Page 88 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
‘Shush,’ she said. ‘We didn’t ask for any of that. You weren’t even looking properly.’ She turned back to Zoe. ‘All three of them went – Georgia and her husband and the doctor. Sorry,’ she said again, her gaze going to the far side of the room, ‘we must catch…Ann! Ann, love!’
Corrine hurried away, Victor following, and then Melanie turned to talk to her sister, who was now chatting to Simon. Zoe hadn’t expected to be best buddies with Victor and Corrine’s absent daughter, but she might have expected a minimal amount of courtesy. On reflection, Melanie would know Zoe was friends with Ottilie, and perhaps she assumed any conversation would be awkward because of that.
Alex returned with their drinks.
‘You haven’t seen Georgia and Brett come back in, have you?’ she asked.
‘Didn’t know they’d gone anywhere.’ He gave her a stout-handled glass. It bore the name of a German town and a date – Christmas 2001. She turned to look at it, and then Alex showed her his. It had a different town on it and was dated 2007. ‘I assume someone goes to the markets every year and brings one back. Either that or there was one hell of a niche jumble sale.’
Zoe laughed as she sipped her drink. ‘Oh, that’s nice!’ She gave it an approving look. ‘I could almost be in Berlin again.’
‘We ought to do that next year,’ he said. ‘Go to a Christmas market, I mean.’
She smiled, warmed by the wine and his faith that they’d be together in a year’s time, like it was a natural assumption to make. He was happy. She was happy too. ‘It’d be fun,’ she said. ‘I haven’t been to one in years. We should, yeah.’
Ottilie came over to them, a disappointingly ordinary mug in her hands containing hot chocolate. ‘God, I’m so jealous right now.’ She pointed at their wine. ‘Being pregnant is rubbishat Christmas. No mulled wine, no snowballs, no chocolate liqueurs…’
‘It’ll be worth it in a few weeks, though,’ Zoe said.
‘It will, but I intend to remind Fred or Freda of the sacrifices I made every time they play up. For their entire lives, probably.’
Zoe’s smile spread. ‘Speaking of pregnant ladies, I’ve still got Georgia’s present here, and I wanted to give it to her before she went home. Corrine said they went out before the service was over. I wonder if they’ve already gone home. They didn’t seem keen to stay…’
‘I didn’t see them leave,’ Ottilie said. ‘But I haven’t seen them since the service finished either. I suppose they must have.’
‘That’s annoying, but it can’t be helped.’ She turned to Alex. ‘I’ll have to call at the house before we go back to Hilltop. Unless they decide to make an appearance here after all.’ She turned back to Ottilie. ‘What are you planning tonight?’
‘After this? Bed, I expect. I’m worn out. All I want to do is sleep at the moment. When’s that spring-cleaning phase meant to start? I’d like some of that extra manic energy, please, because my floors are desperate for hoovering.’
‘You won’t be nesting for a couple of weeks yet, I’m afraid. You’ll have to get Heath or Flo to do it.’
‘I might as well not bother as ask either of them to do a decent job.’
‘Then you’ll have to be patient. It’ll come.’
‘I used to be good at patience, but it’s one thing I’ve lost, along with my energy and my waistline. Well, I would go and get myself with child.’
Zoe raised her eyebrows. ‘I don’t think you did that all by yourself.’
‘Hmm…’ Ottilie scanned the room. ‘Speaking of my co-conspirator, I’d better go and find him. He may need rescuing from his gran.’
‘Come and say goodbye before you go,’ Zoe said. ‘Don’t do a Georgia and sneak off.’
‘I don’t blame her,’ Ottilie replied. ‘I expect she’s feeling even more knackered than I am by now. I mean, she’s due in a week, isn’t she? Anyway, I’ll see you shortly.’
‘OK.’
As Ottilie left them, Zoe turned back to Alex to find him sending a message on his phone.
‘Billie,’ he said, looking up. ‘She wants to know what time we’re due back.’
‘She’s all right?’
‘I think so. Maybe fretting a bit about the weather.’
‘It can’t be that much worse than when we came down here earlier.’
‘I don’t know about that. She hasn’t actually said that’s what’s bothering her; I’m only guessing. It could be that she’s bored.’
