Chapter 6 #2
‘Sudden. First you tell me Chantal is pregnant, and five minutes later you’re getting married.
And I understand why you’re so keen to, but surely you can see it’s a lot for me to take in, especially as I’ve only just got used to the idea that you and Mum aren’t together anymore.
Not to mention my life hasn’t exactly been plain sailing the past twelve months.
I’m sorry I don’t sound more enthusiastic, Dad, but I’m trying. ’
‘You’re coming to the wedding, though?’
‘Of course I will.’
‘That’s good. It means the world to me that you and your brother are there.’
‘Have you asked him then? He’s said he’s free?’
‘I’m about to. I wondered whether to ask Cherie… in the spirit of friendship and forgiveness and all that…’
Zoe almost laughed, though it wasn’t one bit funny. ‘Seriously? You wanted to ask Mum?’
‘You don’t think it’s a good idea?’
‘I don’t think she’d appreciate it quite as much as you imagine.’
‘Ah. I suppose not.’
‘Right. So you’ll send me details when you have them?’
‘As soon as Chantal finds the place she wants, I’ll let you know.’
‘Right…’ Zoe didn’t say anything more because nothing appropriate would come to mind.
‘Anyway,’ her dad said, filling the silence, ‘I’ll ring off. I need to speak to your brother, and Chantal wants to go shopping later.’
‘OK. Dad…’ Zoe took a deep breath and forced herself to smile so that he could hear it in her voice. ‘I really am happy for you. It was a shock, but I’m sorry if it sounded as though I’m not pleased. I’m sure you and Chantal will be very happy.’
‘I think so too,’ he said. ‘Thanks, Zoe.’
After ending the call, Zoe slipped the phone into her tunic pocket.
But she didn’t go back inside. Instead, she stared at the hillsides, where the clouds she could see in the distance had just started to bleed their rain, blurring the view into something that looked like a watercolour painting.
But here in Thimblebury it was still dry.
Perhaps the rain would come later for them.
Perhaps not. It was hard to think about when there was so much else going on in Zoe’s brain, and yet it was almost all she could think about because to even try to process the conversation she’d just had with her dad was overwhelming.
It wasn’t really about the wedding or Chantal’s pregnancy but about the fallout that Zoe knew was coming.
She wasn’t ready for that, and even if she’d had ten years’ notice, she doubted she would be.
It was coming nonetheless, and she’d have to deal with it.
Absently, she took out her phone again to check for missed calls, just in case, but there hadn’t been any. What was taking her mum so long? Zoe could only conclude that she hadn’t yet phoned because she’d assumed Zoe wouldn’t be able to talk.
The back door opened, and Lavender put her head around it.
‘Sorry to disturb,’ she said. ‘But your dinner’s getting cold, and we’ll have to open up again in twenty minutes, so I wondered if…’
‘Sorry, Lavender, I was on the phone to my dad. I’m coming back in now.’
‘Nothing amiss, is there? Nothing bad?’
‘Nothing bad, just something unexpected. He’s getting married.’
Lavender opened the door wider to let Zoe past. ‘That’s lovely!’ she said, but then paused and looked more closely at Zoe. ‘Isn’t it?’
‘Yes, it’s lovely. It’s sudden, that’s all. He didn’t seem bothered up until now, but suddenly it’s full steam ahead. He wants to get married on Valentine’s Day.’
‘This Valentine’s?’
Zoe nodded, and Lavender let out a low whistle. ‘No wonder you look shocked. Have they arranged it then? Why are they only telling you now?’
‘They haven’t booked anything yet.’
‘Ah, well, I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up having to put it off then.’
Zoe threw a wry look at Lavender as they went back to the table. ‘If you’d ever met his girlfriend, you’d know she’ll make it happen no matter what.’
Lavender raised her eyebrows. ‘Spoiled, eh? A kept woman?’
‘Quite the opposite, really. That’s one thing I can say about her – she’s never asked Dad to keep her, but he always wants to.
What I mean is, she’s determined and she has a way of making things happen that everyone else would think impossible.
I don’t know how she’ll pull it together, but I wouldn’t bet against her making this Valentine’s wedding happen. ’
Simon and Shabana halted their conversation and looked expectantly at Zoe.
‘Sorry to dash off,’ she said. ‘My dad was on the phone… A bit of family stuff, you know, but it’s all good. I’ll tell you about it when we have more time.’
