Page 26 of The Village Midwife
‘Would you like tea or coffee?’ she asked. ‘I can only do instant coffee, though. I’ve got chai, or green or chamomile if you’d prefer tea.’
‘Am I interrupting your evening meal?’ he asked, his gaze going to the oven she’d just switched off.
‘Not at all. It only needs reheating, so it won’t take long. I’ll have it later. What’ll it be to drink?’
‘Instant coffee is fine, thank you.’ He turned his attention to his surroundings. ‘You say you haven’t been here long?’
‘A few weeks now.’
‘You seem to have settled quickly. Quicker than we have. You’ve got it nice…homely.’
‘I can’t take any of the credit for that – it was furnished when I got here.’
‘It’s rented?’
‘Yes, from Victor and Corrine…Daffodil Farm,’ she added in response to his puzzled look.
‘So you’re not planning a long-term stay?’
‘Quite honestly, I don’t know yet. I’m on a six-month trial at the surgery. Ottilie – that’s my friend who’s a nurse there – is fairly certain I’ll be kept on. She says the trial’s just a formality, but…’ Zoe shrugged as she opened a cupboard and got out two mugs. ‘Who knows? I’m old enough not to take anything for granted.’
‘How are you finding it?’
‘The job or the village?’
‘Both, I suppose.’
‘The job’s straightforward enough – I’ve adapted to new workplaces before, and there’s no reason why I won’t do it this time. The village…well…’ She gave a small smile. ‘It’s a bit of a culture shock. A nice one, but very different to what I’ve been used to.’
‘Where’s that?’
‘Manchester. That’s where I know Ottilie from. She got me the job here – at least, she nudged it forcefully in my direction. I never would have considered a move like this if not for herdoing it first. And it seems to have worked out really well for her, so…’ She poured hot water into the mugs. ‘Do you take milk and sugar?’
‘Both, please. One sugar.’
‘What about you?’ she asked as she poured milk into his mug.
‘Me? There’s nothing interesting to tell.’
‘Have you moved far from where you were?’
‘We’ve lived here and there. We got back from Spain a few weeks ago.’
‘You were living there?’
He nodded.
‘Wow, that’s a move and a half! Don’t you miss the sun?’
‘Sometimes,’ he said, and while his face was smiling, his eyes were not. ‘But circumstances changed, and we couldn’t stay.’
‘We? Billie lived out there with you?’
‘She did.’
‘Just you and her? Like it is now?’
‘This coffee’s not bad, for instant,’ he said with a brisk nod, and Zoe recognised a segue when she heard one. What he really meant was: don’t ask any more about Spain. That didn’t mean she wasn’t desperate with curiosity, though. She’d wanted to get him to open up about Billie, but right now she was getting very little about either of them. If she opened up herself, would that encourage him?
