Page 73 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
She turned at the sound of a familiar voice to see Maisie crossing the lane.
‘Hi, Maisie. On your way home?’
‘Yes.’ She made her way over. ‘I’m glad you’re here – I was going to text you to say I did the thing you asked. You know, with your boyfriend’s daughter. I did it straight away because I didn’t want her to be lonely.’
‘Aww, that’s brilliant. Thanks so much, Maisie. She did say you two had been messaging and you might meet up. Have you seen her then?’
‘Yeah!’ Maisie was flushed, though it seemed that it was about more than the bitter wind trying to pierce Zoe’s coat. ‘She’s really nice.’
‘You got on well?’
‘I think so, yeah. She lived in Spain, you know!’
‘I did know something about that…’
‘And she can even speak Spanish!’
‘I didn’t know that!’ Zoe replied, surprised now that it had never come up in conversation.
‘Her boyfriend died.’
Zoe raised her eyebrows. ‘She told you that?’
Maisie nodded.
Things had moved on more than Zoe had realised. Only a few months before, Billie had been closed and secretive, and it had been a while before she’d confided in Zoe what had happened to Luis in Spain. But here she was, first time meeting Maisie and apparently telling her all about it.
‘It’s so sad for her,’ Maisie continued. ‘No wonder she needs someone to talk to. I told her I’d split up from mine.’
Zoe frowned now. ‘You mean the new one? Not the baby’s dad?’
Maisie nodded again. ‘Yeah, he said he didn’t think he wanted to look after the baby after all. I suppose it’s because it’s not his.’
‘Are you upset?’
‘Not really. I liked him, but…’ Maisie shrugged. ‘If he doesn’t want to be around my baby, then I don’t want to be around him.’
‘I’m glad to see you know your worth. As it should be.’
‘Anyway, Billie says she’ll help me if I don’t get another boyfriend by the time the baby comes. She said we could do it together.’
‘Do what together?’
‘Look after our babies. I was like, do you think our babies will grow up to be friends, and she said they might.’
‘Hold on…you’re going to look after your babies together?’
‘Well, she said she might be able to help me find a job. She said her dad was opening some camping fields or something, you know, with those little huts…and they would probably need someone to work, like cleaning them and stuff, and I said I didn’t have a job, and she said we could both do it and take our babies around with us, and her dad would pay me.’
Zoe was silent for a moment. While she was pleased to hear the young women had apparently got along famously, the things Maisie was telling her didn’t sound like the sort of things Billie would say. Especially the bits where she seemed to be planning a future that included the baby she’d said she was going to put up for adoption. And yet, Maisie must have had these ideas from somewhere. Had Billie changed her mind? Had Maisie somehow, without knowing any of the facts, changed it for her? It seemed so unlikely. Zoe hadn’t seriously expected Billie to have much time for Maisie, who was not only younger but a lot more immature, and yet it did sound as if they’d got on. What she’d asked of Billie as a favour to help keep an eye on Maisie had seemingly been just as beneficial for her. It was a question Zoe wouldn’t have the answer to until she’d spoken to Billie as well.
‘She made dinner for me too,’ Maisie said. ‘I had lasagne. It was really nice.’
Zoe smiled, pleased to know that those calories, at least, hadn’t been counted by Maisie. ‘She’s a brilliant cook.’
‘Yeah, she said she’d show me how to cook some stuff. I showed her your leaflets, and she said they were crap but she’d show me better things to make.’
Zoe’s smile grew.Thatsounded more like Billie.
