Chapter 21
‘Anything else, my love?’
Magnus had scanned the biscuits and coffee and rung up the total on the till.
‘I think that’s it,’ Zoe said. ‘I reckon that’s enough biscuits to feed the entire village for a year!’
‘Ah.’ Magnus grinned. ‘Lavender does like her coconut creams, doesn’t she?’
‘We’re all a bit guilty,’ Zoe said. ‘I can’t put all this on poor Lavender.’
Magnus held out the card machine. ‘Did I hear correctly that your dad has moved into Kestrel Cottage?’
‘He has,’ Zoe replied, bracing herself for the inquisition.
‘Haven’t seen him down here yet.’
‘Haven’t you? I expect he hasn’t had a chance – he’s only just moved in, and he’s still getting settled.’
‘They had the wedding at St Cuthbert’s, right?’
Zoe nodded. Magnus knew her dad had married Chantal at St Cuthbert’s.
Everyone knew, and if Zoe knew anything about Magnus, there was no way he hadn’t watched the event from some secret vantage point, just to see what everyone was wearing.
And he probably still hadn’t forgiven Geoff for talking Chantal out of issuing them with an invite.
‘Hmm.’ Magnus put the machine on the counter and bagged up Zoe’s goods. ‘Thimblebury must have made quite an impression on him.’
‘I think it did. On them both.’
‘Ah yes. What’s his wife called?’
‘Chantal.’
‘That’s right. So the man who’s staying with them…?’
‘Lennon. Chantal’s brother.’
‘Right…’
Zoe’s head flicked up at Magnus’s tone. ‘Has Lennon been in here?’
‘He came yesterday to buy vapes. We don’t sell them.’ Magnus shrugged. ‘He wasn’t very polite about it.’
‘I hate to say it, but he’s not polite about much.’ Magnus lit up and immediately she wished she hadn’t been quite so open about her thoughts. ‘Not that I know him well. He’s Chantal’s brother, not really anything to do with me. He’s just not easy to warm to, you know.’
‘I get that impression. He wasn’t happy when I asked him to take his dog outside either.’ Magnus screwed up his nose. ‘I didn’t like the look of the dog. It was sniffing at everything. Not in a good way.’
Zoe didn’t much like the dog either, but she tried not to laugh at the notion that the sniffing around was what had caused Magnus to take offence. Dogs sniffed – that was one of their defining features. ‘Did he take the dog outside when you asked him?’
‘Yes. Well, he went too because we didn’t have the vapes. He said the shop was sad.’
‘I wouldn’t worry about it too much; I don’t think he’s going to be here for long.’
‘That’s not what I heard,’ Magnus said. ‘I heard he moved in with them.’
‘Who told you that?’ Zoe asked sharply.
‘Flo.’
‘And who told Flo?’
Magnus shrugged.
Zoe decided she’d have to pay Flo a visit.
Or maybe Ottilie – she was due to see her anyway, and it would be a far more enjoyable interaction.
If Flo knew something, she was bound to have told Ottilie.
Zoe only wondered why Ottilie hadn’t said anything to her.
But she hadn’t heard from her old friend since the announcement of Louisa’s birth.
She’d assumed Ottilie was staying out of her way because she’d thought Zoe would be too busy to chat, but perhaps there was something else going on.
The bell over the door tinkled, and Stacey walked in. She stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed Zoe and, if Zoe didn’t know better, seemed to look instantly guilty about something. Though perhaps it wasn’t guilt… it was, awkwardness? Like she knew something she wasn’t sure Zoe knew.
‘Hi!’ she greeted, instantly seeming to catch herself. ‘How are you? Billie OK? How’s Louisa? Will we be seeing them at the parent and baby group soon?’
‘I’m sure you will when she’s caught up on her sleep a bit,’ Zoe said. ‘But they’re fine, thanks for asking. How’s Chloe doing? How’s Mackenzie coping with life as a big brother?’
‘Oh, he loves it! Can’t leave the baby alone – Chloe says it’s doing her head in, of course.
Ollie’s taken to fatherhood like a duck to water too.
It’s hard to tell with Chloe because she doesn’t give much away, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so happy.
It’s about time she had a slice of luck, though. ’
‘I’m really glad to hear it.’ Zoe collected her groceries and headed for the door. ‘I might see you soon at the group then.’
‘Absolutely, just let me know when Billie’s ready to start. By the way, I’m going to be taking my first kids as a childminder any day, just waiting for some final paperwork, so if you know anyone who’s looking for someone, I’d appreciate you sending them my way.’
‘That’s great!’ Zoe said. ‘I will.’
She left the shop, deep in thought. Something was going on with Stacey. Was that another thing Ottilie could shed some light on? It was about time Zoe paid her a visit.
