Page 89 of A Christmas Wish for the Village Midwife

‘Goodnight.’

After giving Billie a moment to get upstairs, Zoe turned to Alex. ‘How are you doing?’ she asked in a low voice.

‘I’m fine.’ He sat down.

‘Honestly?’

‘Honestly. I’m sort of relieved. Everything is out in the open and we don’t need to tiptoe around now.’

‘Big changes coming, eh?’ Zoe sat next to him.

‘Looks that way. The house is going to seem too huge without them.’

‘Do you want to move? We could⁠—’

He shook his head. ‘We’ve only just got the business started. I want to make a go of that. If you’re happy at Hilltop, then so am I.’

‘More than happy. I thought I’d say it anyway because if you felt it wasn’t for you now, I’d understand. There’s still Kestrel Cottage over the way, after all, and we could be just as comfortable there as here.’

‘Don’t remind me,’ he groaned. ‘I’ve still got to talk to Victor about that, tell him we don’t want to buy it after all.’

‘He’ll be all right about that. It’s Victor.’

‘Yeah, but I still feel bad for messing him around.’

Zoe pursed her lips, and Alex laughed. ‘Yes, you were right, as always. I should have talked to you about it, and you would have told me it was a bad idea.’

‘Not necessarily, but you might have worked that out for yourself.’

‘I’m too impetuous.’

‘Not that, but you grab for whatever you think will make everyone happy. It’s not a fault; it’s something I love about you.’

‘You know what I love about you?’

‘What?’

‘Everything.’

‘Daft.’ Zoe smiled, held in the darkness of his eyes, weightless for a moment, buoyed by the tenderness she found there.

‘I mean it,’ he said. ‘I know everything will be all right when Billie leaves because you’re here. It might have been a different story if you weren’t.’

‘That’s good because I’m not going anywhere.’

‘It’s very good because neither am I. Thick or thin, I want to share it all with you. Maybe even… well’ – he smiled slowly – ‘you know. I don’t have to say it; I’ll just wait until you say yes.’

Zoe fell deeper into his gaze, and she wondered, would it be so hard to say yes? What was stopping her? She already knew she’d never loved anyone like she loved Alex, and she never wanted to be with anyone else. She knew she’d be happy at Hilltop for the rest of her life, or wherever else they went as long as he was with her.

‘Alex…’ She moved in, her voice low and sultry. ‘Will you marry me?’

‘What?’

‘Oh, you don’t want to?’ She gave a coquettish smile. ‘That’s a shame, but I thought⁠—’

‘Oh my God, yes!’ he yelled.

Zoe let out a guilty laugh as she glanced towards the stairs, certain they’d woken Billie and Louisa.