Page 78 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
‘I don’t think that’s wise. It looks as if the weather is only going to get worse tonight, and when you get back to Thimblebury – assuming you can – then you still have to get up to your house.’
‘In the dark, in the snow,’ Zoe acknowledged. She hadn’t envisaged being back late or the weather making it impossible to get up the hill, but now that Emilia had pointed it out, she recognised it was a very real possibility. Alex wouldn’t leave her stranded if it came to it, but she didn’t want to have to gethim out, not only because he’d find it difficult but for the same reasons she hadn’t wanted to tell him she was heading over to Windermere tonight. She let out a sigh of resignation. ‘Looks like I’m going to have to wait. If I don’t find anything tomorrow, I don’t know what I’ll do.’
‘I’m sure you will,’ Emilia said. ‘If I were you, I’d go home and settle down before the weather gets much worse. Will you be all right? I can give you a lift?—’
‘Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I’ll take my time, and I have my torch with me.’
‘Phone me if you run into trouble. I’m popping into the shop to get some milk, and then I’ll be home for the rest of the night.’
‘Thanks, but I expect if I got really stuck, Victor would come and get me in Old Banger.’
‘In what?’
Zoe smiled. ‘His Land Rover. He calls it Old Banger.’
‘Right, I see…Well, goodnight.’
‘See you tomorrow.’
Zoe watched Emilia go into the shop, and then, with a last glance up and down the road to find only darkness in both directions, she gave up and headed for home.
Annoyingly, the snow stopped falling as soon as Zoe and Emilia had parted and, even more annoyingly, as she made her way to the path home, she saw the bus she’d wanted lumbering through the village, too far away for her to catch, even if she ran. But perhaps Emilia had been right – Zoe would have arrived into Windermere late and would have been rushing around, with no guarantee she would get what she’d been looking for or that she’d have transport home. The winding road up to Kestrel Cottage had been more challenging than normal, though thatwas to be expected, but perhaps not as challenging as it might have been because someone had tried to clear it.
The following morning she woke to a message from Ritchie, her ex. With a frown, she opened it to find an electronic Christmas card. It was strange because they’d barely spoken since Thimblebury’s quincentenary event, where she’d clarified, once and for all, that they were never going to get back together. They’d had essential contact, of course, because they were still going through the process of divorce and settling what to do with the things they’d owned together, but that had been it. Perhaps, she thought with relief that was tinged with some regret for the way things had gone between them, he’d started to forgive her and move on. It would be a nice Christmas gift to think so.
Work had thankfully been low-key. It was a welcome slow down after a hectic few weeks. Most of her expectant mums hadn’t wanted appointments on Christmas Eve, and the ones who did come only wanted reassurance that someone would be on call over the festive season should they need it. Zoe’s clinic list was done by eleven, and then she spent the next couple of hours making sure all her paperwork was up to date for the audit they were expecting in the new year. She’d managed to schedule a quick catch-up with Ottilie too – she’d changed her mind about her maternity leave and now wanted to wait until the very last minute again before she stopped work. Zoe wasn’t hugely happy about it but recognised that if Ottilie felt well – and she insisted that she did – it was her decision to make. She didn’t blame her for wanting to save her maternity leave entitlement for after the baby was born, rather than using it up before.
The one thing Zoe had needed to do she’d been avoiding, and that was telling Lavender that she was going out with Emilia once they’d closed the surgery instead of having a last-day-of-work celebratory lunch with the rest of them. She’d mentioned it to Ottilie, who had seemed surprisingly disappointed about it,though she understood the reasons why, but who also warned her that Lavender wouldn’t be happy.
‘I’m sorry,’ Zoe said when she eventually plucked up the courage to go through to reception and tell her, shortly before lunchtime. ‘It’s just that I really need to get to Windermere, and the shops will probably close early today. So I can’t hang around. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.’
‘Next year?’ Lavender’s tone was sullen, and she was making no attempt to hide it.
‘Yes…well, before then I expect. There’s New Year’s, isn’t there?’
‘Assuming I’ll be here. I might have given in my notice by then.’
‘Lavender…’ Zoe tried to pat her arm, but she moved it out of the way.
‘Don’tLavenderme. This surgery is falling apart. I knew it would, the minute Fliss left. We used to be like family, and now nobody cares.’
‘But you’re the surgery mum.’
‘I doubt it. There’s no point trying to butter me up. I’m disappointed in you, Zoe. I thought you’d be on my side.’
Zoe wanted to laugh at the absurdity of Lavender’s statement, and it wasn’t unlike something her actual mum would have said. But she also realised that, though it sounded silly to her, it was important to Lavender.
‘I am,’ she said. ‘But I have to get a present for Alex. You understand, don’t you?’
‘I suppose so,’ Lavender said grudgingly. ‘You can’t even stay for one drink and a sandwich?’
‘I can’t, sorry.’
‘Hmm…’ Lavender looked sceptical but then went back to her computer. ‘OK then. I take it youwillmanage to come to the carol service later?’
‘Definitely. I wouldn’t miss that.’
‘See you later then.’
