Chapter 24
Zoe found some temporary accommodation for Fern in a nice, compact shelter where they only had half a dozen other residents.
It was ideal, but they didn’t have capacity to keep Fern there for more than a few days.
They were also concerned about her being pregnant, until Zoe reassured them she’d be on hand should they need her, no matter what time of night or day.
It was further out from Thimblebury than she’d have liked, but she and Fern could start the search together for something more permanent.
With a bit of luck, when they found somewhere, it would be closer to the village, as Fern wanted.
She didn’t know when Fern would come back, if she even managed to get back that day at all.
Things the young woman had said during their chat still didn’t sit right with Zoe, not least the fact that even though she’d insisted she was able to leave the commune any time she liked, she wasn’t able to go back and forth whenever she pleased.
So when the end of Zoe’s working day came and Fern hadn’t shown, though she tried not to let it worry her, it did.
The situation was so hard to read, and, for now, Zoe had to trust that Fern had it under control.
If that wasn’t the case, she didn’t know what she’d do.
She knew that if anything bad happened, she’d never forgive herself for not acting with more certainty, but she also had to respect Fern’s wishes, which were that Zoe let her deal with the situation at the commune in her own way.
Zoe had done all she could for now, but that didn’t stop her overthinking things on the way back to Hilltop.
Fern wasn’t the only worry on her mind. She was no closer to resolving the situation with Lennon either.
Ottilie had been content to wait, but it wasn’t only up to Ottilie.
Zoe knew only too well how cantankerous Flo could be.
Then there was Billie, who had been a little more present over the previous couple of days but was still far from her usual self.
She hadn’t spoken to her mum for a week either, and though she hadn’t had the time, she worried that Cherie was still sulking over the wedding.
She was working herself up to a visit to Kestrel Cottage later that evening.
She would come clean to Alex and ask him to go with her for moral support.
Actually, it was far more than moral support – she was beginning to rely on Alex in a way she couldn’t fully comprehend herself, let alone explain.
She’d come to value his wisdom and opinions more and more as time went on, not because she herself was spineless or incapable of making sound decisions (although sometimes it felt that way) but because his presence was so calming, allowing her to clear her mind and see things with clarity.
Even if she didn’t agree with his reasoning, talking things over with him always helped point her in the right direction eventually.
As she opened the door at Hilltop, she could hear voices coming from the kitchen.
Recognising them immediately, she let out a groan.
She wasn’t ready to confront her dad, but he was there with Chantal in the house, and she realised she was going to have to, ready or not.
If she didn’t, it would seem weird for her to go over later on and bring up something that important, something she’d had ample time to mention at this point.
Probably. Perhaps he’d only called for a fleeting visit, to borrow something or to tell her about something.
Perhaps Chantal wanted some advice and then they’d be on their way.
She felt guilty for hoping for one of those scenarios to be true, but she still hoped just the same.
Pausing at the door to the kitchen, she tried to gauge the mood within. It sounded civil enough. Then she opened the door, a smile painted on her face.
‘Hi,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t expecting you today… not that it isn’t a nice surprise. What brings you over?’
Nigel’s tone was grave, though he didn’t seem angry. ‘I need to talk to you about something.’
‘Oh…’ Zoe took off her coat and draped it over the back of a chair before sitting down.
She glanced at Alex, who didn’t seem concerned, even at her dad’s words.
She wondered vaguely where Billie was. Grizzle too, for that matter, because a glance at his basket revealed he wasn’t in the kitchen. ‘Sounds serious.’
‘It is,’ he said.
Zoe looked from him to Chantal, trying to guess what was coming.
Had Chantal told him about their altercation, as she’d promised?
If she had, it was a safe bet her dad would have heard the version Chantal and Lennon wanted him to hear.
Whether that was the true version or not was a matter for debate – she was beginning to see that – but it wasn’t hard to guess how her dad would have taken the news.
‘We’ve come to ask if you and Alex would be godparents for our baby.’
Zoe heaved a sigh of relief. ‘What? Why us?’
‘Why not?’ Her dad frowned. ‘Who else would we ask? Not that you’re Hobson’s choice or anything, of course. You’re the most obvious people to ask, and the only people we’d trust.’
Zoe was tempted to point out that they barely knew Alex, but guessed that he’d been included by default, and that it was probably her they wanted specifically. ‘Who else? You usually have three, don’t you?’
‘It depends on if it’s a boy or a girl,’ Chantal said. ‘I’ll know when I have my scan next week. If it’s a girl, then I’ll ask my best friend from school and her wife…’
‘They come as a package deal, so they sort of count as one person,’ Nigel put in, as if Zoe needed clarification.
‘And if it’s a boy, then we’ll ask Lennon.’
‘Lennon?’ Zoe couldn’t help the disbelief in her voice. ‘Oh… that’s… well, that’s good. How is he?’ she asked in the most neutral tone she could manage but addressing the query very deliberately to Chantal.
‘Have you seen him around the village today?’ Nigel asked Zoe.
She shook her head.
‘He’s got a right old shiner from somewhere. Says he walked into the branch of a tree. Imagine.’ Nigel shook his head with a chuckle. ‘God knows how he’s done that. I thought I’d better mention it in case you saw him and thought he’d been in a fight.’
