Page 10 of A Christmas Wish for the Village Midwife

‘Billie!’

Despite Flo’s cantankerous, blunt and gossiping ways, it was still shocking to hear Billie talk about her like that.

‘What? You think she’s a pain in the arse as well.’

‘I know she can be, but I don’t think that’s fair.’

‘I was only joking.’ Billie turned back to her phone. ‘No need to get all outraged; it’s not that deep.’

Alex came back with the milk. ‘We can have a cup of tea now.’

‘Yay,’ Billie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘It’s so good to be home.’

The rest of the day had passed in much better spirits, with Billie still catching Alex up on all the latest back in Spain, referencing people they’d known when they’d all lived there and what had changed in the town. Zoe had listened with interest because it was a part of their lives she knew very little about, but she couldn’t help feeling like someone who was on the sidelines.

From time to time, Alex would start a conversation about things that had happened in Thimblebury while Billie had been away, or news he’d heard about someone or other who lived in the village, and Billie would address it with what sounded to Zoe like impatience, as if she saw no value in that information and that her news from Spain was far more interesting and important. Zoe tried not to read too much into this either because she supposed there had been a welcome novelty for Billie in her trip, and welcome reminders of a time in her life that was far simpler than now. She’d been happy back then, with her mum and Luis both still alive, and so perhaps it was only natural she’d turn the memories of that time into something brighter and better than they might have been, and that she’d want to talk about somewhere that made her so happy.

‘I’m going to put Louisa to bed, and I might stay up there myself,’ Billie said once they’d cleared up the remnants of a late tea. ‘You don’t mind, do you, Dad?’

‘Of course not. I imagine it’s been a long day.’

‘Yeah.’

‘It’s good to have you home,’ he added.

She went to kiss him on the cheek and then held up Louisa for him to kiss, but she didn’t reply to his comment.

‘I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Zoe,’ she added, bringing Louisa over for Zoe to kiss too.

‘Goodnight.’

Billie took Louisa to the door. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’

Alex waited for the door to close and for the sounds of Billie’s footsteps to reach the top of the stairs before he turned to Zoe. ‘It is good to have her home. I knew I’d miss her, but I’m shocked at how much. Louisa too. It’s been so quiet here without them, hasn’t it?’

Zoe nodded as she gathered the cups and took them to the sink. ‘Really quiet. Louisa seems to have grown loads, even in just one week.’

‘We’re so lucky we get to see that,’ he said. ‘I can’t imagine if we didn’t have them living here and only saw her every few months – we’d miss so much.’

Zoe turned on the tap. Didn’t he sense what she did? They’d tentatively brought up the subject of Billie feeling bored at Hilltop, and though he’d acknowledged it, Zoe wasn’t sure he was taking it seriously enough. She hoped that wouldn’t come back to bite him, but she had a feeling it would.

The following morning brought steely skies, and though she didn’t say anything as they got into the car to visit Maisie and Fern, Zoe could almost see the sparkle of the Spanish sun leave Billie’s soul right before her eyes. Trees swayed and shivered at the side of the road as Zoe drove them to a small council estate outside the village.

‘It’s getting so windy.’ Billie peered out at the sky where clouds stuffed full of rain were swept along. ‘Do you think there’ll be a storm? Maybe we should turn back.’

‘There’s nothing terrible in the forecast. We’re almost there now; we might as well visit. We can keep an eye on the weather, and if it starts to look worse, we’ll cut things short and try again another day.’

‘Dad said that tree fell into the road last week…’

‘There’s nothing too close to the road on this stretch; I’m sure it will be fine.’

‘But I know you get stressed driving around here anyway…’

‘Only the bit going up to the house because it’s so narrow and remote. I’m getting a lot more used to that now, though. I’ve started to wonder what I was making all that fuss about, to be honest.’

Billie settled into her seat again. She’d been keen enough to make this visit when she’d appeared in the kitchen this morning, but now that she was out, she seemed unsettled.

‘Are you still tired from yesterday?’ Zoe asked.