Page 35 of A Christmas Wish for the Village Midwife

‘I can’t be bothered to do it this year.’

‘But you’re so talented! It was only your first attempt last year, and you came second!’

‘It’s not that deep; it’s just a village thing. It’s not like I won Bake Off. I’m pretty busy with other things.’

Magnus shook his head, as if he’d never heard anything crazier in his life and then wisely decided to change the subject.

‘What are your plans for Christmas then?’ he asked, looking at Zoe.

‘Absolutely nothing,’ Zoe said. ‘I intend to have a bloody good rest. In one way or another, I feel as if my feet have barely been on the ground over the past couple of years… Even last Christmas was mental. This year, I intend to do nothing but sleep as much as I can and eat my own body weight in turkey and chocolate.’

‘Won’t you be on call?’ Billie asked.

‘Probably, which is the only reason I didn’t include wine in that list. If I have to attend a birth, I’ll do my best to work around it with the rest. But I’m fairly sure none of my mums are due in that immediate week around Christmas Day, so unless something untoward happens… which I don’t want to tempt fate by even saying, then I should get off lightly this year.’

‘The last famous words,’ Magnus said, and Zoe smiled at the mixing up of the well-known maxim. Despite having lived in the UK for over thirty years and speaking English better than many of the locals, from time to time he still got a little mixed up when he was throwing out English sayings. It was endearing, and so nobody – apart from his partner Geoff – ever wanted to put him right.

He moved the ladders out of the way of the door. ‘Are you going inside?’

‘We need some formula – the older baby one. Did you manage to get it in?’ Magnus suddenly looked troubled, and Zoe smiled. ‘Don’t worry if not – there’s no emergency. We have a couple of tins, don’t we, Billie?’

Billie nodded.

‘But we thought it was a good idea to stock up while we were passing, just in case.’

‘Oh dear,’ Magnus said. ‘I’m so sorry… I meant to ask Geoff to pick some up when he went to get stock, but…’

‘Honestly, it’s not a problem.’

‘We can get it online,’ Billie looked at Zoe with something like triumph. ‘I said we ought to order it online the other day, but you insisted we should get it in the village. It’ll be cheaper online.’

Zoe wondered if Magnus was a tiny bit offended by Billie’s comments, and though she would always advocate for shopping local and supporting their businesses, she couldn’t deny that she’d known Billie’s idea to make more sense than hers. She’d thought that if they’d come down to the shop and been able to get what they’d wanted, it wouldn’t matter.

‘You don’t want us to fetch some next time we go to the wholesalers?’ Magnus asked.

‘No,’ Billie said firmly before Zoe was able to respond.

‘Thanks anyway,’ Zoe said lamely, wishing that sometimes Billie would try being just a little more tactful. ‘The Christmas decorations are looking lovely, by the way.’

Magnus seemed to cheer at this. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Geoff always says I overdo things, but he’s such a minimalist. If I left it to him, you wouldn’t know it was Christmas at all.’

‘I don’t know about that, but your place always looks great,’ Zoe said. ‘I wish I was that good at putting things together. I’m afraid my taste is a tad boring.’

‘I’m sure it’s not.’ Magnus wafted away the praise. ‘How’s Alex, by the way?’

‘Like I said, busy. If there’s something going on, he’s getting involved… not the panto, of course, but almost everything else.’

‘I heard he was interested in the rewilding project they’re starting further down the valley. He wants to do some on his own land? I don’t remember who told me now… It could have been Ottilie.’

‘I expect so. We had drinks with her and Heath last week and it came up then. Heath was quite interested as well. It probably appeals to their rugged manly sensibilities or something. I can see why someone would be keen, but it’s not for me.’

‘Not for a lot of others either,’ Magnus said, and there was a sudden edge of warning to his tone that made Zoe stare for a moment. ‘I hate to say,’ Magnus continued, perhaps realising he’d been melodramatic, ‘but there’s some opposition to it.’

‘I heard that, but who on earth would oppose making the countryside look a bit more… well, countryside-ish? It’s just making it greener and nicer, as far as I can tell.’

‘I think so too, but you know how some people can be around here.’

‘Weird,’ Billie put in carelessly, and Zoe frowned at her. ‘I’m going to say it because neither of you will. Some people around here have spent too long in the same place, and they don’t know anything about the world.’