Chapter 4
Glancing up at the clock, Zoe clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth, swallowing a curse.
She was running late for work, and the rain that bounced from the roof of her car outside meant she’d have to drive with caution, slowing her down even more.
It had started the night before, just as they’d all gone to bed after staying up far too late, and it didn’t look as if it had stopped for a minute since then.
Beyond the windows, the sky was so heavy and the clouds so low, the tops of the hills were completely blotted out.
Alex was standing in the way of the coat peg as she tried to get to it. ‘Sorry, but can you…?’
‘Oh, right…’ He moved, and she dashed to retrieve her jacket, Grizzle sniffing at her feet.
‘She’s not taking you for a walk,’ Alex said with a light laugh as he led his dog away. ‘So don’t get any ideas. The state of the weather, I don’t think you should get any ideas about me taking you either.’ He looked up at Zoe. ‘What time will you be home?’
‘Late.’ Zoe fastened her coat. ‘There’s a surgery meeting after work. Emilia wants to go through some personal development stuff. Boring, but there we are, has to be done.’
‘Can’t you make an excuse to get out of it?’
Zoe searched her bag for her car keys. ‘Sorry, no. Fliss used to let this stuff slide, but there’s no chance with Emilia.’
Alex let out a sigh.
‘Sorry,’ Zoe said.
‘I miss you when you’re not here.’
‘That’s because you’re in the house constantly at the moment with too much time to think about how I’m not here.’ She kissed him before going to the door.
‘That’s why I need a project to keep me busy, and you and Billie keep telling me the one I’ve picked is crap.’
Zoe laughed lightly. ‘We never said that; we just said you might find not everyone around here is as big a fan of rewilding as you are. Can’t you take up oil painting or something?
It’s got to be easier and less contentious.
You’ve got things to do on the camping field too?
You said you wanted to put some better lighting in. ’
‘I’m waiting for the kit to be delivered.’ He dug his hands into his pockets and scuffed his feet on the floor like a little boy. ‘Go, abandon me. I know where I am in the pecking order – behind personal development meetings, apparently.’
‘Unless you want me to stop bringing a wage in, there’s not a lot I can do about it.’
‘You could work with me,’ he said.
Zoe paused, the handle of the door cold in her palm. ‘Don’t be daft – there’s not enough for me to do. Not to mention I actually love the job I have. Billie asked you about working for the camping business, and you told her there wasn’t a job for her, let alone me.’
‘But there might be. In the future. I didn’t say there would never be a need for help, just that I’m not busy enough yet.’
‘In the future, if there is a job, Billie will want to do it. She needs something.’
‘You think?’ he asked, and she could see now that his question was earnest, not like the idle speculation he’d been making because he wanted her to be around more. ‘You think I ought to create some sort of position for her? I can’t afford to pay her a proper wage yet, but—’
‘Then you can’t create a position for her, can you? She doesn’t want a fake job.’
‘It wouldn’t be a fake one. Yes, we don’t have a lot of bookings for next summer yet, and I’m a bit worried about that, but I suppose people might not think about holidays until after Christmas, right?
So if it gets busy, I’m sure I could find Billie something.
We talked about social media, didn’t we?
And I thought she was up for that, but lately she seems less keen. Or at least, she hasn’t mentioned it…’
Zoe nodded, but she was in a rush and only half listening. ‘That’s great. I mean, I’m sure it would be, but I don’t know that she wants any job at all right now with Louisa still little, and… Alex, sorry, but I really have to go. You’ll have to talk to Billie if this is bothering you.’
As soon as Zoe closed the door and started to march to her car, chilled darts of rain bouncing from her hood, guilt began to nibble at her.
Alex had wanted her opinion, but he’d certainly picked a bad moment to instigate a discussion.
She consoled herself with the thought that Billie would be down for breakfast soon, so if the question of a job for her was really that important to him, Alex would talk to her then.
She resolved to set some time aside this evening for him to talk to her properly, if he wanted to air his worries, no matter how late or how tired she might be.
Lavender almost leaped from her seat at the reception desk as Zoe walked in to start another week at work. ‘Are you going to audition for the Christmas panto?’
Zoe halted, mid-step. ‘Excuse me? Did you say panto? I was not expecting that question on a Monday morning!’
‘Haven’t you heard? Thimblebury’s doing a panto!
Magnus is going to direct it… I mean, who else?
I bet they’ll do it at their place, at the cinema in the back…
It’s small, but I’m sure they’ll work around it…
unless they use the church hall or the community centre.