Seemingly satisfied, Simon got up. ‘I have to go back to my room anyway. I’ve got some blood results to go through before the afternoon session begins.’ He gave Zoe a pointed look. ‘If you need anything at all, you know where I am. Don’t hesitate to come and see me.’
Zoe offered a smile every bit as grateful as she felt.
When she’d first arrived, she’d felt so lucky to have Simon and Fliss as the resident GPs, both very different but both equally welcoming and considerate.
Now Fliss had retired and Emilia was in her place.
A far more reserved presence but just as kind.
Simply knowing she could go to any of them with a problem was enough to make things automatically better.
‘So, how do you really feel about it?’ Lavender asked as Simon left.
Zoe turned to her. ‘About what? My dad? Fine.’
‘That’s not what your face is telling me.’
‘It’s just…’ Zoe noticed Shabana looking awkward.
She realised their new locum nurse barely knew them and perhaps felt this was a personal conversation she shouldn’t be privy to.
Zoe would have felt the same in her place.
And so she forced a bright smile. ‘It’s lovely news.
My dad is getting married,’ she added as she turned directly to address Shabana.
‘His partner is pregnant and they’re making everything official. ’
‘That’s nice,’ Shabana said, and now Zoe noticed a change. A sort of… she could only describe it as a look of longing. ‘How far along is she?’
‘Do you know,’ Zoe said with some bemusement, ‘I haven’t a clue! Me of all people – you’d have thought it would be the first question I asked! But the news took me by surprise, and I totally forgot. She can’t be too far along because she wants to have the wedding before she starts to show.’
‘Have you got kids?’ Lavender asked Shabana.
The nurse shook her head, and her shoulders seemed to slump. ‘Not yet. Not for the want of trying, but…’
‘You lost your baby, didn’t you?’ Lavender turned to Zoe.
‘Oh, I haven’t lost one,’ Shabana said. ‘We just haven’t had much luck conceiving yet. We’re going to try IVF. But…’ she added, ‘I’m sorry to hear about your loss, Zoe.’
‘Thanks, I appreciate that. It’s hard and soul-destroying, trying to get pregnant and failing, isn’t it?’ Zoe said gently. ‘Especially when it feels as if everyone around you is having babies.’
‘Especially when it’s all we can think about,’ Shabana said. ‘Our lives seem to revolve around it these days. Sorry…’ She shook herself. ‘I’m sure you don’t want to hear about all that. Here I am, turning up the first day and burdening you with all my troubles.’
‘We asked,’ Zoe said. ‘And it’s kind of what we do around here anyway – support one another. If that’s what’s needed. Equally, if you want us all to butt out, all you have to do is say.’
‘That’s very kind.’ She put the lid on her lunch box and looked up at Lavender. ‘Could you show me where the supplies are kept? I need some things for the afternoon clinic.’
‘When lunch is over, I’ll be glad to,’ Lavender said – rather primly in Zoe’s opinion. ‘We take the full hour here.’
That wasn’t true either, clearly. Simon had already gone back to work, and Emilia hadn’t even joined them. But Zoe knew better than to point any of that out, especially to Lavender.
‘Oh…’ Shabana said. ‘I’ve finished my lunch, and I think, as it’s my first day, I’d like to get myself set up. I’m not quite sure what’s what yet, you see.’
Zoe pushed her plate away. ‘I’m finished here too, and I could do with starting back early myself.
I’ve got some home visits to make this afternoon, and I think they’re going to be time-consuming.
I’ll wash my plate up and come through with you, Shabana.
’ She turned to catch a fleeting look of reproach on Lavender’s face.
Lunchtime really was becoming a war zone, and it was a conflict the surgery could do without.
‘I’ll clear up today, Lavender. And don’t worry about rushing your lunch – I can pop back and do it before I go out on my house calls. ’
‘I’ve got it,’ Lavender said heavily. She let her own cutlery fall onto her uncleared plate. ‘I’ll do it before I open up. No point in sitting here on my Jack Jones, is there?’
Afternoon visits had gone without a hitch until the final one.
Lara, who was pregnant with her second child, had requested an extra consultation with Zoe, on top of her normal scheduled visits, with some vague problems. Zoe had long suspected that Lara’s biggest battles with her pregnancy were mental rather than physical.
It meant that while Zoe had no particular worries about her health, she was extremely watchful of her mood and only too glad to be called over if Lara felt she was struggling – better that than suffer in silence as far as Zoe was concerned.
Today was no different in that Zoe suspected Lara just wanted to get things off her chest, and so she was mildly surprised to arrive there and receive no answer when she knocked on the door.
