Page 66 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
She knocked on the door.
‘I doubt they’ll hear,’ Alex said. ‘Their place is at the back, unless…ah…’ He pointed to a doorbell fitted with a camera and gave a grin. ‘The wonders of modern life.’
‘Or…’ Zoe said, getting her phone out, ‘I could phone and say we’re here…’
‘Beat you!’ he said, pressing the button.
A tinny version of Geoff’s voice answered.
‘It’s me,’ Zoe said. ‘I’ve come to get my bracelet.’
‘Hello… right… just give me a minute!’
The microphone clicked off, and Zoe’s gaze went to the snow-covered lane. It was then she noticed the figure trudging towards them, hands deep in his pockets and head down. She gave Alex a subtle nudge and angled her head at the approaching man. As he drew closer, he pulled off his hood and Zoe saw that her hunch was correct – it was Brett.
‘Afternoon,’ he said before turning to the darkened shop. A look of annoyance crossed his face. ‘They’re closed?’
‘Yes,’ Alex said.
‘Then what are you standing out here for?’ Brett asked, and there was a note of challenge in his voice that Zoe didn’t like. It seemed to rub Alex up the wrong way too because his previously open features hardened.
‘Social call,’ he said. ‘Is that all right?’
Zoe shot him a warning glance. She didn’t know what sort of mood Brett might be in, but what she was beginning to see of him told her he might be one of those people who could flip in an instant. The last thing she wanted was a fight between them; she didn’t even want animosity because that would make her newly recovered friendship with Georgia that much harder to maintain. Looking at him now, though she could see he was quite handsome, Zoe had to wonder what else Georgia saw in him.
The door opened before there was time for anything to escalate, and Zoe had never been so pleased to see Geoff.
‘Hello,’ he said to Zoe and Alex before turning to Brett with some confusion. ‘Have you all come for the bracelet…?’
‘I want to buy something,’ Brett said. ‘Can I come in?’
‘We’re closed,’ Geoff said. ‘Sorry.’
‘It won’t take a minute. You’ve opened the door, so why not let me in?’
‘I haven’t turned the tills or the card machine on. I could let you in, but you still can’t buy anything.’
‘I can’t even slap twenty quid on your counter and go on my way? I don’t need the change.’
Geoff hesitated but then let out a sigh. ‘If you can do that and it’s only one thing, then I suppose I could let you in.’ He offered Zoe and Alex a look of apology, and then stepped back to let all three of them in. ‘Zoe and Alex, do you want to go through? The door is open, and Magnus is in the kitchen.’
Zoe nodded. She and Alex made their way slowly to the back of the shop, but then she noticed Alex trying to discreetly hang back. She sent him a silent question, but he simply shook his head and watched Brett.
Geoff had his arms folded as he watched Brett too, first as he went to the shelf where they kept their liquor and ran his gaze along it, and then as he turned back with a blank look. ‘I wanted the JD.’
‘We don’t have any, sorry.’
‘None? Not even in the stockroom?’
‘Completely sold out. All we have left is the Scottish whisky.’
Brett let out a sigh, went back to the shelf for a moment and then plucked off a bottle of vodka instead. ‘This’ll do.’ He pulled a twenty-pound note out of his pocket and held it out. ‘I don’t need the change.’
‘There wouldn’t be any,’ Geoff said. ‘I’m afraid that one is twenty-two.’
‘Seriously?’
Geoff nodded, and then Brett got out his wallet and looked inside. ‘Can I owe you the two? I’ll bring it when I’m next in.’