But they’re not much bigger, and the church hall is always freezing and the community centre is always too hot… ’
Zoe stared at their surgery receptionist. Lavender was a huge fan of all things Christmas, and apparently the thought of a panto was so exciting that Zoe wondered whether she’d start to hyperventilate at any moment.
‘I might audition,’ Lavender added before letting go of a huge breath. ‘Probably won’t get anything, but I thought I might.’
‘What’s the panto?’ Zoe asked, finally able to get a word in. ‘Which one is he planning to do?’
‘Don’t know. I expect it will be Cinderella or something. I bet Magnus wants to be Widow Twankey.’
‘I thought you said he was directing it?’
‘Yes, but you can still be in it if you’re directing, can’t you? People do that all the time. It’s probably why he’s putting one on. Everyone knows he’s a frustrated thespian, and you know Magnus – he just loves being the centre of attention.’
‘What about Geoff? What’s he got to say about all this?’
‘Oh, Geoff is happy if Magnus is happy, so I expect he’ll go along with whatever he wants. So are you going to try out for it?’
‘God no! I can’t imagine anything more terrifying! I’m happy to help, like make props or something, but keep me out of the limelight, please. I didn’t think it would be your thing either. Will they even sell enough tickets?’
‘Of course! Everyone will be there! I can’t believe we’ve never put one on before, to be honest, because that lot down the road do one every year and it’s always sold out.’
‘Which lot?’
‘The am dram society at Snow Fell. Magnus used to be a member there, you know. He fell out with the director.’
‘Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. So who else is getting involved?’
‘I bet Fliss and Charles will. At least, they would have been all over it in years gone by.’
‘They might still. They’re not taking off for more travel again, are they? I mean, they’re planning to stay home a while now, until after Christmas at least?’
‘I’m not sure. I’ll ask when I go round tonight.’
‘I thought Fliss didn’t like getting involved in village stuff? She always said so.’
‘Depends what it is. And that was when she was the GP and people would be asking her about boils and whatnot whenever they saw her out. Well, that doesn’t happen now because they hassle Simon and Emilia instead.
Charles would make a good Widow Twankey, actually…
I ought to ask Magnus if he’s decided what panto he wants to do.
I hope it’s Cinderella… I don’t mind if it’s Dick Wittington.
I bet he’d love the costumes in Aladdin, but I think they’d be hard to make and a lot more expensive… ’
‘Morning!’ Shabana, their nurse, now heavily pregnant, waddled in.
‘Morning, love!’ Lavender smiled. ‘How are you doing?’
‘Oh, you know, getting fatter and slower by the day. That maternity leave can’t come a day too soon.’
‘Won’t be long,’ Lavender said. ‘And we’ll have Ottilie back before you know it as well. I wonder if she wants to be in the panto…’
‘Panto?’ Shabana frowned, and Zoe shook her head.
‘You’ll wish you hadn’t asked.’ She turned to Lavender. ‘I can’t see Ottilie being keen – she’s more allergic to attention than I am.’
‘That’s true.’ Lavender shrugged. ‘Well, I suppose it wouldn’t do for us all to be the same. I expect she’ll get involved behind the scenes too.’
‘Don’t forget she’s got a baby taking up most of her time. Anthony isn’t even one yet – he’s still a handful I would imagine.’
‘Flo will,’ Lavender said. ‘I’ll bet Flo will want to do something.’
While Lavender turned her attention to switching on her computer, Zoe smiled at Shabana. ‘Good weekend? Everything all right?’
‘Yes, everything has been great. In fact, I’m surprised how well I feel right now. Apart from being breathless every now and again, but it’s not like a bad breathless, just, you know…’ She put a hand to her swollen belly. ‘Junior is taking up quite a bit of space now.
‘I’m sure. And have you been shopping for any bits yet?’
‘No…’ She grimaced. ‘I know you think I’m being superstitious, but when you’ve waited as long as we have for this pregnancy to happen, you don’t want to do anything that might tempt fate. I don’t want to buy anything until the baby is here safe and sound.’
‘You’re going to need some equipment straight off the bat, though. Just the essentials.’
‘I get that, and I’ll have the essentials ready, but when we’re closer to my due date.
I know that labour can come early, and I ought to be ready.
I know all that stuff, but part of me still doesn’t believe this is going to happen.
I keep thinking I’m going to wake up one morning and it was a dream and I wasn’t pregnant at all, and that we’ll have to start on that IVF merry-go-round all over again. ’