Page 67 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
‘I’d rather—’ Geoff began, but Alex sidled up to him.
‘I’ve got it,’ he said. Brett scowled at him, but Alex simply painted on a casual smile. ‘Give it to me whenever you see me next – save Geoff being out of pocket. Or get Georgia to give it to Zoe. That’s got to be easier, right?’
Brett didn’t look happy, but, it seemed, he weighed up the situation, decided he’d got what he wanted and then headed for the door. ‘Thanks,’ he mumbled before letting it slam behind him.
‘Wow!’ Alex said to Geoff after allowing enough time for Brett to be out of earshot. ‘Someone got out of bed on the wrong side this morning.’ He fiddled in his pocket for some change, but Geoff shook his head.
‘I don’t want your money. It doesn’t matter; it’s only two pounds. I made a point with him because he’d already asked us to open up as a favour…’
‘And then doesn’t even have enough money,’ Zoe finished for him.
‘You’ve got that look again,’ Alex told her.
She nodded. ‘I’m sure I must have.’ She wanted to ask Geoff if Brett came in often like that to buy alcohol, and whether he was always so rude about it, but she didn’t think it was her place. She wondered what the afternoon held for Georgia and Emilia, whether he was planning to drain the bottle of vodka he’d just bought straight away, and whether she might be reading more into the situation than she ought to.
‘Come through,’ Geoff said, interrupting her thoughts.
Perhaps it was for the best, because her thoughts were not going to a good place.
Magnus was in the kitchen making filtered coffee. Considering they’d had something of a wild party the previous night, the kitchen was remarkably clean and organised, though Magnus showed the unmistakable signs of someone who hadn’t had much sleep.
‘Hello, you two. You’re just in time for coffee if you’d like some. It’s Columbian, very nice. Or I can make tea if you prefer.’
‘Are you very much in need of coffee after last night?’ Zoe asked.
Magnus grinned. ‘Geoff has already worked his hangover magic on me. Now I’m only tired, but I have so much to do I’m making coffee to wake up. How are you both feeling?’
‘Surprisingly well,’ Alex said. ‘We both woke up feeling fine, but, as Zoe pointed out earlier, we had that big walk up the hill in the snow, and it probably sobered us up a bit.’
‘I’m not sure it’s the cure I’d want,’ Geoff said, going to a drawer and taking out Zoe’s bracelet. He handed it to her.
‘Thank you so much for keeping it safe.’ Zoe put it around her wrist and fiddled for a moment with the fastening. She frowned and showed it to Alex. ‘That’ll be why it came off –the catch is broken. See, the hinge there…’
‘I’ll fix it later,’ he said. ‘I’ve got some little tools somewhere that will do that.’
‘Really?’ She smiled as she slipped it into her bag. ‘There’s no end to your hidden talents, is there?’
‘I try,’ he said with a soppy grin.
‘We need to buy some Jack Daniels next time we go to get stock,’ Geoff said to Magnus as he sat at the island and beckoned Zoe and Alex to do the same.
‘It’ll be after Christmas now,’ Magnus replied.
‘I might go tomorrow.’
‘We said we weren’t going to do that. We said whatever we have in now will have to be enough. We’re closed for two days, and most will go out of the village to get what they want for Christmas. We’re not going just for that.’ He poured coffee into four cups. ‘I can’t believe we sold out of what we had. We barely sell a bottle of that a year.’
‘Yes, well…’ Geoff picked up his coffee, and now the alarm bells were clanging in Zoe’s head. ‘He had to buy vodka today.’
‘Today?’ Magnus paused. ‘What do you mean, today?’
‘Today. We had no Jack Daniels, and so he took some vodka instead. I daresay we might have to get a few bottles of that in too, just in case he gets a taste for it.’
‘He buys a lot?’ Zoe asked, and then it seemed Geoff realised the conversation he’d started with Magnus might not be one to have in front of her and Alex because he simply spooned sugar into his coffee without a reply.
Magnus had no such reservations. ‘I don’t want to complain about business, but he drinks too much. Someone should tell him. I wonder if we should stop serving it to him.’
‘I don’t think that would be a very good idea,’ Alex said. ‘Not from what I saw today.’