There was no car in Lara’s driveway either, and everywhere seemed to be in darkness when Zoe went around to look in the windows. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t be so persistent, but in the circumstances, she felt justified in being nosier than usual.
Puzzled, she got out her phone and tried to call Lara, but it rang off. She checked her schedule to make sure she had the right day then rang back to leave a brief message before going to sit in her car for a few minutes to wait. Perhaps Lara had been forced to pop out.
While she waited, she decided to check some emails and do what general admin she could do on her phone.
But she was quickly distracted by her new screensaver – a photo of a garden outside a stone farmhouse, deep in snow, Alex and Billie standing next to a newly built snowman.
The windows of the house had candles burning in them, and from branches heavy with more snow hung shining Christmas baubles.
Zoe smiled so broadly as she gazed at it that if anyone had seen her, they’d have thought she’d won the lottery.
The truth was, whenever she looked at Alex, she felt as if she had.
It had only been a matter of months since they’d become an item, but with every day that passed, it was more and more impossible to imagine her life without him or his daughter.
She glanced out of the window to see if there was any sign of life on the lane.
The temperature had barely lifted, but the snow of Christmas had been washed away by freezing rains, leaving mud and grey skies.
There would always be something magical about her first Christmas in Thimblebury, and each time she looked at her photographs, the feeling would grow stronger, until one day it would become in her mind something like a fairy tale, filled with log fires, mulled wine, hot chocolate, icy walks and vast winter skies.
In reality, it had been stressful and hectic, though compared to the upheaval she dreaded coming, it felt far more certain.
Her dad’s upcoming wedding, Chantal’s baby and her mum’s predictable bitterness spiral was like a storm waiting on the horizon, a dark bank of cloud that Zoe wanted more than anything to turn and run from, but one that she had no choice but to head into.
The sound of her phone ringing made her jump, jolting her from her reverie so hard she almost laughed at herself as she looked at the caller ID. It was a good job, she decided briefly as she swiped to take it, that there was nobody around to see it.
‘Hello, Lara.’
‘God, Zoe, I’m so sorry! I got a call from the school about Rhys and I thought I’d be back by now, but things have taken longer than I—’
‘Don’t worry!’ Zoe cut in. ‘Is everything all right? I can come another time if you need me to.’
‘Oh, it’s just him playing up again. I’ve had to collect him from after-school club early, and I had to see the head.
Nothing new there,’ she added in a voice that sounded weary.
‘I don’t want to keep you waiting. I’m probably about twenty minutes away yet.
I could rearrange, if it’s easier for you. ’
‘It’s not that…’ Zoe paused. It wasn’t a problem for her to wait, but it sounded as if Lara had her hands full with her older son right now.
Perhaps it was more of a favour for Lara if Zoe did come back another day.
‘Let me look at my diary… Hang on a tick.’ After scanning her calendar, Zoe went back to Lara.
‘How about Friday? Is that soon enough, or do you need to see me more urgently than that?’
‘No… Friday’s good. I’ll make sure I’m home. I really am sorry about today.’
‘It’s not a problem. You can’t help a last-minute callout. Listen, I’ll put you down for one thirty on Friday afternoon. If anything happens in the meantime and you need to reschedule, let me know.’
‘I will – thanks so much. And sorry again.’
‘Stop apologising!’ Zoe said. ‘Just as long as you’re all right, it doesn’t matter to me. If you need me before Friday, don’t hesitate to call; I’ll do what I can to fit you in.’
Lara didn’t answer right away. Zoe could hear mumbled conversation, a young boy’s voice in answer, and then Lara came back. ‘Sorry, what was that?’
‘Don’t worry about it. I’m guessing Rhys needs your attention. I’ll see you on Friday unless you need me urgently before then. OK?’
‘Friday, yes, it’s in my diary now.’
After reassuring Lara yet again that Zoe hadn’t been put out and wasn’t a bit annoyed by their failed appointment, Zoe looked at her watch.
It wasn’t far off the end of her working day.
She could have gone back to the surgery to catch up with some paperwork, but it hardly seemed worth it.
However, she did have time to kill. Ottilie wasn’t yet home from the hospital, and Zoe had planned to visit as soon as she was.
Georgia, on the other hand, would be home, and while Zoe’s responsibility for her and baby William was now officially over, that hadn’t stopped Zoe from calling in for some cuddles from time to time since his birth.
Her mind made up, Zoe started her engine and made her way back to the village.