Page 8 of A Christmas Wish for the Village Midwife

Zoe tried not to be affected by talk of Alex’s wife, Jennifer. It was only her tragic death that had paved the way for Zoe to be a part of his life at all, and though it didn’t make him love her any less, sometimes she felt like an imposter in his world, taking the place of someone who had far more of a right to love him than she did. And as they continued to discuss the places that Jennifer and Alex used to frequent when they had lived in Málaga with Billie, Zoe tried to tune it out and turned her attention back to the landscape rushing by.

‘Zoe…’

‘Huh?’

Billie was twisted round in the passenger seat. ‘I said have you been to Fern and Maisie’s new house yet?’

‘Oh… yes, I had to go over last week.’

‘I thought you’d wait for me.’

‘I would have done, except that there’s this little matter of my job being to look after new mums and babies, and the fact that Fern has just had Benji…’

‘I thought you’d already been to do all that new baby stuff.’

‘I have to visit them a few more times. But we can do a social call if you like. Tomorrow, maybe? I’ve got nothing much on.’

‘OK, if Louisa isn’t too niggly. She’s had a lot of late bedtimes this week; it’s going to take ages to get her back to normal.’

‘Why has she had late bedtimes?’

‘It’s just how it is over there. Their kids stay up. There’s little kids playing outside at ten at night.’

‘Not like here then,’ Alex said. ‘Just the playing outside bit is a world away. Kids here only stay up if their parents don’t notice they’re online.’

‘You sound about a hundred now,’ Billie said in a withering tone.

Alex laughed. ‘When I have a conversation with anyone your age, I feel it these days. Let me have my old man opinions.’

‘So what have you two been up to?’ Billie asked.

‘Oh you know, the usual. Work and food.’

‘But you’re not working right now,’ Billie said. ‘The campsite is closed for the winter.’

‘That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. How do you think the ground is maintained so it’s ready for spring?’

‘And he’s decided he’s going to get involved in some local rewilding project,’ Zoe added.

‘What’s a rewilding project?’ Billie asked.

‘It’s about taking the land back to how it should be naturally.’ Alex spun round a sharp bend in the road with more speed than Zoe would have liked, throwing them all around.

‘Dad!’ Billie frowned. ‘Watch where you’re going!’

‘Sorry, didn’t realise it was quite that tight.’

‘You’ve got Louisa in the car!’

‘I know. I said I was sorry. Do you want to know about the rewilding or not?’

‘Not if it’s going to make us go off the road.’

Billie folded her arms and stared at the road ahead, and the atmosphere in the car turned in an instant to impatience and irritation, most of it coming from Billie. She was tired, perhaps. It sounded as if she’d had a hectic week, despite how much she might have enjoyed it. Things would be better later, Zoe thought, and so decided not to worry about it. Instead, she turned her own attention to the road as Louisa drifted off to sleep beside her. It wasn’t often she was in the back seat these days, but when they’d reached the drive-through, she’d swapped with Billie so she could chat to Alex about her trip. Being in the back seat, in a strange sort of way, made everything look different. A slightly altered angle by which to see the welcome to Thimblebury sign as they approached the village, a subtle shift in perspective that almost made her view the tiny cottages, adorned with window boxes and crowding shrubs and trees in gardens and standing sentry at front doors as if they were new to her. She loved this place, and no matter how she took in the vista, she would always feel welcomed by it.

She glanced at the front of the car, an absent-minded check on the situation there, and noticed that Billie gazed out of the window with an expression that didn’t look welcomed but weary.

‘Victor’s alpaca is almost ready to give birth,’ Alex said into the heavy silence.