Chapter 3
There was a knock at the front door as Zoe got settled at the kitchen table. Ottilie raised her eyebrows. ‘That’ll be Flo.’
‘I don’t mind if you want to ask her in.’
‘I know you don’t, but I ought to warn you to brace yourself anyway.’
Zoe watched Ottilie leave the room. Next, she heard voices at the door, and then Ottilie returned a minute later.
The woman who followed her in was short and slender but with surprisingly dark hair for a woman in her eighties, and she looked far from the stereotypical frail old lady.
And when she turned her attention to Zoe, she gave the impression that if Zoe chose to tangle with her, she’d always come out worst off.
‘Oh,’ Flo said, giving her a quick once-over. She looked at Ottilie. ‘She’s young to be bringing bairns into the world, isn’t she? Barely out of the cot herself.’
‘I’m older than I look,’ Zoe said. ‘But I’ll take it as a compliment.’
‘How old are you then?’ the woman asked.
Ottilie stepped between them and gestured for her to take a seat, then offered introductions, even though it was clear nobody needed them. ‘Flo, this is Zoe, an old friend of mine from nurse training. And Zoe, this is Flo – my soon to be grandma-in-law.’
‘I’ve heard all about you,’ Zoe said. ‘It’s lovely to meet you.’
‘I’ve heard about you too,’ Flo said, eyeing her with what felt like suspicion. ‘You’re moving to Thimblebury? At this rate, half of Manchester will be here.’
‘I don’t know about any of that,’ Zoe said, catching Ottilie’s wry grin. ‘But as far as I’m concerned, I’m only visiting to see what I think.’
‘What’s wrong with it?’ Flo asked, shuffling to get comfortable while Ottilie put the kettle on to boil.
‘Nothing,’ Zoe said. ‘I mean it looks very nice. I just haven’t seen much of it yet to make up my mind whether I’d like to live here.’
‘Better than Manchester,’ Flo sniffed, leaving Zoe unable to decide whether Heath’s cantankerous grandma approved of people wanting to relocate to her village or not. ‘I’ll never understand why everyone’s falling over themselves to live there.’
‘Zoe isn’t ,’ Ottilie said. ‘That’s why she’s come to look around here.’
‘Before you know it, there’ll be housebuilding all over the place and I won’t recognise a soul,’ Flo continued.
‘Of course you will,’ Ottilie said patiently. ‘Zoe’s only one more person from outside.’
‘Yes, but just you wait until the sale goes through on Hilltop Farm. Then we’ll see.’
Ottilie spun round from the cupboard where she’d been looking for mugs. ‘Hilltop? Ann’s place? She’s selling? She never said!’
‘And you go up there all the time. I did wonder why you hadn’t said anything,’ Flo replied with the merest hint of triumph that suggested she was pleased to have information that hadn’t yet reached Ottilie.
‘I go up there all the time in my professional capacity,’ Ottilie said in a tone that took Zoe a little by surprise.
It was sharper than she’d heard her friend use before, but then, knowing the history between her and Flo, perhaps she oughtn’t to have been shocked.
There was a strange sort of grudging friendship between the women, cemented into place by Ottilie being engaged to Flo’s grandson.
Ottilie liked Flo well enough but didn’t always agree with her opinions or her attitude.
‘I thought Darryl was the patient?’ Zoe said.
‘He is,’ Ottilie replied, ‘but I do try to keep an eye on Ann too, under the radar. She’s…
fragile. If you know what I mean. She has a lot to deal with, and her resilience has been tested over the last few years.
So I call in every morning on a workday before I head to the surgery and see how they are.
’ She turned to Flo. ‘Who told you she was selling up?’
‘Magnus.’
‘Of course…’ Ottilie poured water into the teapot and brought it to the table. ‘That’s so sad! Why is she selling?’
‘Money I expect,’ Flo said in a practical tone. ‘Isn’t it always about money?’
‘I suppose she’s been struggling for a while,’ Ottilie said thoughtfully. ‘But I didn’t think it would come to this. I’ll have to go and see her as soon as I can. I’ll miss her and Darryl so much.’
‘I’d have thought you’d be glad,’ Flo said. ‘One less job for you to do every morning.’
Ottilie frowned slightly at the suggestion and looked as if she was searching for the correct response when Zoe cut in.
