Chapter 11
It was raining again the following evening when Zoe met Corrine on the path between Kestrel Cottage and Daffodil farmhouse. Corrine was carrying an insulated bag containing a pie dish covered in tinfoil. Zoe could smell the pie as Corrine greeted her.
‘That smells gorgeous – what is it?’
‘Chicken and leek.’
‘I’m kind of hoping Billie and Alex are vegetarian so I get to eat the whole thing,’ Zoe said.
Corrine gave her a bright smile. ‘Don’t worry – I’ve made one for you too. It’s on the side in the kitchen – you can pick it up before you go home. And I know they’re not vegetarian because Magnus told me.’
‘Of course he did. How does Magnus know?’
‘He told me Alex picked up some Quorn from the shop, and when Magnus asked him about it, he said they didn’t eat it because they were vegetarian, only that sometimes they liked to cut out meat to be a bit more environmentally friendly.’
Zoe pondered what that might say about Alex and Billie and decided that, whatever it was, she approved.
‘I think they’ll be all right with a bit of chicken from a local farm, won’t they?’ Corrine added. ‘That’s quite environmentally friendly, I’d say.’
‘Of course. I’m sure it will go down nicely either way. I wonder if that means their camping pods will be all eco-friendly too?’
‘It seems to be something they’re interested in, so perhaps they will.’ Corrine studied her for a moment. ‘How are you settling in? You’ve been in Kestrel Cottage almost a month already – can you believe it?’
‘It’s flown by, hasn’t it? I like it there. It took some time to get used to the quiet, but now, if you asked me to go back to Manchester, I don’t think I could cope.’
‘Oh, I couldn’t be doing with a big city. When I was a girl, I dreamed of running away to London. It seemed so glamorous but I don’t expect it’s like on the films. Anyway, I met Victor and that put paid to London.’
‘Do you ever regret not giving it a go?’
‘Oh no.’ Corrine shook her head. ‘It was just a silly girl’s idea.
I’m sure I’d have hated it. You know, when you grow up in a place like this, all you want to do is leave, and some get the chance to leave, and more often than not they realise that yonder hill isn’t as golden as it looks.
They come back and they tell you what it was like, and then you realise you had all that you wanted all along. ’
‘And that’s you?’
‘That’s me. I’ve had a good life at Daffodil, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else now.’
The path was on the boggy side, and Zoe frequently had to check where she was walking, but Corrine seemed to have no such issues.
She was decades older than Zoe, but from a distance she looked like the fitter and stronger of the two women.
Zoe wondered vaguely if she might end up like that, if she lived in the hills for long enough.
They continued to chat as they walked, about life in Manchester, about Zoe’s divorce and about her work.
Corrine was pleasantly interested but not pushy, and when Zoe hinted that a particular topic was off limits, she changed the subject immediately.
She told Zoe about the skin cancer Ottilie had spotted very soon after they’d met, but her telling differed from Ottilie’s modest version.
Corrine couldn’t praise their village nurse highly enough, and it was clear she valued her friendship.
Zoe had noticed a similar love for Ottilie in everyone she’d met in Thimblebury.
She was glad her friend had found a place where she so clearly belonged, and she wondered if she’d ever slot into the village in the same way.
While she liked Thimblebury well enough, she couldn’t imagine it at all.
Corrine knocked, and they could hear barking inside the house.
Alex seemed puzzled as he opened his front door.
Today, he was in an old Aran jumper, with a thread loose at the hem and the beginnings of a hole in one of the sleeves.
Zoe had never found Aran jumpers – especially ones with holes – particularly sexy before, but as she took in the sight, the notion popped into her head anyway.
That was quickly followed by a second thought – that she took far too much notice of what he wore whenever she saw him, and that, no matter what it was, she always decided it looked good on him.
‘Can I help you, ladies? Is there a problem?’
‘Not at all,’ Corrine said. ‘We’ve brought you a little something.’ She held out the pie dish. ‘It’s a chicken and leek pie. You do eat chicken? You’ll need to warm it up I’m afraid.’
As he took it, he looked more puzzled than he had before. Zoe supposed that two of them randomly turning up with a pie was rather unexpected. But he pushed a courteous smile across his face. ‘Thank you; that’s very kind of you. Would you like to come in?’
‘We don’t want to keep you from your evening,’ Corrine said, halfway over the threshold even as she did.
‘You wouldn’t be.’
Alex stepped back to let them both in. As they followed him to the kitchen, Grizzle made his presence known with more barking, but it wasn’t aggressive. He proved this a moment later by jumping up at Corrine, his tail wagging like mad. She let out a chuckle.
‘Get down,’ Alex commanded. ‘Come on now, basket!’
