Page 53 of A Christmas Wish for the Village Midwife

‘What about Louisa?’ Corrine asked. She looked at Magnus. ‘Can the little ones come?’

‘It’s not really the place for a baby,’ Magnus said, shooting a wary look at Zoe.

‘We’ll work something out either way,’ Zoe said, her mind already going over solutions. Perhaps this would be a nice distraction for Billie and something interesting enough to get her out of the house. Or maybe not, but it had to be worth a try.

10

In the end, Alex had come clean to Billie about inviting Luis’s parents to England to spend Christmas with them. He and Zoe were pleased to see she was keen on the idea after all, perhaps happy that her doubts had been for nothing and that they seemed enthusiastic. When Alex told her he was waiting for a reply, she went to find her phone and Zoe presumed she was going to try to speed along their response, or else talk to them about it in some other capacity.

Alex was dishing up a hotpot he’d made for dinner while Zoe dashed upstairs to change out of her uniform after what had been an unusually boring day filled with paperwork and cleaning her treatment room. When she got back to the kitchen, Billie was putting Louisa into her high chair.

‘They can’t come,’ she said to Alex.

‘Who?’ Zoe asked.

Billie looked up. ‘Luis’s mum and dad. They can’t come for Christmas; they can’t find anyone who will look after the animals… I mean, they do have a few, and the horse is really old. They had one friend who would but couldn’t do it over Christmas, only before or after.’

Zoe exchanged a glance with Alex. How badly did he want to do this? He’d always wanted to please Billie if he had it in his power. Would he mind her suggestion? She decided to make it anyway because it would probably come to nothing in the end. ‘What about if they came before? We could have an early Christmas celebration so we could include them. I suppose afterwards would be fine too. It would be a good excuse to have two Christmas dinners, and I’m never going to complain about that.’

Alex turned to Billie. ‘What do you think?’

‘I could ask,’ she said doubtfully. ‘When should I say?’

‘Why don’t you ask when they’re free?’ Zoe said. ‘If they’re free at all, and it’s probably a long shot because we’re already so close to Christmas. But it would be a way for them to sort of share Louisa’s first Christmas. I think it would be nice.’

‘It would.’ Alex shot a grateful look Zoe’s way.

‘I’ll message them now!’ Billie said, going to get her phone from the living room.

Alex mouthed a thank you to Zoe, who smiled.

Billie came back and put her phone on the table next to her plate. ‘Sent!’ she said breathlessly, and Zoe had to admit it was a long time since she’d seen her so excited and hopeful for a good outcome. Luis’s parents arriving would be a lot of work and more upheaval at a time when they were already busy, but she was glad she’d suggested it now, if only to see Billie’s smile.

All through the meal, she kept glancing at her phone. And when it lit up with a message, she snatched it from the table before she’d even read the name of the sender and then set it down again when she saw it was Maisie.

‘I’ll get that later,’ she said. ‘It’ll only be something about wallpaper for the new house. Honestly, she asks me every day what I think of this paint or these curtains. I don’t live there, do I? What’s it got to do with me?’

‘She values your opinion,’ Zoe said.

‘Yeah, I get that, but it’s weird.’

‘Bill…’ Alex began.

‘I know, I know.’ She sighed. ‘Maisie’s my mate, and I’m being mean. It’s just that sometimes she reminds me that she’s younger than me because she acts younger.’

‘She’s also had a more unstable upbringing, and so her confidence is much more fragile,’ Zoe said. ‘She’s growing every day, but there will be lots of days when she still needs reassurance. And that’s all it is; she just wants to know she’s doing the right thing, even when deep down she does already.’

‘Reassurance for curtains?’ Billie raised her eyebrows. ‘Curtains are not that deep.’

‘The curtains and paints and whatever else are just a manifestation of something else, something deeper.’

Billie’s eyebrows went even higher. ‘Oh, OK, therapist…’

‘Zoe’s good at reading people and working out what makes them tick,’ Alex said. ‘Surely you’ve noticed,’ he added with a wry smile. ‘She had us two figured out as soon as she met us.’

‘I wish!’ Zoe laughed lightly. ‘It might be more to do with the fact I’m used to working with people and being there for very emotional periods of their lives, and you learn to read people in those situations. Sometimes it’s part of my job, and sometimes you get it for free.’

‘Are you still going to meet Fern at the weekend?’ Billie asked in a tone that was neutral enough.