Page 102 of The Village Midwife
But Victor, like everyone else, was at the quincentenary. Nobody was going to help her, and so she’d have to deal with this mess herself. She had, after all, made it in the first place.
She marched harder still, up the hillside track that led to her home. All the while, she knew Ritchie was still there, andby the time she was at the crossroads between the path that led to Hilltop and the path that went to Daffodil Farm, she’d had enough.
She stopped and turned, planting her hands on her hips. ‘This is ridiculous! I told you I wanted to go home to get some peace, and that means from you as well.’
‘I want to look after you. You need someone, even if you don’t think you do.’
‘I don’t needyou, Ritchie. I’m sorry. It’s hard to hear and it’s hard to say, but it’s the truth. If I did need someone, it wouldn’t be you.’
‘It’d behim?’
‘Who? Who are you talking about? And what business is it of yours, even if there was ahim?’
‘None; I’m just asking. I want to know if we’re meant to be going out with new people?—’
‘I’ve been telling you for months to find a new girlfriend!’
‘I didn’t think youmeantit.’
Zoe let out a breath of impatience. ‘Of course you didn’t,’ she said as she started to walk again. ‘I only said it because I like wasting my breath.’
‘Why are you being like this?’
‘Like what?’
‘Awkward.’
‘There’s nothing awkward about reminding you of our boundaries.’
‘Zo…’ He lunged forward to grab her by the arm and halted her progress. She snatched away from his grasp. And then a loud, low bark echoed across the hillside, and she saw Grizzle bounding towards them, Billie following from the direction of Hilltop.
‘Griz!’ Zoe went to meet him. She’d never been so pleased to see a dog and couldn’t have cared less as he leaped up, licking ather face and pawing at her dress. ‘Good boy! Are you out for a walk?’ she asked, glancing to see Billie on her way down to them. She didn’t seem concerned that her dog had run ahead or that he was currently doing his best to get as much mud as he could onto Zoe’s clothes.
Ritchie watched, seemingly uncertain of his next move, even more so when he inched forward and Grizzle noticed, a low growl rumbling in his throat. Zoe had heard it said many times that dogs sensed when a situation was off, and apparently Grizzle was doing that right now.
‘Hey, Griz!’ Billie called, glancing from Zoe to Ritchie and then back again, her cool expression seeming to ask a question.Are you all right?‘I thought you’d be at the five-hundred-year thing in the village,’ she said to Zoe.
‘I was, but I’d had enough.’
Billie looked at Ritchie. ‘This your husband?’
‘Yes,’ he said.
‘Soon to be ex,’ Zoe corrected. ‘When the paperwork has gone through. He was about to leave.’
Ritchie hesitated. It was obvious he hadn’t been ready to give up yet but perhaps was starting to realise his efforts weren’t going to get him anywhere.
‘Right then,’ Billie said. She put a hand up to Ritchie and raised her eyebrows. ‘Ta-ta…’
It was so full of sarcasm that if Zoe hadn’t been feeling so delicate, she’d have laughed.
‘I’ll call you,’ Ritchie said to Zoe, but she didn’t reply; she simply bent to fuss Grizzle, who’d now calmed down and was sitting at her feet. When she looked up again, Ritchie was walking towards the track that would take him down the hill to the village.
‘You were married to him?’ Billie asked, her tone taking Zoe by surprise. ‘Wow.’
‘Is that a good wow or a bad one?’
‘I don’t know. I’m surprised. Did you have to put up with a lot of that bullshit, or is it a new thing?’
