Page 60 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
Nothing to worry about but thanks for checking. Hope you’re having fun at the party. x
‘Everything all right?’ Alex asked as Zoe locked her phone and put it away.
‘I think so. Georgia says everything is fine.’
‘Has that put your mind at rest?’
Zoe nodded. ‘It will have to. Ottilie’s right – I’m probably making a mountain out of a molehill. We’ve done the neighbourly thing and checked, and we can’t do much more than that.’
‘I don’t think so.’ He glanced up at the sky as they went outside to join everyone else. ‘I hope we don’t get stuck – Billie will worry.’
‘Or’ – Zoe gave him a playful nudge – ‘she might be glad of the peace and quiet.’
‘She might,’ he said, laughing. ‘But maybe we won’t stay too late.’
Before she could reply, a snowball whistled past her ear, and she spun round to see Stacey laughing helplessly. The merriment was wiped from her face as Geoff fired one at her and hit her dead on the cheek.
‘Oh, you…!’ she cried, bending to scoop an armful before making a ball and hurling at him. Before it hit the target, she’d been struck again by one from Simon, and Zoe’s mouth fell open. She’d never had serious Simon down as the snowball-fighting type, but apparently she’d got that wrong. He was grinning at Stacey, and she looked so momentarily shocked that it seemed she was only just discovering this new, mischievous side to him too.
‘Right!’ she huffed as she bent down for more snow. ‘You’ve asked for it, mister!’
Then another flew towards Zoe, this time from Ottilie, and it hit her on the forehead.
‘Ottilie!’ she cried and then wiped her face, only to see Ottilie looking sheepish.
‘Sorry, but you were just making it too easy.’
‘Easy, eh?’ Zoe said, gathering a handful for herself. ‘We’ll see how easy I am!’
She threw it, but Ottilie dodged and it hit Magnus instead, making him gasp as it slid down his neck and into his jumper.
‘You little madam!’ he yelled. He was already armed, and now his target was Zoe. But she ducked, and it hit Alex.
‘Hey!’ he said, brushing off his coat. ‘I’m supposed to be a valued guest!’
Zoe turned to him and planted a snowball right into his face, breathless with laughter at his look of shock. And then he ran his hand along a wall to collect as much snow as he could, and Zoe ran as he started to chase her with it. Eventually, he caught her and shoved it down her back, and as she squirmed, helpless with laughter, he wrestled her to the ground and rolled on top of her to kiss her. His lips were cold and delicious, and she yielded to them.
‘People will talk,’ she whispered.
‘Probably,’ he said before kissing her again. And then he stood and offered his hand to help her up.
Nobody had noticed them because they were all too busy fighting an all-out snowball war.
‘A garden full of grown men and women,’ Alex said. ‘And look at them.’
‘Just goes to show, those kids are always still inside us,’ Zoe agreed.
‘I think life would be a bit boring if they weren’t.’
Zoe grabbed a handful of snow while his attention was on the other guests. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘It would.’ And then she pulled him down for a kiss before moving her mouth at the last minute and rubbing the snow into his hair.
‘You’re a tricky one, aren’t you?’ he said, brushing it off. ‘I’m seeing a whole new side to you today.’
‘Good or bad?’
‘I don’t think I’ve decided yet. I think it might be a bit sexy, though.’
Zoe winked at him, not quite sure where it had come from. She didn’t wink, not ever, but Alex seemed to be bringing out a side to her she’d never known to exist. ‘Sexy, eh? I can live with that.’
