Chapter 6
Billie had grumbled about going down to the village with Zoe, but Alex had wanted to organise a surprise for both of them and had asked Zoe to find a way to persuade her.
‘What kind of surprise?’ Zoe had asked, only for him to tap the side of his nose with an enigmatic smile the Mona Lisa would have been proud of.
Zoe couldn’t decide whether she ought to be excited or nervous for what might await their return.
Nevertheless, as Alex had asked, she cooked up a story about needing a hand to choose some wine and other treats from the stock at Magnus and Geoff’s shop to give out to various friends around the village, and although Billie couldn’t see why Zoe would need her help, eventually she caved in and got Louisa ready to go with them.
‘It doesn’t feel like December is just around the corner,’ Zoe said as they walked the lanes, skies heavy with rain, the hills beyond the village obscured by clouds.
It looked as though it was raining on their peaks, and the downpour would soon travel to engulf Thimblebury too.
Zoe hoped that wouldn’t be too soon because Alex had requested a couple of hours at least, but that was going to be difficult to give him if they had to dash home because the weather was bad.
Even the air smelled musty, like damp vegetation that had never been given an opportunity to dry out.
It was a far cry from the crisp, frosted air they’d enjoyed the December of the year before, where it had snowed so solidly in the lead-up to Christmas that when the big day arrived, the village had looked like every traditional Christmas card there had ever been.
It was hard to feel excitement for the festive season when the weather was so determinedly unseasonal, but from the looks of the streets and houses, some people were beginning to make an effort anyway.
‘It’s depressing,’ Billie said, her gaze set on the pavement ahead, barely affording the moody hills a second glance. ‘I hate when Christmas is like this.’
‘Well, it’s not Christmas yet. There’s plenty of time for it to cheer up. And on the bright side, if it stays like this, at least we won’t be snowed in like we were last year.’
‘I didn’t mind that,’ Billie said. ‘I’d rather have snow than rain. I hate rain.’
‘It’s not going to rain for the rest of the month. Even here we don’t have that much rain.’
Billie turned to her with a weary look. ‘Feels like it sometimes. Like, I’m happy that people want to come here because it helps Dad’s business, but God knows why.’
‘Because it’s beautiful. It’s peaceful and clean and gorgeous.
It feels like a safe haven, especially if you live in a hectic city or you have a demanding job.
I know that’s how I felt when I came here from Manchester.
I suppose I also felt it was a bit quiet, but I soon fell into the rhythm of life here, and I can’t imagine being anywhere else now. ’
Billie didn’t reply. Zoe wasn’t sure if that meant she didn’t want to talk or if she simply had nothing else to say on the matter.
‘I wonder if there’s going to be a village ginger shortage again this year,’ she said in an effort to get another conversation going.
‘Probably. There’s nothing else to do, is there?’
‘You enjoyed the gingerbread competition last year. And you did so well! You’re having another go this year, aren’t you? With Magnus out of the running, you might win.’
‘I didn’t have Louisa last year. I’m too busy with her to mess around with gingerbread houses.’
‘Me and your dad will help with Louisa if you want to—’
‘I’m really not that bothered. It was just something to do, but now I have something else to do. If you want to do it, then me and Dad will come down to the judging with you.’
Zoe’s thoughts were like a fast-flowing stream, channelled in one inexorable direction and quicker than she could keep up with.
She wanted to be wrong because she knew how devastated Alex would be at the notion, but she was increasingly convinced that Billie was sick of life in Thimblebury.
The alternative was that her mental health had taken another turn for the worse, and that wasn’t outside the realms of possibility either, considering she was still in a tentative transition phase from someone who was suffering from post-natal depression to someone who saw the joy in life again.
It was also quite possible that the two scenarios were interconnected, and that some of Billie’s mental health struggles were due to the fact that she felt trapped in Thimblebury.
Whatever the reason, it was worrying. Zoe had only just started to relax her vigilance, content that Billie was finally on the right track, but the sudden return of her negativity was ringing alarm bells.
Should Zoe share her worries with Alex? Or should she wait until she knew more?
Should she ask Billie outright, or would that cause her to clam up, start to hide her behaviour, make her less inclined to confide in Zoe when she might need to?
Maybe she was seeing problems that weren’t there?
She could imagine that would be Billie’s response, to accuse Zoe of creating dramas around other people to distract from her own, and maybe Billie would be right.
‘At least I know not to ask Magnus to put some ginger aside for me,’ she said slowly, these thoughts still running through her mind. ‘It’ll be there for anyone else who wants to buy it.’
‘Yeah,’ Billie said, though her tone suggested to Zoe that she hadn’t really heard what she’d said at all.
Their wanderings took them to the main road, if what Thimblebury had in that department could be called a road at all.
As for the main bit, it was the widest and busiest of what the village had, but when most other roads were narrow lanes or tiny cul-de-sacs, then it only counted because it wasn’t one of those.
On a lamppost was pinned a notice, calling for people to help out backstage and front of house for Magnus’s panto.
It caught Billie’s attention for a moment, and then she looked away, shaking her head.
‘I take it that means you’re not tempted to get involved?
’ Zoe asked. Billie turned a withering look onto her, and Zoe gave a self-conscious laugh.
‘No, I didn’t think that would be the case, but you never know, you’ve surprised me before.
It might be nice to go and watch, though, support everyone who is involved. ’
Again, Billie made no reference to her thoughts either way, and Zoe was left floundering as to what that might mean. But then something else caught her attention, and any thoughts of trying to work Billie out were momentarily forgotten.
‘Oh my God!’ Zoe pointed at the garden of Thimblebury surgery; Billie followed her gaze and, despite the mood she’d been in all morning, grinned. ‘That’s got to be Lavender’s doing!’
They both stopped to admire the eight-foot-high inflatable Santa anchored to the ground, buffeted in all directions by a brisk wind that promised to bring the rain from the hills before too long.
In front of it was a large sign that said: Santa, please stop here!
There were more figures around the garden, of reindeer and elves, but none were quite as imposing as the huge red Father Christmas in their midst.
Billie got out her phone and took a photo. ‘I’m sending it to my mate in Málaga,’ she said.
‘Which mate?’
‘Maria. She’s Luis’s cousin. She was at the house when I went over.’
‘Oh. You never mentioned her before. Were you close when you lived there?’
‘Not really. I didn’t see much of her back then.
She’s younger than me, and to be honest she was sometimes annoying.
She’s better now. Grown up a bit, you know.
She said I could go and stay with her any time.
I don’t need to because I can stay with Luis’s parents any time I want as well, but I would if they couldn’t put me up one time. She lives in a dead nice house.’
‘She has her own place?’
‘No, her parents do. But they’ve got an annexe just for her. They’ve been there forever, like the house was passed down from her grandparents. It’ll probably be hers one day. She’s so lucky.’
‘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.’