Page 50 of A Christmas Wish for the Village Midwife

‘I like it too,’ Corrine said.

‘But,’ Zoe added, ‘she was born close to Christmas, so perhaps you ought to give her a Christmas name like Holly or Ivy?’

‘She looks like a Clover though,’ Billie insisted, and then Victor clapped his hands together.

‘Clover it is then!’

Alex was brushing his teeth as Zoe leaned on the frame of the bathroom door, waiting for him to finish so she could brush hers. She could see his face in the mirror – him, recognisably him but somehow all wrong as a reflection. He looked thoughtful, in a way that was a little too manic, and Zoe wondered if what she’d told him as idle gossip had been a mistake. She was beginning to learn that Alex liked grand ideas. He liked to do grand things for people even when they didn’t want them, and the notion of them not wanting them never seemed to quite land with him. It wasn’t a fault, exactly, because it was in his nature to want to make those dear to him happy no matter what it took, but she wondered if sometimes it could be misguided. She hoped what she’d told him about Kestrel Cottage wasn’t about to come back to bite them all.

‘The new alpaca’s doing well,’ she said into the gap. He looked at her from his reflection and nodded. ‘Victor was really worried about her being born too late in the year, but he’s doing a brilliant job of keeping her warm, and she seems to be thriving… Dandelion too. He loves those animals as much as anyone in his family, I think. He’d have been gutted if he’d lost the little one.’

Alex spat out the toothpaste and wiped his mouth. ‘I bet. You can’t help but wonder if he’s thought about what happens when he’s too old to look after them, though. He’s definitely slowing up – he even said so himself, but I’ve noticed it more since that incident with Lennon and his rotten dog.’

‘Me too,’ Zoe said, her mind going back to a time when things weren’t quite so calm, when her dad and his new wife and her brother were all renting Kestrel Cottage.

‘Is it wrong to be glad your dad couldn’t make it for Christmas lunch?’ he added with a guilty frown.

‘Honestly, I’m quite glad too. It would have been good to see him and Chantal, of course, and it would have been lovely to see little Beau, but it would have been awkward, given all the stuff that happened just after the wedding. Is it wrong that I’m also quite relieved my mum is going on a cruise with that new fella of hers and she won’t be here either?’

‘Not a bit,’ he said, crossing the bathroom to kiss her on the forehead. ‘I’m sorry it might not be just us, considering we could have had it that way if I hadn’t panicked and invited Luis’s parents.’

‘They’ve confirmed then?’

‘Not yet, but they said they’d see if they can find someone to look after their animals and let me know. It’s my invitation, but I’ll be happy if they say no, to be honest.’

‘It’ll be fine either way. You did it for Billie, and I’m sure she’d appreciate that.’

‘I still don’t know what to get her for Christmas, though.’

‘She said she wasn’t bothered about anything big.’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘That doesn’t mean I’m not going to get anything, does it? You said you didn’t want anything in particular either⁠—’

‘And I don’t.’

‘But I’m still going to buy something. In fact, I may have already bought something.’

‘You didn’t go crazy, did you? Because we agreed⁠—’

‘I know, and I didn’t go crazy.’

‘Good because I didn’t go crazy with yours because we’d said not to. I’d rather we save that money for a holiday next year. Now you’ve dangled the carrot of some sea and sun, I really want it.’

‘Right, miss. Consider me well and truly told!’

‘Oi!’ Zoe fired him a grin. ‘We’ll have less of that lip as well!’

His voice dropped as he came closer and pulled her in. ‘Oh, I like it when you’re all school mistress with me…’

Zoe hadn’t finished – after her visit to Daffodil Farm and her subsequent report back to Alex, she still had a lot to talk about. But with his breath on her neck, the smell of him in her head and the rest of the house asleep, she decided that talking could wait.

9

With three weeks to go until Christmas, Magnus was standing on the raised area at the back of the hall that was about as close to a stage as the community centre had. As usual, the heating was turned up too high so it was like a blast furnace, and because the lane outside was blustery and damp, the contrast from there to here was stark. Zoe was very glad her HRT had begun to take effect because if she’d had to sit in here even a few months ago, she was sure she’d have melted into a puddle. As soon as she stepped into the hall, she took off her coat and jumper with a sigh of relief.

On the stage with Magnus were Geoff, Fliss and Charles, Stacey and Lavender, listening with varying degrees of attention as he tried to explain something to them. The caretaker was putting up tired-looking streamers, apparently to brighten the place up for Christmas. They looked like the same ones Zoe had seen decorating the hall the previous year, and most of the villagers had complained how rubbish they were then, so goodness only knew what they’d say about them this year.

Sitting in the front row, scrolling on his phone, was Simon. He looked up as Zoe and Corrine took a seat next to him.