‘Magnus – remind me…that’s the shop owner?’
‘Someone’s been schooled well,’ Flo said, giving her another one of those silent appraisals that Zoe was already beginning to recognise.
‘Ottilie gave me a quick rundown as we drove here.’
‘Forewarned is forearmed, right?’ Ottilie said, throwing Flo a significant look. Flo didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she turned back to Zoe.
‘Married?’
‘Who?’ Zoe asked.
‘You.’
‘I’m…’
‘You don’t have to answer,’ Ottilie said.
Zoe shook her head. ‘I know, but I have nothing to hide. I’m going through a divorce.’
Flo folded her hands over one another on her lap and regarded Zoe shrewdly. ‘He was a bad ’un? Knocked you about?’
‘No!’ Zoe recovered herself and lowered her voice. ‘Nothing like that! We just…drifted apart.’
‘In my experience,’ Flo replied tightly, ‘nobody just drifts apart . There’s always a reason.’
‘I lost our baby,’ Zoe said tersely, and for the first time since she arrived, Flo had the decency to look ashamed.
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ she said.
‘And,’ Zoe continued with a brief nod to acknowledge Flo’s sympathy, ‘we struggled after that.’
‘That’s a real shame.’ Flo looked up as Ottilie placed a mug in front of her. ‘But we shouldn’t dwell on it. All this talk of losing babies…tempting fate to say it out loud.’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake!’ Ottilie began, but then she checked herself too. ‘We should stop talking about it, but only because that’s not what we’re here for. Zoe’s come to see what she thinks about Thimblebury, and we’re hardly selling it to her so far, are we?’
‘You’re coming to be the new midwife?’ Flo asked Zoe. ‘Seems a bit…well, I wouldn’t have thought that was the job for you, given your circumstances.’
‘Flo,’ Ottilie warned, but Zoe put a hand up to stop her.
‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘It seems difficult for some to grasp why I’d carry on looking after other expectant women when I’ve lost my own.
’ She shrugged. ‘I thought about giving it up, but I don’t know what else I would do.
It’s more than a job…it’s like it’s part of me.
I know it sounds daft when people say something’s a calling, but I suppose that’s the nearest thing I can compare it to.
I can’t see myself doing anything else.’
‘What do you want to do it here for?’ Flo asked. ‘We’re hardly overrun with expectant mums.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong,’ Ottilie cut in, looking pointedly at her own belly. ‘Or have you forgotten?’
‘You, and Stacey’s girl…’ Flo looked confused. ‘Who else?’
‘Yes, there’s Stacey’s daughter Chloe, Maisie Jenkins and Tegan Forester. Not to mention a couple of the mums at the parent and toddler group. And if Zoe did come to take on the role, she’d be responsible for neighbouring villages too, so there’d be plenty to keep her busy.’
Flo gave the vaguest shrug, as if mentally she’d already moved on from that particular topic. ‘I wonder what will happen to Hilltop Farm now that Ann and Darryl are leaving.’
‘Whatever happens, it’s none of our business, is it?’ Ottilie said mildly.
‘I dread to think who’s coming to take it on.’
‘Surely it’ll be a good thing. Ann would be the first to admit the place is run-down. It needs some money spending on it, and presumably someone who’s gone to the trouble of buying it will do that.’
‘And then there’s Melanie leaving that house Victor built for her.’
‘Actually…’ Ottilie glanced at Zoe. ‘I’ve spoken to Victor and Corrine about that. He’s willing to rent it out at a very reasonable rate if someone should need it.’
So that was why Ottilie had been keen for Zoe to go and meet them.
She tried not to be irritated. It seemed Ottilie really wanted her to take the job at the surgery and had gone out of her way to make the move as easy as possible should she want to make it.
And while Zoe appreciated her friend’s enthusiasm, she was beginning to feel harassed.
She wanted to make up her own mind, but it was hard not to feel the weight of Ottilie’s hope.
‘I’ll bear it in mind,’ she said shortly.
‘I wouldn’t want to climb that hill every day,’ Flo said. ‘Is that kettle done yet? I’m parched.’
