‘Oh, they do from time to time when they’re doing exercises.’
‘Doesn’t it bother you?’
‘Not especially. Used to it now. The visitors love to see them, especially the kids.’ He turned to her, seeming to decide that they wouldn’t be back any time soon. ‘Are you coming over to ours? Alex is already there.’
‘I wasn’t, to be honest, but maybe I will.’
‘Corrine will have a bacon sandwich for you if you’re in the mood. I’m on my way over; I’ll walk with you.’
‘Maybe I won’t have a sandwich, but I will say hello.’
They began to walk, Zoe picking up her pace to keep up with Victor’s long stride. He marched over the fields with the vigour of a man thirty years younger, but he’d done it all of his life and probably knew every undulation of the ground ahead as intuitively as he knew who he was. And that was the thing about Victor – he knew who he was with the sort of unerring certaintythat made Zoe envious. He knew who he was, what he wanted out of life and why he’d been put on the earth, and Zoe suspected he’d always been that way.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked, wafting away a bee that hovered in front of his face.
‘I’m all right.’
‘That’s good to know.’
‘Victor…’ Zoe paused. She didn’t want to make him and Corrine look silly, but she did need to put the record straight. ‘I’m not pregnant. I know you both thought I might be, but I’m not.’
‘Right. Sorry about that.’
‘Don’t be. I only meant don’t get your hopes up.’
‘You saw right through us,’ he said with a faint chuckle. ‘Never mind – there’s plenty of time.’
‘I’m better suited to looking after other mums and their babies, if I’m honest.’
‘Well…’ Victor bent to pick up an old branch and began to idly swoosh it through the grass. ‘That’s all right. We all have our roles to play. Our Melanie never had kids, and she isn’t at all bothered. Corrine’s always been disappointed, but I think there are other things to do with your life. It’s for some, and not for others, and that’s just how it is. As long as you’re happy…’
Zoe took a moment to reflect on his words. Victor often said the most profound things entirely by accident. Was this one of them? She tried to distil the events of her life so far, and for the most part, it had been good. She’d been content, happy, even in the light of childlessness. Nobody could say it had been easy to go through her miscarriage, and nobody could say she’d taken the news of her fertility issues well, but even then, around it all, everything else in her life had been good. And yet, she’d made Alex and Billie’s life worse. At least, that’s how it felt.
‘We’ll be sorry to lose Fern,’ he continued, breaking into her thoughts. ‘She’s been lovely company for Corrine. She gets lonely when I’m out a lot, and our two don’t always have the time to visit. She’d quite like Fern to stay, but she knows it’s for the best that she doesn’t.’
‘I could ask Billie to visit more often. Now that she’s feeling better, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind, and I think she gets bored anyway.’
‘Corrine would love that. She’s right fond of you all – we both are…’ Victor sniffed the air. ‘She’s got the bacon on already!’
Zoe laughed. ‘You can smell it from here?’
‘When you’ve had as much practice as I have, you can smell it from Ullswater.’
With that, he lengthened his stride further still, and Zoe could barely keep up with him now as he hurried home.
A couple of minutes later, they were in the kitchen of Daffodil Farm, where Alex was putting Grizzle on a lead. He halted at her entrance, a tentative smile on his lips.
‘I was coming to see if you were up.’
‘I came to see if you fancied company on the walk back,’ Zoe replied. It wasn’t quite true, but now that she was here, she realised she wanted that, more than anything.
‘You’re not staying?’ Corrine asked, and then Victor gave her a significant look that told Zoe he’d sensed some kind of tension. He really was shrewder than he looked.
‘I’m sure they’ve got plenty to get on with at Hilltop,’ he said.
‘Sorry,’ Zoe said. ‘Another time?’
Corrine looked disappointed but then nodded. ‘How are you feeling, by the way?’
