Page 70 of Starting Over at Halesmere House
‘Exactly. I’ve just checked again and it’s fine now it’s had a jab of antibiotics.’
‘How many has he got now they’ve all lambed? I can’t keep up and the lambs are too quick to count, the way they leap about!’
‘Sixteen. Quite the little flock now, and he’s desperate for his own sheepdog.’ Ella tapped her nose. ‘It’s his birthday soon and he has no idea that Luke has his present down at the farm. He’ll be one very happy little boy and that’s another animal to add to our growing menagerie. How are you doing? You look fabulous.’
‘Thank you.’ Alice was pulling faces at Isaac, loving the smiles she was getting in return as he waved a chunky fist in the air. ‘I feel so much better now the sickness has passed.’
‘Yeah, it was horrible.’ Ella rolled her eyes, laughing as Isaac tried to grab Alice’s hair. ‘But so worth it.’
They chatted for a few minutes and Ella checked her phone. ‘I need to make a move; Prim will be waiting for her walk when I get back, before we head down to school later. She knows better than me when it’s time to pick them up.’
She held out her arms to Isaac and he giggled as Alice handed him back to his mum. ‘Alice, forgive me if I’m speaking out of turn but I wondered if you’d heard from Zac recently?’
‘Yes, a couple of days ago. We message quite regularly and we speak every week. I’m not sure when he’s planning to come down again now we’ve finished the nursery.’
‘Right.’ Ella fastened Isaac back into his carrier. ‘It was just a thought.’
‘Is there something the matter?’ Alice’s pulse spiked with worry. Ella was always very friendly and generally direct, but she’d never discussed Zac with her before. ‘Ella, is he all right? I’m worried there’s something you’re not telling me.’
‘Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it.’ Ella took a deep breath. ‘Max had a message from Zac over the weekend and he’s a bit concerned. I think he’s going to go up and see him, have a chat.’
‘What about?’ Alice gripped the table. Had Zac changed his mind about the baby, decided he couldn’t be involved after all?
‘I don’t know the specifics, but I do know that he’s unhappy. He hasn’t settled into his new job and he’s thinking about his future there.’
‘What? Why? He hasn’t said anything to me.’ But why would he? Alice reasoned. They were connected by their baby, family and friends, but nothing else. Not like they had been, once. If he didn’t share her life, then it didn’t exactly matter where he lived; they could travel anywhere to meet up when they needed to.
‘He doesn’t want to worry you, plus he thinks… Never mind.’ Ella was at the door, and she looked back. ‘It’s not Max he wants to see, Alice, it’s you. Max can’t help him with this.’
‘Me! But Max is his friend, the person he’s closest to, apart from his dad. If he’s concerned about something, then surely he’d tell one of them?’
‘True but then they’re not you. I know it’s a long way and I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t think it was important. I think you’re the only one who can help him this time.’
Chapter Twenty-One
After Alice left Glasgow, the drive alongside Loch Lomond towards Glencoe was spectacular, and if she wasn’t in such a rush to reach the tiny village where Zac lived, she would have loved every second of it. She pulled up, parking outside his house, shattered, seven hours after she’d left Halesmere. She’d had to stop three times for the loo to accommodate her pregnancy and the water she drank.
She tapped nervously on the front door but the lack of a nearby van suggested he hadn’t made it home from work yet, and she needed the loo, again. She drove to a little café still open and busy with tourists. Thirty minutes later, after a cup of green tea she couldn’t finish, she was back at the cottage. Alice parked outside for a second time and prepared to wait.
It was almost six p.m. when she saw his van approaching in her rear-view mirror and the snacks she’d brought were long since gone. She got slowly out of the Porsche, new fears chasing through her mind. What if Ella was mistaken and Alice shouldn’t be here? What if Zac wasn’t pleased to see her or had plans this evening? What if she’d got this whole thing wrong and she’d be turning tail in five minutes? She couldn’t face that drive again tonight; she’d have to find a hotel and eat, and…
‘Alice? Is there something wrong?’ Zac had slammed the door and he ran over, skidding to a halt a few feet away as his eyes leaped to her stomach. ‘Are you okay? The baby?’
‘We’re fine. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a shock. Another one.’
‘That’s okay, now I know you’re both all right.’ Zac let out a relieved breath and a smile was hovering on his lips. ‘So why are you here on a Monday night without letting me know you were coming? It’s a long way. And I’ve run out of milk.’
‘If I’d known I would have brought you some. Got any ginger tea instead?’ She was smiling too, and a glimmer of hope was flickering inside her. He looked so good, and she just wanted to hold him. ‘I don’t drink much milky tea right now.’
‘Sorry, no. I’d go to the shop for you if there was one still open.’ His eyes narrowed and Alice was drinking in the sight of him. Her life was fuller now, especially with the baby, but it had been so much richer when he’d been in it. ‘So why are you here? I missed that bit.’
‘Ella mentioned you were unhappy, and she thought I should find out why.’ Alice lifted her chin. She’d worried about this nearly all the way here. ‘Is it the baby? If you’ve changed your mind, then it’s fine. I thought maybe you’d met someone else, and she wanted me to hear it from you. It’s okay if you have, you can tell me, you know I’ll…’
‘Alice, I haven’t changed my mind and I haven’t met someone else.’
‘You haven’t? But one day you will.’ Her pulse was thudding, and she touched her neck, trying pointlessly to calm it.
‘I won’t.’
