Page 50 of The Village Midwife
‘A new car!’ Corrine scoffed. ‘You’d never get rid of Old Banger either! You love that thing more than me!’
‘You’re right, I wouldn’t. I’d have another one for posh drives out.’
‘It’d rot in the garage,’ Corrine fired back. ‘When do we go for posh drives out?’
‘What’s all this for?’ Victor reached for his cup, shaking his head. ‘We haven’t even found a scrap of treasure yet!’
‘But we might,’ Alex said.
‘It’ll be more arrows, I expect,’ Victor replied with the confidence of a man who was never less than pragmatic about his fortunes. ‘Not that I won’t enjoy the looking, mind.’
‘I’ll be digging again this weekend, I expect,’ Alex said. ‘I can’t get to it before then; I’ve got too much on.’
‘Suits me. I’ll walk over with my detector.’
‘I noticed that was out,’ Corrine said. ‘You didn’t waste any time, did you?’
‘Billie’s got a scan at the hospital tomorrow,’ Alex said to Zoe.
Zoe nodded. ‘You’ll be taking her?’
‘Yes. Is there anything I should know? Anything she needs to do beforehand?’
‘I expect the hospital have sent her a letter with the details. Does she have it?’
‘I don’t know – she hasn’t said. I’ll ask. Sorry…’ He seemed awkward now. ‘I don’t suppose you want to talk shop every time you’re out.’
‘I don’t mind it as much as everyone seems to think. I love my job, and nothing makes me happier than helping mums and babies. Anything you need to ask, just ask. I might not always have the answer, but I’ll always try to help.’
‘Aww…’ Corrine gave a warm smile. ‘Thimblebury is lucky to have people like you and Ottilie looking after us.’
‘We are,’ Alex agreed, his glance lingering on Zoe long enough to make her suddenly flustered.
‘We’re only doing our jobs. So…’ she added in a bid to take off the heat. ‘We were just talking about the five-hundred-year celebrations. What do you think? Should be fun, eh?’
‘I didn’t even know there were any celebrations,’ Alex said. ‘When’s this?’
‘It was Michaelmas,’ Victor said. ‘But I think they’ve had to move it because there wasn’t enough time.’
Alex frowned. ‘I probably ought to know, but when’s Michaelmas?’
‘September. It’s been and gone,’ Victor said.
‘Magnus was putting up a poster,’ Zoe said. ‘It’s happening at the end of the month now. Seems too cold for that sort of thing, but I’m guessing they’ve got it in hand.’
‘Much better, if you ask me. Always more than enough going on in September as it is. For us at any rate.’
‘I’m surprised nobody realised the anniversary was coming up,’ Zoe said. ‘Everyone around here seems really hot on things like that.’
‘Oh, they make a show of saying it,’ Victor said. ‘But they’re all too busy with their own things. Still, I expect it’ll go all right, and if it doesn’t, what’s to be done? You ought to get involved,’ he added, looking at Alex. ‘It’d make you some friends in the village.’
‘I don’t know…I’ve got a lot going on up here, and I’m not sure anyone in the village wants to be my friend.’
‘You’ll need them onside if you’re going to get your camping field up and running.’
‘You might be right. Who would I go and see? I mean, I don’t have a clue what I can offer, but I could have a think about it and see what I can come up with.’
‘Magnus would be a safe bet, wouldn’t he?’ Zoe asked Victor.
