Page 51 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
‘We’re so glad you’re joining us,’ Magnus said as they began to walk. Geoff was balancing the box containing Magnus’s prize-winning creation in his arms, while Magnus carried a bag with all the extras he’d used to display it. The decorative wooden spoon he’d won was in his other hand, held aloft like a mystical sword of old. Zoe couldn’t help but grin. He looked so proud, and he obviously hoped people would stop and ask about it.
‘Thanks for asking me,’ Zoe replied. ‘I haven’t been to one of your parties yet.’
‘You haven’t, have you,’ Magnus said.
‘I don’t know how we managed that,’ Geoff put in cheerfully. ‘Nobody in Thimblebury escapes them forever, though.’
‘I hope you like cava,’ Magnus said. ‘Geoff bought lots of it last week.’
‘For today?’ Zoe asked.
‘No, for the shop, but I’m sure it won’t matter if a few bottles go missing from the shelves.’
‘Naughty,’ Zoe said, and they both laughed. ‘Should I have picked up some food or something? I’ve just realised I’m turning up empty-handed. It’s not very polite, is it?’
‘We don’t care about that,’ Geoff said. ‘There’s plenty of food at ours. We’ve always got nibbles in because you never know when you’re going to have guests.’
‘Exactly,’ Magnus said. As they passed Emilia’s house, he angled his head at it. ‘I wonder if the new doctor would like to come.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Zoe said.
‘We could knock and ask. Or her sister and her husband might want to come.’
‘Really, I don’t think they would. Georgia’s very pregnant for a start.’
‘I’m sure we have some juice or sparkling water for her to drink. It wouldn’t have to be for long, just an hour to get to know everyone and then they could go.’
‘I’ve got her number,’ Zoe said. ‘Better I message to see rather than us knock.’
‘But—’ Magnus began again before Geoff cut him off.
‘I think Zoe probably knows best, love. I know you’re all giddy about today, but not everyone will want to come to our party.’
‘I only wanted to be neighbourly,’ Magnus said with a note of offence in his voice.
‘Emilia is a bit serious,’ Zoe said. ‘I don’t think she’s the partying type. She won’t even get involved in the Christmas stuff at work, so…’
‘Oh,’ Magnus said. ‘I see.’
Zoe suspected he didn’t see because he looked bemused. Perhaps someone who was such a gregarious party lover could never understand why someone else wouldn’t want to go to one.
‘Who else is coming?’ she asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ Geoff admitted. ‘We asked everyone who was at the church hall today, and we’ve texted one or two others. It’s quite a casual affair, really; people will drop by if they can – atleast that’s the general idea. We haven’t gone to a lot of trouble, so we don’t mind either way.’
‘At least we’ve got you, eh?’ Magnus smiled. ‘That’s one guest straight off.’
‘I’m sure you’ll get more than just me!’
‘Yes, I think so,’ Geoff said. ‘People want to go home and get straight first. That’s all right – we need to get straight really ourselves. It’s not going to be full catering, but we’d like to put one or two bits of food on.’
‘I can help with that.’
‘Bless you,’ Geoff said. ‘That’s sweet of you.’
‘I don’t mind at all. I’m not doing a lot else today, and I will be eating some of it. In fact, I’ll be eating a lot of it because I’m starving!’
‘Oh, love!’ Geoff looked as if she’d just announced her imminent demise. ‘You should have said! The first thing we’ll do when we get home is fix you a bit of something to keep you going!’
