Billie gave a brief nod and took Louisa down to the kitchen, Grizzle dancing at her heels and threatening to send them all tumbling down together.
Zoe frowned as she read the email from the hospital. Sam was still a worry, her morning sickness having spiked so badly again that she’d been admitted to hospital for a second time. At least there would be input from a consultant team on hand, and so Zoe tried to put any worries about that case out of her mind.
Groggy from her broken sleep and having a fifteen-minute gap in her schedule, Zoe decided to go and get herself a coffee.
Shabana was in the kitchen making chamomile tea.
‘Morning! I’m glad I’ve seen you. I was going to come and tell you I went to see Ottilie?—’
‘Shit!’ Zoe pushed her fringe from her face with a grimace of apology. ‘I said I’d talk to her for you, didn’t I? I’m so sorry – it totally slipped my mind!’
‘It’s all right,’ Shabana said brightly. ‘I know you’ve got a lot on. Ottilie said she hadn’t seen you for ages and she thought the same, what with the campsite opening and all that. Anyway, you were right, she had been considering cutting her hours so she could spend more time with Anthony. So I asked her about a job-share, and she said we’d have to get together and work something out. We’re not quite sure how we can time it, with her ready to come back to work when I go on maternity leave…but we both think there must be a way around it.’
‘That’s great!’ Zoe went to the kettle and put a hand to it to find it was still warm. ‘I would talk to Simon about it sooner rather than later, if I were you. Better to warn him and then you can all have a brainstorm about how to do it.’
‘I think so too. I told Ottilie I’d run it by him. I suppose we have to ask Emilia too.’
‘Probably, as a courtesy, though I doubt she cares so much about who does the job and how they divide it up, as long as it’s done.’
Shabana lowered her voice. ‘I find her…intimidating.’
‘You wouldn’t be the first,’ Zoe said. ‘But she’s all right really. She’s just a bit serious.’
‘Lavender says she wouldn’t know what a happy thought was if it bit her on the backside.’
‘They’re not the best of pals…I’m sure you’ve noticed.’
‘You’ve known her for years, haven’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘So it’s no wonder you feel a lot more comfortable around her. It must help.’
Zoe nodded as she stirred her coffee. She hadn’t felt so comfortable around Emilia that she’d been able to confide in her when she’d needed to offload. She wasn’t sure if that said more about Emilia or her own difficulty in coming to terms with the changes she was currently going through. She only knew that if she didn’t find an outlet soon, she might just explode.
As the day wore on, Zoe was distracted more and more by the way she’d left Hilltop that morning. She hated that her goodbye to Alex had been so cold and that Billie was obviously aware something wasn’t right between them. She’d texted him to apologise, telling him, again, that they needed to talk later when she was home, and made up her mind that, no matter what else was going on, she’d explain why she was so up and down, and what their future might hold if they stayed together.
But there was no reply. She tried phoning, but it went straight to his answer service.
Was he ignoring her? Was he madder than she’d realised? Or had something else happened?
Filled with misgivings, when lunchtime came, she phoned Billie instead.
‘He’s gone to Nottingham,’ she said, Louisa crying in the background.
‘Nottingham? What for?’
‘Not sure. He said something, but I was busy. I suppose it’s something to do with the case.’
‘Couldn’t he phone Virginia? Or email?’
‘I don’t know. He said he had to go and see someone.’
Zoe’s gaze went to the window. ‘I’ve tried to get hold of him and he’s not replying.’
‘I don’t know what to tell you. Want me to text?’
‘Could you?’