‘Daffodil Farm is in a lovely spot,’ Ottilie said, going to stand by the kettle, presumably so Flo could see it had her full attention, and that the tea would be made the instant it boiled. ‘And accessible enough with a decent car.’
‘Cold in the winter,’ Flo continued. ‘All exposed on top of that hill.’
‘I’ve never heard Corrine or Victor complain. And the alpaca seem happy enough.’
‘Well, they’re hardly going to write out cards for the suggestion box, are they?’ Flo huffed.
Zoe bit back a grin. She was beginning to see what Ottilie had meant when she’d warned her about Flo, but she was also finding her more entertaining than she’d expected. ‘Is the cottage close to the main farmhouse?’
‘No, a couple of fields away,’ Ottilie said. ‘It’s close to Penny’s – that’s Corrine and Victor’s other daughter. They gifted both girls a bit of land to build on. It’d be peaceful enough if you wanted it, but the good thing is, there are nice people not too far away if you needed anything.’
‘Penny’s dogs howling day and night…’ Flo continued. ‘I wouldn’t thank you for it.’
‘Lucky for you then,’ Ottilie said as she poured boiling water into the teapot, ‘nobody’s asking you to move up there.’
‘Still, I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.’ Flo turned to Zoe. ‘I expect you’ll be falling over yourself for the new doctor like everyone else is.’
Zoe held back a frown while Ottilie sighed. ‘ Simon has been with us…well, about a year give or take. However long it is exactly, he’s hardly new. And he’s also with Stacey now.’
‘Stacey,’ Zoe said, ‘now let me think… that’s Magnus’s husband’s sister, right? Runs the parent and baby group and has the pregnant daughter?’
Ottilie nodded. ‘Got it. And there was me thinking you weren’t listening.’
Flo got up and began to search the cupboard. ‘Doesn’t stop people looking.’
‘What are you after?’ Ottilie asked.
‘Some decent biscuits.’
‘Here…’ Ottilie pulled out a pack and handed them to her. ‘That’s the best I can do, I’m afraid.’
Flo took them back to the table.
‘So Simon is the other partner at the surgery?’ Zoe asked.
‘Right again,’ Ottilie said. ‘He’s lovely, easy to get along with and very good at his job.’
‘Too charming,’ Flo said. ‘You can’t trust the charmers.’
‘You can when there’s nothing more to it than being nice. Remember that?’ Ottilie arched an eyebrow at Flo. ‘Remember what it used to be like to think the best of people?’
Flo ripped open the biscuit pack and fished one out. ‘I call a spade a spade.’
‘Call it a spade when it is a spade, not when it’s a…I don’t know…when it’s a…’
‘Pitchfork?’ Zoe offered.
Ottilie grinned at her. ‘See, you’re already tuning in to our weird village wavelength. Couldn’t have put it better myself.’
Flo huffed and rolled her eyes before shoving a biscuit into her mouth. ‘Where’s Heath?’ she asked, spraying crumbs across the table as she did.
‘Gone to help Simon put up some shelves.’
‘Friendly with him all of a sudden.’ Flo reached for another biscuit.
‘They’ve always been friendly,’ Ottilie said.
‘We’ll go over there,’ she continued to Zoe.
‘When you’ve finished your tea and we’ve settled you into the spare room.
Fliss says she’ll come over to us to say hello.
Lavender might pop in too, if she has time.
That’ll be the whole team in one fell swoop, right there for you to meet. ’
‘That sounds good,’ Zoe said, reaching for her cup.
‘Tomorrow I’ll take you on a little tour around the area.’
Flo sat up. ‘Are you going into Kendal?’
‘We might,’ Ottilie said. ‘It depends on what Zoe wants to do.’
‘Can I come? We haven’t been to that café in ages.’
Ottilie looked awkward. ‘That’s not really the reason…We’re going so that Zoe can get a feel for the area to see if she likes it.’
Flo folded her arms and huffed.
‘I don’t mind,’ Zoe said, and Flo’s sulk turned into a smile of triumph.
‘See!’ she told Ottilie. ‘Zoe doesn’t mind. What time will you be picking me up?’
Ottilie let out a sigh, her face such a picture of exasperation that Zoe felt the immediate urge to apologise. ‘We’ll see,’ was all she said, but it was clear from Flo’s smug gulp of her tea that the old lady saw it as a done deal.