Page 59 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
‘No…’ Zoe shook her head. ‘I don’t think I do. He was brilliant when we went out. So supportive. I’m not used to that, and it’s hard to get my head around at the moment.’
‘Ritchie wasn’t exactly husband of the year, was he?’
‘I don’t know about that. He did his best, and he was good in his own way, but he wouldn’t have understood my worries like Alex does. Ritchie would have wanted hard proof, and even then he wouldn’t have wanted us to get involved. He liked the easy life – the less hassle for him, the happier he was. Alex is…’
‘Better?’
‘Differentis perhaps the word.’
Ottilie looked sceptical. ‘I think you’re being far kinder than your ex deserves.’
‘Maybe. I sometimes think I’m still fond of him, even though he’s being an absolute pain over the house sale right now. At the beginning, I said I didn’t want to throw away all the good memories we made together simply because we’d split, and I want it to be that way. I don’t want to feel that all those years were wasted time.’
Ottilie smiled. ‘They’re never wasted time – nothing ever is.’
A shout went up from the windows, and Zoe looked to see Stacey pointing at the snow, now coming down in a blizzard.
‘It was nothing like that five minutes ago!’ Zoe said, making her way over with Ottilie following.
‘Doesn’t it look pretty?’ Stacey gave her a blurry, booze-soaked smile.
‘It’s lovely. But I think it means nobody is going far just yet.’
‘Why would anyone want to go?’ Geoff asked from somewhere behind the group who had gathered to look. ‘We have plenty of space for anyone who wants to stay over later.’
‘Nobody has a toothbrush,’ Stacey said.
‘Ah,’ Geoff said, tapping the side of his nose. ‘But we have a shop with toothbrushes in it! Anyway, we love hosting! If we didn’t host at least once a month, I think Magnus would shrivel up.’
‘Speak for yourself.’ Magnus came to join them. ‘All you talk about is which party is next.’
‘OK, so you’re both as bad,’ Stacey said. ‘Tell us something we don’t know.’
‘But,’ Ottilie put in, ‘Thimblebury would be a lot duller without you.’
There was a murmur of agreement, and both Magnus and Geoff flushed with pleasure. Or perhaps the red faces were from the volume of cava they’d drunk since the party had begun – it was hard to tell.
‘Right!’ Stacey was already heading for the door. ‘Who’s coming?’
‘You’re not going out there?’ Simon asked, and Stacey turned and frowned, hands on her hips.
‘You know me better than that by now! Of course I’m going out there!’
Ottilie put down her drink and looked at Heath. ‘Coming?’
‘Seriously?’ Heath asked.
‘Let’s live a little.’
‘You’re pregnant!’
‘All the more reason to make the most of this last bit of freedom before I’m too tied up with being a mum!’
She grabbed his hand and then looked at Zoe and Alex. ‘You two have already been out, so…’
Zoe laughed. ‘Since when does that matter?’
As they all filed out, Zoe’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to see a message from Georgia.
