Page 33 of A Christmas Wish for the Village Midwife

‘She doesn’t have siblings?’

‘No, so it will defo go to her. Luis would have got his mum and dad’s place, but I suppose his brother will get it now.’ Her voice was far away, as if reliving an old conversation. ‘We were going to live there one day. Luis and me.’ She shook herself and turned her gaze back to the giant Santa. ‘That’s insane. I mean, it’s insane for round here. Lavender does know Santa doesn’t stop at doctor’s surgeries, doesn’t she?’

Zoe smiled. ‘I wouldn’t put it to the test. Remember what happened last year when the rest of us didn’t get as excited by Christmas as she did?’

‘You’ve got to hand it to her – she loves Christmas. In Spain, it’s really different to this, you know.’

‘Christmas is? In what way?’

‘It’s more religious, and you’d think that would be boring, but it’s actually nice. It’s nice the way they do it. They have this log called the Christmas log.’

‘We have those. Cakes, right?’

‘No, that’s a yule log,’ Billie said in the tone of a teacher explaining a sum to a slow pupil. ‘These are Christmas logs; they’re tree logs. You whack them.’

‘Oh,’ Zoe said, not knowing what else to say.

‘It’s tradition,’ Billie added.

‘I suppose everywhere has their own traditions. Where does that one you and Alex like come from? You know, the Christmas Eve present swap?’

‘Norway, maybe. I don’t remember where it was, but we learned about it in school when I was little. I only said I wanted to do it one year, but then Dad kept it up. He said it was for me, but it was for him really. I suppose it makes him think about me being young or something.’

That wasn’t quite how Zoe remembered it from the year before. Billie had been visibly upset by the notion that they might miss their Christmas Eve present exchange when the schedule had gone awry, but she decided it was better not to mention that now. And for all of Billie’s pretence, Zoe had a feeling that some of that tradition was being kept alive by Alex, who probably did want to cling on to the memory of Billie as a child as much as Billie liked to cling to the days when life was simpler for her, and the most important thing she had to worry about was making sure they swapped one present on Christmas Eve.

‘Maybe you wanted to stay with Luis’s parents this year? For Christmas?’

‘Dad would have gone mental if I’d said that. There’s no way he would miss Louisa’s first Christmas. I would have liked to have stayed for longer, maybe, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be away from Dad for that. I know he’d have you, but still… And I know Dad said we could invite them to ours. It was nice of him, but I think he was only doing it for me. I don’t think he really wanted them to come. That’s why in the end I didn’t ask.’

‘He meant it. He’d do it for you.’

‘Which means I was right and he didn’t want them here. That’s OK, I get it – he wants it to be just us for Louisa’s first Christmas. Beatriz and Antonio understand that. They’re really cool; they just get this stuff. I guess we might ask them next year.’

Zoe was comforted to hear Billie talk about next year as if it was a certainty she’d still be with them. ‘They sound great. I’m looking forward to meeting them when we eventually get round to it.’

Billie had her phone tucked into the folded hood of Louisa’s buggy, and a loud bleep came from it now. Billie unlocked it and paused on the path to read the text. ‘Maisie,’ she said vaguely. ‘She’s got some working-from-home gig, apparently. Packing gift sets for someone who sells them on Etsy.’

‘How did she find that?’ Zoe asked.

Billie shrugged. ‘I bet it’s some dodgy mate of her mum’s. Sounds like that sort of thing, doesn’t it?’

‘It sounds like a handy little job, and she has been saying for a while she wanted to get something.’

‘Sounds like she’ll get ripped off.’ Billie shoved her phone into her coat pocket.

‘I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had a job like that.’

‘Neither have I, but it’s obvious, isn’t it?’

Zoe threw Billie a sideways glance. ‘Is it?’

‘How much stuff has she got to pack before she gets paid? Loads! Even if they end up paying her – which I bet they don’t – it won’t be much.’

‘I would imagine, in Maisie’s situation, a little money is better than nothing. She can work from home, so she doesn’t have to pay childcare for Ezra, and if she’s smart, she’ll keep her earnings low enough that she won’t have to pay tax on them. You can’t blame her for wanting to give it a go.’

‘I wouldn’t get out of bed for the hourly rate they’re paying.’

‘You don’t have to.’