Page 24 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
‘Two?’
Maisie got out her phone and made a note. ‘Two, got it. Should I tell Mum?’
‘That’s up to you. I obviously can’t stop you from bringing her along either, but it might be better if you don’t. I don’t want her to be offended by anything we say, and?—’
‘She might kick off again, like she did before. I get it. I’ll try to keep it a secret.’
‘You don’t have to do that.’
‘I do. If I tell her I’m coming, she’ll want to know why.’
‘Is your mum…’ Zoe paused, and then decided that they’d started out speaking plainly and they might as well continue. ‘Is she encouraging you to cut calories? Was the diet your idea or hers?’
‘Mine,’ Maisie said emphatically, though Zoe wasn’t convinced. Even if the idea had been Maisie’s, there was a strong possibility that Bridget had somehow influenced it. Zoe and Maisie had been involved in a conversation like this once before, in the early days of the pregnancy, where Maisie had confided that her mum had been unhappy about how quickly Maisie was gaining weight and beginning to look obviously pregnant.
‘Thanks for popping in,’ Zoe said, choosing to leave things as they were for now. ‘And for being so straight with me. Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow at two.’
Just before she headed to the kitchen for lunch, Zoe took a minute to message Alex. But rather than him texting back, her phone lit up with a call from him.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I know nobody phones nowadays – or so Billie loves to tell me.’
‘What do they do then?’ Zoe asked with a light laugh.
‘You message or you’re a weirdo…So call me a weirdo, but I wanted to hear your voice.’
‘You did?’
‘It does things to me, you see.’
Zoe giggled. ‘In that case, hello. You sound happy. I take it that means Grizzle is on the mend.’
‘He’s almost back to normal. Whatever Victor gave him is miraculous. In fact, I’m sort of missing when Griz was ill already. The house was quieter. And tidier.’
‘Aww, but he looked so sorry for himself it must be nice to see him all bouncy again.’
‘Yeah, it is. I’m sorry we had to cut our date short.’
‘That’s all right. We’re neither of us footloose or fancy free really, are we? People and dogs and all sorts of other things will want our attention sometimes, and I’m just grateful for any time we get together.’
‘I couldn’t have put it better myself. I’m the luckiest man ever for any spare minutes with you.’
‘You say the nicest things, you silver-tongued charmer. Be careful, I might start to believe them.’
‘How about we try again tonight?’
‘I wish I could say yes, but I’ve made other plans.’
‘Oh? That was fast…’
‘I know, sorry. I’d say I’ll try to undo them, but I don’t think I can. Remember I told you my old school friend Georgia was coming to stay in Thimblebury over Christmas? Well, I bumped into her yesterday and promised I’d go to see her tonight tocatch up. I don’t know why, but I get the feeling she really needs someone to talk to right now, and I don’t want to let her down.’
‘She really needs someone to talk to, and why aren’t I surprised that you think it has to be you?’ he asked with wry humour in his tone. ‘I’m disappointed, but how can I be mad about that?’
‘You’re sure? It’s all right to say if you’re a bit miffed. I’ll make it up to you?—’
‘How can I be miffed? I’m sad I won’t get to stare into those beautiful eyes, but I understand I can’t have you all the time, even if I might want to.’
‘Thanks for understanding. How about Wednesday? I’m busy tomorrow.’
