Chapter 22
Corrine had a warm smile for Zoe when she got to Daffodil Farm, and it was almost enough to start her crying.
The fragrant, happy kitchen was so far from the scene she’d left at Hilltop that it felt like the difference between heaven and hell.
Melodramatic was the word Zoe would have used to describe her feelings, if she’d been in a more stable mood.
Billie was sitting at the table chatting with Fern, and Victor was carrying Louisa around, showing her things and explaining them to her as if she could understand.
It was truly a lovely thing to watch, and Zoe couldn’t help but note that it was perhaps the first time Billie had allowed such a thing.
She’d struggled after the birth to let anyone near Louisa, even her closest family.
But she seemed perfectly relaxed as Victor took Louisa to the window and explained what grass was as the little girl stared out with wide eyes.
‘You’re daft,’ Corrine said to him as Zoe took a seat after greeting everyone. ‘She hasn’t got a clue what you’re yapping on about.’
‘She’ll be enjoying the attention anyway,’ Zoe said.
She glanced at Billie and recognised a knowing look they’d shared more than once over the past couple of weeks.
‘Is she still there?’ Billie asked.
‘Yes. I left them looking at some websites. I was going to cook, but…’
‘We’ve got plenty here,’ Corrine said. ‘Billie’s been telling us about it – what a damn shame.
Poor Alex is doing his best. People are always on the lookout for ways to make money nowadays, and they don’t care who they hurt to get it.
It’s suing for this and suing for that. I keep saying to Victor I’m surprised someone hasn’t tried it with us yet.
We had that one girl… do you remember, Victor?
That girl who said Daisy had nipped her?
What did she expect when she was trying to shove a bunch of thistles down her throat?
’ Corrine stirred a pot on the stove, the rich smell of a casserole coming from within.
‘The parents were all for shutting us down… We didn’t hear from them in the end, but I had a few sleepless nights, I can tell you. ’
She continued to regale them with close calls and complaints about their alpaca as she laid the table.
It made Zoe realise their lives were far more complicated than anyone who saw them now would assume.
Zoe had heard stories since she’d arrived and knew they’d had their fair share of drama even as recently as the year before – some of it involving Ottilie’s sister and their son-in-law.
‘Come and sit down now,’ she told Victor. ‘This is ready to serve.’ She looked at Billie. ‘Is Louisa able to eat a little of the gravy yet?’
‘No!’ Zoe said before anyone else could answer.
‘I don’t know,’ Corrine continued, unperturbed by the response. ‘I can’t keep up. We used to wean as soon as our babies started to get too hungry for the breast. And my mother used to put mashed potato in with my milk and feed it to me from the bottle. Imagine how that would go down now!’
‘It won’t be long,’ Zoe said, hoping she hadn’t sounded too preachy.
Billie took Louisa from Victor, who joined them at the table.
‘I bet you’d like to taste it, though,’ Victor cooed at the little girl as he picked up his spoon. ‘I bet the smell is making your little mouth water.’
‘Don’t be daft,’ Corrine said. ‘She doesn’t know any different. Beef stew, milk, rusks – I’m sure it’s all the same to her.’
‘She doesn’t have rusks yet either,’ Billie said. ‘She had a taste of banana – she loved it.’
‘Not on my advice,’ Zoe added with a wry look at Billie.
Fern stared at the other young woman.
‘Don’t look so shocked,’ Billie said. ‘I only let her have a lick of mine. She kept staring at it, and it’s not like I shoved the whole thing down her throat.’
Corrine put a bowl brimming with rich gravy and chunky vegetables in front of Zoe and gestured to a plate of crusty bread. ‘Help yourself, love. There’s plenty of bread in the crock, so don’t worry about depriving anyone else. You look as if you need it. Long day? I suppose it must be.’
‘Maisie messaged me,’ Billie said to Zoe as she bounced Louisa on her knee. ‘She told me you’d been over and had it out with her mum.’
Zoe shot a wary glance at Fern, but she was reading something on her phone and dipping her spoon into her stew at the same time and didn’t appear to be listening. ‘It wasn’t quite like that. I don’t think I’m Bridget’s favourite person right now, but I didn’t mean to cause a problem.’
‘That woman doesn’t much like anyone,’ Corrine said.
‘Come on now…’ She nodded at Zoe’s bowl.
‘Eat up. Do you want something to drink with that? A cup of tea? I have some lemonade I made yesterday in the fridge – that’ll get some vitamins inside you.
You need more salt? Victor, pass Zoe the salt…
Not that big slice; leave that for Zoe…’
Zoe looked up from her bowl. ‘Are you trying to fatten me up? I mean, I’m not complaining, but I’m starting to feel like one of the kids from the gingerbread house.’
