Page 34 of The Village Midwife
‘Give me a minute,’ Victor said. ‘What’s the rush? You desperate to talk about me?’
‘Pah,’ Corrine said. ‘We’ll find more interesting subjects than that to talk about, no fear.’
‘Well,’ he replied, trying to hold back a grin. ‘Do you want this water mopped up or not?’
Ottilie and Stacey shared a grin of their own as they sat down at the table with Zoe. Victor finished his chore and, with a wink at Corrine, left them to it.
‘How were the girls?’ Zoe asked.
‘Cute as ever,’ Ottilie said. ‘I wasn’t sure how long you’d be, otherwise we’d have waited for you.’
‘Don’t worry, I was a bit late coming out of clinic. My last appointment took longer than I’d planned, and I had some ringing round to do.’
‘Lavender said you needed a last-minute sick note.’
Zoe nodded. ‘It’s all sorted now.’
‘Was that Tegan Forester?’ Stacey asked.
Zoe opened her mouth to reply without being quite sure what she was going to say.
‘It’s all right,’ Stacey added. ‘I saw her at the shop. She asked how Chloe was getting on and she told me about it.’
‘Ah,’ Zoe said. ‘I’m still not used to how news travels around here and how everyone knows everyone.’
‘Pretty much. I also know that your new neighbour is causing a bit of a stir.’
‘Which one?’
‘Hilltop.’
‘No, I mean Alex or Billie?’
‘Oh, Alex. I don’t think anyone’s clapped eyes on Billie since she first arrived, but he’s been in and out of places chatting to everyone.’
‘Has he?’
Zoe tried not to frown, but the description didn’t fit the Alex she’d met. Not the one who’d been so obviously worried about his daughter, at any rate. Perhaps the Alex she’d met in the field on the day she’d moved into Kestrel Cottage was an image he projected to hide what was really going on in his life. Not that she knew a lot about that, only what she’d gleaned from Billie’s visit to clinic and what he’d told her when he’d come bearing chocolate.
‘I think,’ Stacey continued, ‘that he’s on some sort of charm offensive, and I’m sure he thinks it’s how we do things aroundhere, but all he’s doing is making people suspicious of what he’s up to.’
Ottilie laughed. ‘I can imagine. Which one of us is going to give him the bad news?’
‘He wants to build…pods,’ Corrine said from the stove. ‘That’s right, isn’t it, Zoe? Pods – that’s what they’re called?’
‘Camping pods,’ Zoe clarified to Ottilie and Stacey. ‘He wants to build them on the land around Hilltop, and he seems to be under the impression the villagers might not like the idea.’
‘He might be right,’ Stacey said. ‘I remember when the council wanted to change the road sign outside the village – it was carnage.’
Ottilie burst out laughing. ‘I can imagine!’
‘They won’t like cars up and down that hill and holidaymakers in the village all summer,’ Stacey said.
‘But they’re all right with Victor’s alpaca treks, aren’t they?’ Zoe asked.
‘People tend to come and do their treks and then leave again.’ Corrine brought the teapot to the table. ‘They hardly bother the village at all, apart from once in a while someone will pop into the shop for some cartons of juice and sandwiches for their journey home. If people are staying here for a week or two at a time, they’ll probably be in the village a lot.’
‘Surely it won’t make that much of a difference?’ Zoe took a cup from Corrine with a nod of thanks.
