Zoe tried to ignore the mention of her ex. It seemed it wasn’t Cherie who’d needed warning to stay away from the subject. She glanced to her side, but if Alex was bothered, he didn’t show it.
She turned back to Chantal. ‘I don’t know why you’d feel guilty. It’s not your fault Ritchie and I split up.’
‘I know, but I did.’
It was Nigel’s turn to look fondly at his partner. ‘That’s because you’re such an empath. You feel everyone else’s troubles like they’re your own.’
Zoe could have pointed out that Chantal’s empathy had never extended to his ex-wife – her mother – but she held it in. It was just like her dad to conveniently forget all the heartache he’d caused, and Chantal hadn’t exactly been blameless. Zoe didn’t know much about how they’d got together – the details had been kept deliberately vague as far as she could tell – but Chantal had been his assistant at the investments company where he’d worked, and they’d started to see one another very quickly after he’d split from Cherie, who’d always been convinced there had been an affair before the marriage had ended. Zoe wasn’t so sure, but she could see why it would look that way. If there hadn’t been one, there had obviously been an attraction and perhaps some flirting prior to Nigel calling time on his life with Cherie, because there was no other way he could have got so serious with Chantal so quickly.
‘Heath says the portions here are huge,’ Alex said, perhaps sensing a change of subject was needed.
Zoe was grateful, and her smile told him so.
‘I really can’t eat all that much at the moment.’ Chantal unfurled one of the napkins from the table, only to roll it up again and put it back. ‘I don’t know why.’
‘I expect your hormones are messing up your appetite,’ Zoe said.
‘Probably. You’d know more than me about that.’
‘No amount of training can replace lived experience, though,’ Zoe replied, pushing a smile across her face she hoped would hide the pain that always lingered in the background, no matter how she tried to convince herself she’d moved on from her miscarriage. ‘I only know that every pregnancy is different. Some women eat a lot more, some a lot less, some new or weird things and some are exactly the same as they always were.’
‘My aunt says I’ll want to eat lumps of coal,’ Chantal said. ‘I think she’s been watching too muchCall the Midwife.’
‘I’ve heard of it,’ Zoe said. ‘But there aren’t as many houses with coal fires as there used to be. I don’t know what you’d eat instead if you did fancy some.’
Nigel flicked open the menu. ‘It all looks very good; I’m impressed by the choice.’
Alex nodded as he perused his own. ‘I know what you mean – there’s almost too much to choose from.’
‘I’m leaning towards the salmon,’ Nigel added.
Zoe’s forehead creased slightly as she looked across at him. ‘You eat salmon? Since when? You always hated fish.’
He glanced up with a vague shake of his head. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘I know so! Remember when we went on that boat trip in Majorca when I was about twelve and they ran out of chicken for the complimentary meal and they only had sardines? And you said to Mum you’d rather starve than—’ Zoe flushed, her sentence ending with a snap. She’d been about to point out that he’d always refused point-blank to eat fish while he’d been married to her mum, the boat trip being a memorable example of this, but realised, too late, that it might not be the best time for such an anecdote.
‘I love fish!’ Chantal enthused. ‘I never liked it when I was young, but then I went on holiday to Madeira with my best friend and her parents and tried all sorts. After that, I couldn’t get enough. It’s funny how your tastes can change, isn’t it?’
‘I suppose it is,’ Zoe said. ‘Perhaps it had something to do with being away with someone else’s parents too that made you want to try, I mean. You make more of an effort, don’t you?’
Nigel looked up at Alex. ‘How about you? Let me see…I think you’re a steak man. I bet that ribeye is calling to you.’
Alex gave a bemused smile. ‘Not really. Do I give that impression?’
‘Well, you live on a farm and work outdoors, so it seemed likely a big, rugged fellow like you enjoys hearty meals like a good steak.’
Alex laughed. ‘I’m hardly rugged! Though I’ll take it as a compliment. As for living on a farm, Hilltop is really a farm in name only. It hasn’t been a working farm for some time now, not since the lady I bought it from lost her husband. I’m not entirely sure, but I think that was quite a few years back.’
‘Zoe mentioned you’re building on the land.’
‘Well, yes. I work outdoors from time to time because I’m getting my campsite ready for my first visitors, but a lot of what I do is on my laptop.’
‘Camping field, eh?’ Nigel glanced at Chantal with a chuckle before turning back to Alex. ‘Sounds like money for old rope, but I bet it will be a little goldmine in the summer. We’ll know where to come if we need a loan, eh, Chantal?’
‘It’s not quite like that,’ Zoe said, prickled on Alex’s behalf. ‘You can’t just dump people in a field and collect their cash.’
Nigel’s face fell, and perhaps Zoe’s rebuke had been too quick and too sharp. It seemed Alex thought so, though he was diplomatic as he waved away any awkwardness.
