the service. He was jangling a set of keys in his hand and whistling as he watched everyone disperse.

‘Merry Christmas!’ Alex said, leading Zoe over.

‘Same to you. How did you manage last night? Nice and comfy?’

Alex grinned. ‘It wasn’t too bad. I wouldn’t call it five star, but we managed to get at least half an hour’s sleep.’

‘Need a lift up the hill?’ Leon asked. ‘I’ve got the four-by-four parked over there, and it’s not too bad going underfoot now.’

‘For your jeep, maybe,’ Zoe said. ‘Not so much for my feet. I’d love a lift if we could have one.’

‘No problem,’ Leon said. ‘Ready when you are then.’

The trip back up to Kestrel Cottage was tough going, but a world away from the journey they’d endured to get down the hill the evening before.

At least the relentless blizzard conditions had stopped.

The sun was shining, throwing bleached light across the glittering landscape, and the scattered clouds that dotted the sky did their best to wring a few more flakes out, but they were gentle, barely there, fluttering ineffectually to the ground to catch the sun like dust motes in an empty room.

Zoe felt Alex’s hand wrap around hers as she watched from the window of Leon’s four-by-four. She turned to see him smiling.

‘All right?’ he asked.

‘Yes. I don’t feel as tired as I did. I think maybe I’ve pushed past it.’

‘Like jet lag? You don’t want to have a nap then?’

‘No. I don’t want to waste any of what we have left of the day in bed. I want to spend it with you and Billie. Will she come back up from Emilia’s before lunch?’ Zoe added, suddenly troubled by the notion that Billie might not want to have lunch with them.

‘I expect so,’ he said cheerfully.

Leon pulled up outside Kestrel Cottage.

‘Are you going back to Hilltop first?’ Zoe asked Alex.

‘I don’t think so.’

She’d assumed he’d want to get freshened up, perhaps change his clothes and pick up any gifts he had left for her, and so she was vaguely surprised to hear him say he wasn’t going to go home before their lunch.

She had a lot to do too, and she’d been hoping for some time without distractions to get things on the go ready for him and Billie to come back.

But, she supposed, it was still treacherous underfoot, and perhaps the amount of snow that lay between his place and hers was enough of a deterrent.

She didn’t know how staying would work for any of his plans, but he didn’t seem concerned.

She was also surprised to see Leon get out of the jeep and come to meet them at the gate, giving every impression he was expecting to stay too.

Zoe got out her key and opened the gate. Someone had cleared the path to her door. She couldn’t imagine who, unless Victor had called and decided to do it, but that seemed unnecessary on Christmas Day when he ought to be enjoying it with his family. Then again, she mused, Leon was here.

As soon as the front door was open, she could see the lights were on in the kitchen.

And a second later, the aroma registered.

Many of them, in fact – cooking meat and warm herbs and things she couldn’t quite place.

But the house was quiet. She turned back to Alex with a puzzled look.

Had the oddest burglars in the world broken in?

Ones that cleared the path, cooked lunch and then scarpered?

‘Go on into the kitchen,’ he urged her with a grin.

Zoe did as she was asked and was greeted by a roar.

‘Surprise!’

Corrine and Victor and their daughter Penny, Billie, Magnus and Geoff, Ottilie, Heath and Flo, and Stacey and Simon were in the kitchen.

The table was dressed and laid with crockery, cutlery and crackers, and at the centre sat a row of bowls containing vegetables, roast potatoes, gravy, a selection of garnishes and, of course, a vast, bronzed, steaming turkey.

Zoe’s mouth opened and closed, but no words would come out.

‘We thought you’d be exhausted,’ Alex said. ‘And Corrine wondered if you might want some help. And then it sort of snowballed from there. If you’ll excuse the pun.’

Zoe stared at everyone as they beamed at her, unable to take in just what she was seeing. And then she began to cry.

In the next second, everyone was gathered around her, hugging her, apologising for being there uninvited, wondering if they ought to leave, wondering if she needed to rest. But she wasn’t crying for any of those reasons.

She could barely articulate it, but she was crying because she was overwhelmed by their love.

Because that was what she felt – loved in a way she’d never felt before, and certainly not by so many people who hadn’t even been in her life a year.

‘I’m sorry…’ she stuttered. ‘I didn’t mean…It’s lovely…I don’t want…I don’t want to sound…ungrateful…’

‘Give her some room!’ Victor said finally.

Everyone moved away, and Alex took her out into the hall while the rest of them stared at one another and wondered what to do.

‘Are you angry?’ His face was full of doubt and concern. ‘I should have realised. I should have asked if you wanted all these people in your house. You’re tired. I’m sorry – I thought it might?—’

‘I love it!’ she said, cutting off his apology. ‘I love that everyone wanted to do this for me. I don’t know how to react to it because it’s never happened to me before, that’s all. Nobody’s ever taken the time to think about me like this.’

‘Nobody? Not ever?’

She shook her head. ‘Not like this, not so many people. I don’t know what to say.’

‘I do,’ he said. ‘If nobody has ever thought you deserved a fuss, then you haven’t had the right people in your life.

You deserve so much more than this. You give and give and never ask for anything in return.

So it’s about time someone showed you how loved you are.

That’s all everyone wanted to do, but if you want them to leave, nobody would be upset. We’d absolutely understand.’

‘God no! I want everyone to stay! It’s the best…’ She gulped back fresh tears. ‘It’s the loveliest thing anyone has ever done for me. It would be the best Christmas… yes’ – she gave a firm nod – ‘I want everyone to stay.’

When they went back to the kitchen, the mood was far more subdued than it had been on her arrival, and Zoe hated that her reaction was the cause of that.

‘I’m sorry,’ she began, and there was a chorus of people telling her she owed them no apology at all.

As it quietened, she began again. ‘Thank you so much. This is all so lovely, the nicest thing…I don’t know what to say, but thank you!

And I hope you’re all staying. I mean, I’m sorry for taking you away from your own Christmas dinners?—’

‘Put a sock in it, Zoe!’ Ottilie rolled her eyes, and then everyone started to laugh. ‘If we didn’t want to be here, we wouldn’t! So shut up, sit down, and eat your dinner – because I don’t know about you, but I’m starving so I’m starting with or without you!’

Zoe laughed through new tears. She wished she could stop them, but she was simply too happy.

Instead, she kept on explaining to anyone who would listen that she wasn’t sad, quite the opposite, as the dishes of vegetables and potatoes were passed around and Victor took on the carving of the biggest turkey Zoe had ever seen.

‘Merry Christmas.’

Alex’s voice was in her ear, his head close as she turned to him.

‘Thank you,’ she said.

‘That’s it now,’ he said. ‘You’ve used up your quota.

No more thank yous. You’ve done so much for everyone else, this is the least we could all do for you.

I know you’ll be tempted to forget that, or you won’t believe me, but it’s true.

You’re quite the woman, Zoe Padbury. Meeting you was a day I never saw coming when I first clapped eyes on Hilltop, but the best surprise ever. ’

Hilltop…The key Alex had given her the night before was sitting on his kitchen table where she’d left it when Emilia’s text had come through.

Kestrel Cottage had become home for her, quicker than she could have imagined, but Hilltop was beginning to feel like the place she’d always been destined for.

As for home, perhaps it wasn’t really Kestrel Cottage.

As she looked at the faces gathered around her table, people who’d become her best friends almost overnight, perhaps they were home.

The people of Thimblebury, the very best of people, a community unlike any other.

In a few days, a new year would begin. There was no way of knowing what it held, but Zoe was hopeful. As long as she had Alex and this village, she was sure everything else would work out just fine.