Page 43 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
‘Nobody likes her enough to care,’ Billie said, but then flushed as Corrine gave her a look that was gentle but obviously chastising. ‘That’s what I heard anyway,’ she added lamely.
‘She’s hard work, yes,’ Corrine said, ‘but she’s been through more in her life than any of us could ever imagine. If I get to her age having survived all she has, I hope I can be forgiven for being a bit impatient with folks.’
Zoe watched Lavender greet Ottilie and Flo briefly before taking Mrs Icke over to her space on the tables. The old woman was as combative as always, but Lavender was showing remarkable patience with her. Ottilie went with Flo to put their boxes down a few tables away before coming over to say hello properly to Zoe and her companions.
‘These are looking good,’ she said, eyeing all three gingerbread constructions. ‘Whose is whose?’
‘As if you couldn’t guess which one is mine,’ Zoe said.
Ottilie let out a light laugh. ‘I don’t like to assume.’
‘This is mine,’ Corrine said, pointing.
‘So that’s yours?’ Ottilie smiled at Billie. ‘That’s really good.’
‘Can I come and look at yours, Ottilie?’ Zoe asked. ‘I’m all set here now.’
‘If you want,’ Ottilie said. ‘But prepare to be underwhelmed. And I have to warn you that it also means talking to Flo, who isn’t in one of her most tolerant moods today.’
‘In that case, consider it a rescue mission.’
Ottilie and Zoe wandered over to Ottilie’s bench.
‘I can’t believe how good Billie’s is,’ Zoe said. ‘Actually, that sounds harsh, doesn’t it? I didn’t mean I don’t think she had the talent, just that I didn’t realise she had that much patience.’
‘I’m surprised to see she bothered at all. From what you’ve told me, I wouldn’t have thought she’d be interested in this sort of thing. Especially at her age. She’s about the same age as Chloe,who told Stacey in no uncertain terms she wouldn’t be seen dead at something like this.’
‘I know what you mean. I think Corrine’s encouragement has helped. I think it’s exactly what she’s been needing.’
‘A sort of mother figure?’
Zoe nodded, and Ottilie shot a warm glance back towards where Corrine and Billie were working out their problem. ‘She’s that all right. We might have to crown her village mum because I certainly felt that way about her when I first moved here. I don’t know what I would have done without her and Victor, but I’m sure I wouldn’t still be in Wordsworth Cottage.’
‘Me too. They both have this way of making you feel settled and that someone’s looking out for you, like they – Corrine especially – have a way of knowing what you need before even you do.’
Flo looked up at their approach. She’d been fussing over a string of what looked like the fake grass you saw on the food trays in delicatessens, trying to get it in the right place around her house.
‘It’s all wonky,’ she grumbled at Ottilie. ‘I said we needed to lay it out, but you said no, it’ll be fine rolled up in a tub. And now look at it!’
‘Want me to stamp on it?’ Ottilie asked with such mischievous mock innocence it was all Zoe could do not to burst out laughing. ‘The weight of me these days ought to straighten it out easily enough.’
‘Don’t be daft…’ Flo straightened up and tossed the strip onto the table with some disgust. ‘I’ll have to do without it.’ She nodded at Zoe. ‘Morning. I see you’ve come to look at mine. Hoping it’ll be bad so you’ll have a better chance of winning. I wouldn’t bother. We all know who’s going to win, don’t we? It’s a foregone conclusion, as it is every year. I don’t know why anyone else bothers.’
‘It’s really good,’ Zoe said, paying Flo’s house closer attention. ‘Very cute. I like the little snowdrifts around the walls.’
‘It’s not bad, if I do say so myself,’ Flo acknowledged. ‘But I haven’t got the ear of the judges, have I?’
‘I don’t think that’s the reason Corrine wins,’ Ottilie said, clearly trying to keep a frown of disapproval from her features. ‘It seems a bit mean to say so.’
‘You wait until you’ve been here a few more years,’ Flo fired back, unbothered by Ottilie’s faint warning tone. ‘We’ll see if you still feel that way. All the people in this room come every year, and the same one wins time after time, and if that’s not a fix, I don’t know what is.’
‘It could be that Corrine is just a way better baker than the rest of us?’ Zoe offered. ‘That’s not to say there aren’t other good bakers here, only that she’s on another level. That’s how it is sometimes, right?’
‘She gets enough practice,’ Ottilie agreed. ‘She can whip up a Victoria sponge in her sleep.’
‘And it would be the best sponge you’ve ever had,’ Zoe added.
‘Hmph,’ was all that Flo replied before turning back to her strip of plastic grass and trying again.
