Page 23 of The Village Midwife
‘It’s not that…’ Zoe paused. It wasn’t that simple. ‘Would she come if I did?’
‘I’m not her boss, but I’m sure she would.’
‘You’d bring her down to the surgery?’
‘She’s old enough to bring herself to the surgery.’
‘But it’s important she attends her appointment…you do understand that?’
His jaw tightened. Zoe could see when someone’s patience was wearing thin. ‘Make her one and I’ll march her down to the surgery myself. There, does that satisfy you?’
Zoe held back a frown. ‘Thank you. It won’t be tomorrow; it’ll probably be next week now because?—’
‘Sure, great.’
The door closed again. This time, Zoe’s brow was etched with deep lines of dissatisfaction. Something was going on here. She couldn’t say if it was bad or not, but she was going to get to the bottom of it.
The first thing she did at work the following morning was look for Billie’s phone number. But before she could dial it to reschedule their appointment, the phone rang, and it was Billie herself on the line.
‘Is that the midwife?’
‘Yes.’
‘It’s Billie Fitzgerald. My dad says you came up to see me yesterday. I’m sorry I didn’t come to the clinic. I was…’
The explanation tailed off. Zoe spoke into the gap it left. ‘Pregnancy can be a tiring time, can’t it? Especially so when you’ve just moved into a new home. Things aren’t as easy or straightforward as they’d usually be, and we all forget things from time to time, even the best of us. Don’t worry about it.’
‘Yeah. So I guess I need to come down? Like, I definitely need to see you?’
‘Nobody can force you, but I’m sure you understand that it would be better for you and baby if I could keep an eye on things. Besides,’ Zoe continued, keeping things as light and cheery as possible, ‘I’m new here, and I could do with enough work to persuade the partners I’m worth the salary, so you’d be doing me a favour, really.’
‘What time?’ Billie asked, and Zoe couldn’t help but note the flatness of her tone.
‘Today? I don’t have?—’
‘When then?’
‘Let me see…’ Zoe clicked through her appointment slots on the computer. There was no space for that day, but if she skipped lunch, she could make a slot, and she did want to see Billie sooner rather than later. ‘Can you come today at one? The surgery would be closed for lunch, but if you phone when you get here, I could let you in.’
‘OK.’
‘So I’ll see you?—’
The call was ended before Zoe could say goodbye. There was no point in feeling offended – and Zoe dealt with so many different personalities in her line of work that she rarely did. Instead, she dialled reception to let Lavender know the plan.
‘It’s a slippery slope,’ Lavender tutted as Zoe filled her in. ‘You do it once or twice and before you know it everyone’s demanding we open at lunchtime. And then it’s no breaks and backs to the grindstone, lads.’
‘I promise it’ll be just this once. I’d hate to be the person who ends your lunchtime get-togethers.’
‘And it’s moussaka today as well – Simon made it. Well, when I say Simon made it, I expect Stacey did.’
‘Stacey? Oh, right, his girlfriend. He’s not that hopeless, is he?’ Zoe laughed lightly.
‘It’s more a case of him not having time.’
‘Right. So that’s OK then? I’d be ever so grateful if you could save me some moussaka and I’ll stuff it into my face at some point before the afternoon clinic.’
‘See…’ Lavender said, ‘the slippery slope.’