Victor grinned as he offered Zoe the bread. ‘You’re not telling me this is the first time you’ve ever noticed Corrine is usually on a mission to make everyone eat as much as possible? It’s a personal offence if you haven’t licked the bowl clean at the end.’
‘I love it…’ Fern looked up now and reached for some more bread. ‘The best food I’ve ever had. So much better than the stumpy old turnips-and-potato dinner we used to get on Mondays at the commune. No meat, no gravy… so dry.’
‘Sounds disgusting,’ Billie said. ‘I don’t know how you stuck it for so long.’
‘They were nice,’ Fern said. ‘But nobody ate meat. We had to be vegan if we wanted to stay there.’
Zoe frowned. ‘They had chickens. So what were the chickens for?’
Fern shrugged. ‘I never asked, but we didn’t eat them.’
‘Not even the eggs?’ Victor asked, aghast.
Fern shook her head as she dunked a corner of bread into her bowl before sucking at it.
‘Well, I never…’
Victor looked as if he might never recover from this revelation as he went back to his dinner, muttering under his breath. For all her recent stress, Zoe almost burst out laughing.
‘I like to see people enjoy their food,’ Corrine said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with that. My old mum used to call it a love language. It’s how we show we care about someone.’
‘You must care about everyone in Thimblebury then,’ Victor said. ‘Because you’ve tried to feed the lot of them at some time or another.’
‘Honestly, you do talk some rot, Victor…’
Corrine bustled around, refilling the bread, fetching at least four different bottles from the fridge containing different drinks, offering all manner of condiments and taking Louisa for a time so Billie could eat, and Zoe wondered when she was going to sit down and have some of the stew she’d made.
She was about to say so when Billie stood to take Louisa from her.
‘It’ll be cold, Corrine. I’ve had some; I can hold Louisa while I eat the rest, so have yours.’
Looking reluctant, Corrine gave in and did as Billie had asked. But she was soon tucking into her meal with as much enthusiasm as everyone else, and it was clear she’d been hungry but choosing to, as always, put everyone else first.
Zoe felt calm for the first time since she’d arrived home from work, but she couldn’t help letting her mind wander to the kitchen at Hilltop and wondering what was going on there. She’d just put her spoon down ready to send Alex a text when Corrine’s question distracted her.
‘Victor managed to glue most of that china in the end, so I hope you weren’t worrying about it. Only I know what you’re like.’
‘Oh…’ Zoe glanced at Billie, trying to work out if anyone had told her about the incident with the display cabinet. It didn’t seem so, though she did pay attention now. ‘That’s good. I was going to ask… well, I was going to ask about the damage. I’m sorry I didn’t have time when it happened.’
‘You were in no state to worry about our silly old cups,’ Corrine said. ‘I’m not surprised it was the last thing on your mind. Are you feeling better now? It wasn’t that bug everyone else has, was it?’
‘I don’t think so. At least I’m fine now.’
‘That’s good. Victor, do you want me to butter that last crust for you?’
‘What’s this?’ Billie asked.
‘It’s nothing,’ Zoe said. ‘Could you pass me the lemonade? It’s lovely, Corrine. It’s all lovely, the stew especially.’
‘I had the beef in the freezer.’
‘And she always makes too much,’ Victor added. ‘And our Penny has so much of Corrine’s stew in her freezer already there’s no point in taking the spare over to her. Will you take some for Alex? Unless he’s coming over when he’s finished with his woman?’
‘I don’t know what he’s planning to do,’ Zoe said, trying not to sound aggrieved but failing. ‘I didn’t get a chance to ask him.’
‘I doubt it,’ Billie said. ‘Virginia goes on a bit when she starts talking about law.’
Zoe wanted to laugh like a kid on the playground hearing another kid make fun of a teacher, but she resisted the temptation.
‘Alex tells me she’s very good,’ Victor said. ‘Must be costing him a pretty penny. He must be taking this business very seriously.’
‘She’s doing it for free,’ Billie said. ‘They’re old friends or something.’
‘Lucky for him then,’ Victor said.
Billie turned to Zoe. ‘Did Dad show you the letter? I wanted to read it, but he said there was no point. Sometimes he forgets I’m not a ten-year-old anymore.’
‘I’m sure he didn’t want you to worry about it.’
‘Well, I worry more about what I don’t know than what I do. So you saw what was in it?’
‘I did, but I don’t really know what much of it means. Only that the man who was injured says he won’t be able to do his job in the future and he wants to be compensated for loss of earnings and trauma and that sort of thing.’