Zoe felt almost sorry for the dog, who’d only been excited to see them, as he sloped off to his bed and settled, shooting doleful looks at Alex.
The last time Zoe had been in this kitchen it had been bare, the décor dowdy and in need of a serious refresh, and Ann had been weeping at the thought of leaving it.
Alex had clearly wasted no time making it the way he liked.
The walls had been painted a rich cream, some new tiles had been put in around the hob and sink, and his furniture was far more modern than Ann’s had been.
To Zoe it was somehow sterile, though, lacking in the personality that had said more about Ann and her life than this could ever say about the current owners.
It seemed that the mystery of the real Alex was not going to be illuminated by his home – at least, not yet.
Perhaps it would in time, when he’d been here longer.
‘Oh, you’ve got it nice,’ Corrine said briskly as she pulled off her boots and left them at the door.
‘You don’t need to do that,’ Alex said, watching her, but Corrine shook her head.
‘Don’t want to tramp a load of mud through your house.’
Zoe then felt obliged to take off her shoes too, and stood in her socks on the stone floor of Hilltop farmhouse, the cold seeping into her feet.
‘Would you like to sit down?’ he asked.
Corrine and Zoe both took a seat at the table.
‘I’m not sure what I’ve got…’
‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ Corrine said. ‘We didn’t come over to drink all your tea, only to drop the pie in.’
‘Would you like tea?’ he asked, showing her a box of teabags. ‘I can do that. I just don’t have anything more exciting in.’
‘That’d be lovely, if you’re making one,’ Corrine said.
Zoe’s gaze wandered the kitchen for a moment. ‘How’s Billie?’ she asked.
‘She’s fine. She’s upstairs filling in some forms for something or other. She wants to find a job.’
Zoe frowned. ‘But she’s pregnant.’
‘That’s what I said. Not that she can’t do a job, but I doubt anyone will want to employ her until she’s had the baby – they’d have to lose her for maternity leave almost as soon as they’d taken her on.
But you can’t tell Billie about anything – she does what she wants. Headstrong, like her mum was.’
‘I’m not lazy…’
All three of them turned to see Billie at the doorway.
‘Were your ears burning?’ Corrine asked.
‘Yeah.’ Billie threw a knowing look at her dad. ‘I’m not headstrong; I’m just not lazy.’
‘But you are pregnant, and that’s enough work for anyone,’ Zoe said.
‘I’m pregnant; I’m not dead.’ Billie leaned against the door frame and studied them all. ‘I can’t sit around here all day and night doing nothing – I’ll go mad.’
‘But you—’ Zoe began.
Corrine cut across her, a shrewd smile on her lips. ‘You want something to do?’
‘I’m looking for a job, yeah.’
‘And I still say nobody will hire you right now,’ Alex insisted. ‘You’ve only got about…how many months?’
Billie rolled her eyes. ‘I’m nineteen weeks.’
‘We could use some help over at Daffodil Farm,’ Corrine continued. ‘We wouldn’t be able to pay much, but you might enjoy it.’
‘What would it be?’
‘We could do with some help with the alpaca. Grooming, washing, feeding them…that sort of thing.’
Zoe had serious reservations about that plan: not only did it sound strenuous, but she would absolutely advise any woman in her care to be cautious around farm animals.
She wondered whether to intervene and say so, but then realised that, based on what she knew of Corrine, her neighbour would already have considered that.
She was sure Corrine had made this job up on the spot – because it was the first time she’d said anything about wanting help – and that she’d ensure they only gave Billie easy and safe tasks to do.
‘No, thanks,’ Billie said. ‘Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, but I want something more than a bit of Saturday work.’
‘Billie…’ Alex said, a note of warning in his voice. ‘Hear Corrine out. You don’t know that it’s Saturday work.’
‘It’s the kind of thing you’d offer a fifteen-year-old after school,’ she said and then turned to Corrine. ‘No offence.’
‘None taken, sweetheart. Think about it,’ Corrine said. ‘Let us know. Like I said, we’d pay you.’
‘It’s a kind offer,’ Alex said.
‘What’s that?’ Billie nodded at the foil-covered dish on the table.
‘Your dinner,’ Alex said with a smile. ‘Also courtesy of Corrine.’
‘Oh.’ She glanced at Corrine. ‘What is it?’
‘Chicken and leek pie.’
‘Right. I don’t know if I’ll eat much, but it sounds nice. Thanks.’
‘Billie,’ Alex began carefully, ‘Corrine has gone to a lot of trouble to?—’
‘Yeah, I know,’ Billie cut in. ‘I said thanks.I mean…’ She turned back to Corrine. ‘What I meant was my appetite is weird right now. It looks good, and I’ll try.’