Ottilie answered the door with Anthony slung over a shoulder as she gently patted his back.
Zoe gave a broad smile as she stepped in.
It was good to see how quickly Ottilie had taken to motherhood – the way she handled her baby now was with the confidence of someone who’d done it before.
Perhaps it was her nursing background that made the difference, but as the midwife who was due to sign her off, as well as her friend, Zoe couldn’t be happier.
‘Look at you! Mama of the year!’
‘I don’t know about that,’ Ottilie said. ‘He’s been crying for the last fifteen minutes – it’s lucky you weren’t here then; you’d have thought I was torturing him.’
‘Well, he looks content enough now, so you must have done something right.’
Zoe followed Ottilie into the living room.
She had to admit that although Ottilie seemed calm, the room suggested there had been some recent drama.
The changing table was littered with nappies spilling from a bag, wipes, nappy cream with the lid missing from the tube and a little bag containing what was doubtless a used nappy Ottilie hadn’t yet been able to deal with.
There was an assortment of rattles and other coloured toys on a play mat on the floor, and Zoe wondered if Ottilie had been trying to distract Anthony from whatever was ailing him, presuming she’d crossed all the most obvious things from her list and was at a loss.
‘I think he was overtired, in the end,’ Ottilie said, following Zoe’s gaze around the room.
‘Or maybe he had wind. I suppose I might have been overstimulating him, trying to stop him from crying when all he needed was a quiet room and a bit of a grump to make him fall asleep. God knows. I’ve read just about every baby manual there is, and plenty of stuff online, but I’m still none the wiser. ’
‘Sometimes help online only makes things worse. The trouble with online is everyone’s allowed to be an expert now, and there’s no way to tell who actually knows what they’re talking about and who’s spouting absolute garbage.
Sometimes you’re better off trusting your instincts.
’ Zoe nodded at Anthony, who was now sleeping against Ottilie’s shoulder.
‘Looks like they steered you right in the end.’
‘I think he was just so exhausted from crying all he could do was fall asleep. Trying to be a good mum to him is just about the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.’
‘Most of my first-time mums say that, and most of the time I think they’re doing fine. Besides, you know where I am any time you need to ask about something.’
‘Yes, I know, but you’ve got plenty of your own going on, and I didn’t like to disturb you.
’ Ottilie sat down and invited Zoe to do the same.
‘Flo’s not here, by the way. Just in case you were wondering.
Because I know she’s here a lot! Heath’s not here either.
Zo… I heard about your dad moving in to Kestrel Cottage.
I imagine you’ve had mixed feelings about it – why didn’t you tell me? ’
‘There was nothing to tell, really. He liked the village, and he and Chantal thought it would be a good place to bring up their baby.’
Ottilie gave her brows a cynical raise. ‘That’s it? After all the drama between him and your mum, and your mixed feelings about Chantal? Come on – it’s me. The other thing is—’ Ottilie broke off, looking as if she’d suddenly realised what she’d been about to say wasn’t a good idea.
It was Zoe’s turn to raise her eyebrows. ‘I know that look. Come on – like you said, we go way too far back to keep things from one another. What is it you don’t think you ought to tell me?’
‘It’s not so much that I don’t think I should tell you; it’s that I don’t know how.’
‘Well, now you have to tell me, don’t you?’
Ottilie paused and then let out a long sigh. ‘The brother…’
Zoe blinked. ‘You mean Chantal’s brother?’
Ottilie nodded.
‘Go on…’
‘He cornered Stacey in the pub a couple of nights ago. Came on heavy, really didn’t want to take no for an answer. And it wasn’t the romantic kind of hassle; it was like… well, Stacey got the impression he was after a one-night stand and he didn’t really care who it was with.’
‘Stacey’s very attractive,’ Zoe said.
‘That’s obvious, but as she put it, she’s been around the block enough to know when someone is interested in her because they think she’s attractive and when it’s purely about sex.’
‘Where was Simon? He wasn’t at the pub with her, I take it?’
‘Working late. Stacey was waiting to meet someone about childminding. They were running late, so she was just having a swift drink before they got there. And then he turned up. She says as soon as her couple came, he realised he wasn’t going to get what he wanted and went to sit somewhere else.
She left pretty quickly once her folks had gone but not before she saw him cosying up to the barmaid. ’
‘Poor girl,’ Zoe said with an involuntary shudder. ‘And no wonder Stacey was weird with me this morning in the shop.’
‘She doesn’t blame you,’ Ottilie said.
‘But I suppose I’m involved by association. I mean, he’s almost family – much as I hate the idea. Has she told Simon what happened?’