Page 54 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
Zoe’s smile was broad and warm, her stomach doing flips as she gazed into his soft brown eyes. ‘It’s not too soon at all. I’ve been wanting to say it, but I didn’t want to freak you out. So here we go…Alex Fitzgerald – I love you too.’
He wrapped her in his arms, and she could feel his muffled laughter echoing through his chest. ‘Well, now we’ve got that sorted, maybe we should do some of this mingling you’ve got me down here for.’
Zoe started to laugh too. His reaction was perfect. He hadn’t made it weird or attached monumental significance to their first ever declaration of love; he’d seen it as a natural progression, something that they could both be relaxed and happy about. She felt the same way, and it was true that she’d wanted to say it for a while, but their relationship was still so new, and she hadn’t wanted him to feel it was moving too fast.
‘Yes,’ she said, letting him go. ‘Go forth and mingle like your life depends on it.’
But he didn’t show much sign of wanting to go forth when Ottilie came over with Heath, who offered his hand to Alex.
‘How’s it going?’
‘Good,’ Alex said, shaking it. ‘Very good.’
Heath grinned at them both. ‘Seems like it.’
Ottilie gave him a sharp nudge. ‘Don’t tease!’
Heath laughed. ‘Who’s teasing? They look happy; I’m only saying so!’
‘Oh,’ Zoe said. ‘Was it that obvious? We weren’t doing the PDA thing, were we?’
‘It says a lot that you don’t know,’ Ottilie said with a smile of her own now. ‘But no, you were fine. It’s just obvious you’re good together, that’s all. It’s nice to see.’
Ottilie turned to Alex. ‘Billie did an amazing job on her gingerbread house.’
‘I thought so,’ he said. ‘But then I’m a bit biased.’
‘It was really good. She said she enjoyed it, but what did she say to you? It’s hard to tell sometimes, isn’t it?’
‘We only had a few minutes to chat, and then I came down here. I’m sure she’ll tell me all about it later, but I think so. It’s not what she’s used to, though. Gingerbread house competitions in a little village hall.’
‘I bet!’ Ottilie said. ‘I bet it was all raves and cocktails on the beach when you lived in Spain.’
‘Not quite,’ Alex said, and the way his smile slipped made Ottilie’s own disappear.
‘Oh, Alex, I didn’t mean…’
‘I know. Neither did I. We all worked hard at the villa, even Billie. She’s always pulled her weight, even when she was young, and she never showed that much interest in partying. We were content messing around on the beach and having family barbecues and that sort of thing. It was a good life, but…well, we’re here now, and life is good here too, only in a different way.’
‘I imagine it’s been a funny couple of years here for the locals,’ Heath said. ‘So many new people seem to have arrived all at once. Gran says she can’t keep up with it.’
‘I’m sure she can,’ Ottilie said, giving Heath a pointed look. ‘She can certainly keep up with any gossip about them.’
‘Yes, well, the less said about that the better.’
‘It’s a good job she was home when I was on my way down here then,’ Alex said.
Zoe frowned at him. ‘Why’s that?’
‘Oh, something I saw by the old phone box, that’s all.’
‘Mate, you can’t give us half a story!’ Heath said, laughing.
‘I know, but now I’ve started, I’ve realised I’m going to sound as bad as your grandma if I tell you!’
‘We won’t tell anyone,’ Ottilie said.
But something in Alex’s expression had Zoe wondering whether it had suddenly occurred to him that what he’d seen wasn’t something to share after all.
