Birds Of A Feather Episode 33
Jess was still smarting as she headed towards the farmhouse to see how Maggie was today.
“Anything you need, Jess,” Harry had said the last time she’d seen him, “let me know.”
Yet, here he was, not two days later, muttering about how busy he was and not sounding at all convincing.
She approached the farmhouse. Inside, she could hear Alfie’s woof of welcome as he recognised her footsteps.
Before she could knock on the door, it opened and Tom, her foster father and Maggie’s husband, and a thin woman carrying a large black bag stood there.
“Thanks for coming, Doctor Simms,” Tom was saying.
Jess looked at him, alarmed. His face was ashen.
“Tom?” she asked as they watched the doctor drive off. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t reply, but continued staring after the doctor’s car.
“Tom?” She touched his arm. “You’re scaring me. Tell me what’s wrong.”
He blinked as if seeing her for the first time.
“You’d better come in, Jess. She can tell you herself. I can’t take it in.”
Jess gripped his hand.
“Where is she?” she managed to ask.
“In bed. She’s been horribly sick this morning and hasn’t been able to get up. That’s why I called Doctor Simms.”
Jess hurried up the stairs, her heart pounding.
She took a deep breath and steeled herself to comfort her friend.
Maggie was sitting up in bed, looking deathly pale. Tears were running unchecked down her face.
“Oh, Maggie,” Jess whispered as she took her hand. “How are you?”
“I’ve never felt better in my life.” Maggie’s voice cracked with emotion. “It’s the best news ever. I can’t believe it. I feel such a fool, calling the doctor out.”
Jess blinked.
“But what –?”
Maggie laughed and it was the best sound Jess had ever heard.
“I’m pregnant. Tom and I are going to have a baby!
“I thought the sickness was something I’d picked up in Mexico. It didn’t occur to me to take a pregnancy test.
“Isn’t it just the best news?”
Jess sat down on the bed as relief and joy surged through her.
“Oh, Maggie, that’s amazing! I didn’t know what to think. Tom looked –”
“Shell shocked?” Tom suggested as he came in behind her. “I am. I can’t believe we’re going to be parents. This is the best news.”
Maggie giggled.
“What do you think my mother’s going to say when she learns she’s going to be a grandmother?
“A screaming baby might be just the incentive she needs to find a place of her own!”
“Now, you must remember what the doctor said and take things easy,” Tom reminded his wife.
Maggie pulled a face as she looked across at Jess.
“If he’s going to wrap me in cotton wool he’ll drive me barmy.
“Besides, the work must be piling up with Paloma having her other job at Moor View Farm.”
“I think I have a solution,” Jess replied. “A young girl from the village has been helping out. Didn’t Paloma mention her?”
Maggie frowned, thinking.
“She might have, but I’ve not really taken much in. You say she’s good?”
“Paloma’s delighted with her.”
“She sounds too good to be true.” Maggie laughed. “What’s the catch?”
Jess hesitated. Lisa had at one time been linked with Steven Taylor.
In what seemed another lifetime, Maggie had been engaged to him – and he’d dumped her for Lisa.
Lisa swore there had been nothing going on between them, though, and that she’d just worked for him for a while.
“It’s Lisa,” Jess said. “She’s back in the village and needs a job. She says she’ll understand if you preferred she didn’t work here.”
Maggie was silent for a moment.
“You say she’s good?”
Jess nodded.
“The customers and the goats love her.”
Maggie smiled.
“Then I’ll go with the goats. The job’s hers. She couldn’t have come along at a better time. On both occasions.
“If she was the reason Steven dumped me, then I owe her more than a job. I owe her a huge debt of gratitude.”