Zoe glanced at Chantal, and this time she saw in her stepmother’s eyes that their previous meeting was absolutely on her mind.
What was Chantal silently asking from Zoe?
For her not to spill the beans on the real reason Lennon had a black eye?
Or was she daring her to try, ready to back her brother to the hilt?
Then she looked at Alex and saw scepticism in his face. It was so subtle that only she, who knew him better than her dad and Chantal, would recognise it, but it was there. He was no fool – he knew Lennon hadn’t walked into a tree.
‘How long is Lennon going to be staying?’ Zoe asked.
‘We’re not sure yet,’ Chantal said. ‘He needs to get some things sorted out before he can go home.’
‘So he’s got a place of his own? In Manchester?’
‘Salford,’ Chantal said. ‘It’s sort of his. He shares it with his girlfriend, but they’re… well, they have some things to work through.’
I’ll bet, Zoe thought. She wondered how his girlfriend would feel if she learned about his attempts to get with every female he came into contact with.
Then again, perhaps that was one of the issues they were meant to be working through.
Zoe couldn’t see much effort being put in by Lennon if that was the case.
As far as she could tell, all he’d done was relocate to continue his philandering away from anyone who could catch him out.
‘I suppose the extra money helps, though,’ Zoe added.
‘What money?’
‘The money he must be giving you towards the rent.’
‘He’s family,’ Nigel said. ‘We wouldn’t take money from family – you know that, Zoe.’
So, a cushy, free number, with as much tail as he could chase. No wonder Lennon didn’t want to leave. Zoe forced a smile. ‘I only wondered because things are expensive these days. Not to mention you’ve just paid for a wedding, and you have a baby on the way.’
‘I’m doing all right, don’t you worry,’ Nigel said.
‘The place back in Manchester is bringing in a nice chunk every month – more than the rent on Kestrel Cottage. You wouldn’t believe the going rate on a house there these days.
And the wedding is all on the credit card.
More than one credit card, actually, but out of sight out of mind, eh?
We’ll manage – don’t be rushing over with food parcels just yet. ’
‘Right,’ Zoe said. ‘I suppose he must miss Manchester, though? He’d have lots of friends there?’
Chantal’s expression darkened at the mention of friends. She smoothed it over quickly, but not before Zoe had noticed. There was more going on here than her new stepmother was letting on.
‘He doesn’t seem all that bothered,’ Nigel said. ‘It’s quiet here for him, but he goes on his wanderings with Gunner, and that seems to keep him out of trouble.’
At this, Alex and Zoe shared a look. And then she realised that Chantal had seen it. This was painful. She’d just got to like Chantal, and now this business with her brother was threatening to ruin everything they’d worked so hard to build.
‘I’m going to see if Billie wants to bring Louisa down.’ Alex got up from the table.
‘We’d love to see her, wouldn’t we?’ Chantal asked Nigel. ‘We were only saying that on the way over. We’ve been meaning to call for days, but we weren’t sure if Billie would be up to visitors.’
‘She’s been very tired,’ Zoe said as Alex left the room. ‘She hasn’t been much up to anything. Louisa is waking a lot during the night at the moment.’
‘I’m sure you and Alex are helping where you can,’ Nigel said.
‘To a certain extent, but she doesn’t want to burden us. She knows we both have work to do during the day. I’ve told her we’re more than happy to get involved, even take the odd night feed off her, but she hasn’t asked yet.’
As the conversation turned more generally to babies and how difficult adjusting to life with a newborn might be, Zoe was relieved it had been steered onto more even ground.
Still, she could feel the ripples beneath the surface, of things she and Chantal had both been thinking but neither had said.
They couldn’t carry on like this. But when Alex came back to the kitchen alone, her thoughts were carried elsewhere.
‘She’s not really in a state to come down right now,’ he said. ‘She sends her apologies but, you know, she feels a bit scruffy, and she’d rather come to chat next time, when she has a bit of warning you’re coming.’
‘Couldn’t you bring Louisa down?’ Chantal asked.
At this, Alex shifted from foot to foot, glancing at Zoe as if silently asking her to tell him what to say.
She guessed that Billie hadn’t been willing to come down, but she had been even less willing to let Louisa out of her sight.
Alex, rightly, hadn’t pushed it, but there was still an awkward excuse to find.
‘She’s sleeping. I didn’t want to get her out of the cot in case that woke her up.’
‘Oh.’ Chantal looked disappointed. ‘Maybe I could just pop my head in and look at her in her cot?’
Zoe stepped in. ‘Not right now. If Billie’s not feeling her best, then perhaps we should leave it at that. We’ve got plans to take Louisa out for her first walk on the fields tomorrow – we’ll pop by Kestrel Cottage and let you meet her then if that’s all right.’
‘That sounds great!’ Nigel said. He smiled at Chantal, who seemed suddenly less certain.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘That would be lovely.’
Perhaps she was worried Zoe would let the cat out of the bag, despite what she’d said about Nigel taking her side if it came to it. Zoe still hadn’t decided what to do, but she’d have to make up her mind sooner or later, because she could only see this problem getting worse if she ignored it.