Page 61 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
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They’d stayed longer than either of them had intended to, despite the fact that the snow was still falling at a steady pace. They’d left a few final stragglers with Magnus and Geoff and were now struggling up to Hilltop, having agreed that it might be easier for Zoe to stay over rather than Alex having to see her to Kestrel Cottage (which he would have insisted on) and then trying to tackle the fields back to his own house in the dark.
‘Did someone move Thimblebury to the North Pole when we weren’t looking?’ she asked as her feet slipped from under her for the third time. If she’d seen the forecast, or known she’d be making her way back so late, she’d have worn better boots. As it was, the ones she’d settled on were cute enough but not very practical, as she was currently finding out.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it. I hope Billie’s all right up there.’
‘She said so when you messaged her.’
‘I know, but…sometimes I wonder if it’s too cut off for us. For her especially, at her age. I think she likes living there…I’m sure it was what we both needed when we first came back to England, but things were different then. Now, we’re both feeling moreoptimistic, ready to be a part of society again. At least, I know I am. I think Billie’s beginning to feel the same.’
‘I don’t know as much as you about it, but I think you might be right. About Billie, I mean. She seems to be coming out of her shell, doesn’t she? It’s a shame she didn’t fancy the party; I think she’d have enjoyed it. Sort of. I suppose we were all a lot older than her.’
‘That’s never bothered her – she’s always been comfortable with people of any age. There were a lot of older expats living around us in Spain, and she never had a problem making time to chat to them.’
‘I wish I could have known that version of her. I bet she was different. Losing Luis must have been devastating for her.’
‘It turned her into a completely different person, but then, we lost Jennifer not all that long before, so we were both struggling as it was.’
He was silent for a moment, and Zoe reached for his hand.
‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to bring all that up.’
‘It’s all right. It was a hard time for both of us, but I like to think we’re coming out of the other side finally. I think you’ve had a lot to do with that.’
‘I hope so. I feel the same about you. It’s nothing like what you went through, but after I lost the baby and then Ritchie and I split, things looked bleak. But then I came here and met you, and I’m hopeful for the future. I feel like I can finally enjoy life again.’
‘So it was a stroke of luck for both of us. It’s funny where life takes you, isn’t it? When you least expect it.’
‘It is. I mean, who’d have thought, this time six months ago, we’d be together, tipsy on cava, chucking snowballs at one another.’
‘In a garden full of other people all doing the same and all old enough to know better.’ He gave a soft laugh. ‘I know, not me.’
‘I’ve had a brilliant time, though. Magnus and Geoff are brilliant. In fact, everyone is brilliant.’
‘So are you.’
‘And you.’
He laughed again. ‘Do you think we’re still a bit drunk?’
‘We might be. At least the alcohol in our bloodstreams will keep out the cold.’
It took twice as long to get to the crest of the hill as it would normally do, and in the thick snowfall they could only just make out the lights of Hilltop Farm. There was one on in almost every window, and Zoe wondered if Billie had done that deliberately, having been messaged by Alex to say they were starting out, worried that they wouldn’t find their way back otherwise. By now, Zoe’s boots were letting in water, and she’d given up on her ill-fitting hood halfway up, so now her hair was soaked and heavy with a layer of snow.
‘It’d be typical if we get all this now and nothing next week for Christmas Day,’ she panted as they made their way to the gate.
‘I think it’s going to be off and on for the next few days at least,’ Alex said. ‘So you never know. Make a wish for it and see what happens.’
‘What am I going to wish on? I can’t see any stars, let alone falling ones, and I certainly can’t find a four-leaf clover in this lot.’
‘Good point. We’ll have to think of something else when we’re in and dry.’
The kitchen was lit by a lamp placed on the windowsill that wasn’t usually there. It was warm and smelled of hot chocolate, with the prize-winning gingerbread house standing in the middle of the kitchen table, but Billie was nowhere to be seen.
‘Billie?’ Alex called as he closed the back door and took off his coat.
‘She might have gone to bed,’ Zoe said. ‘It has taken us ages to get home, so she might have got fed up of waiting.’
