Free The Midwife's Christmas Miracle by Jennifer Taylor Page A

and bustle of city life.’
    ‘What about your friends and family, though? You must miss them,’ Anita suggested.
    ‘I do, but it’s easier for everyone if I’m living here,’ she said without thinking.
    ‘What do you mean by that?’ Anita asked in surprise.
    Lucy sighed when she saw the curiosity on the older woman’s face. Although she didn’t want to go into detail about what had led her to leave Manchester, she could hardly refuse to answer. ‘Oh, just that I split up with my fiancé a few months ago and it caused a bit of a stir. That was the reason why I decided to move to Dalverston, in fact. I wanted to make a completely fresh start.’
    ‘Oh, dear, I am sorry.’ Anita patted her hand. ‘It can’t have been easy for you, Lucy, but I’m sure you did the right thing.’
    ‘I’m sure I did too.’ Lucy summoned a smile, although she couldn’t help wondering if she was right to say that.
    She sighed as she said goodbye to Anita and went to fetch her coat because she knew what was behind her doubts. It was this situation with Max that troubled her and until she had worked out what to do about it, it would continue to do so. It was worrying to think that she had escaped from one difficult situation only to jump straight into another.
    It was almost eight p.m. before Max was ready to leave. After he’d finished in Theatre, Diana had paged him about her patient. By the time they had discussed possible courses of treatment, he’d needed to check on Emma Baker again. Still, the upside was that he’d been far too busy to think about Lucy.
    He groaned as he made his way across the car park. Every thought he had these days was followed by another one about Lucy and it was scary to know how hung up he was on her. Maybe he had made plans to address the situation, but it was the here and now that worried him, what would happen in the next few weeks. Although he’d had no problem avoiding commitment in the last three years, it was different with Lucy, very different indeed, and that’s what worried him. He simply couldn’t trust himself to do the sensible thing.
    It was a disquieting thought and he found it impossible to shrug it off as he got into his car. There was a Christmas market being held in the town that week and there was a lot of traffic about when he left the hospital so it took him twice as long as normal to reach the town centre. The market was being held in the main squareand the traffic was even worse there because of the numerous diversions that had been set up to avoid it. Max followed the signs, wishing that he had stayed in work until the market closed. At this rate he’d still be driving around at midnight!
    He had just reached the junction with the main road when he spotted a commotion on the pavement. A young woman had collapsed and a crowd was starting to gather around her. Pulling into the kerb, he jumped out of his car and hurried over to see if he could help.
    ‘I’m a doctor,’ he explained as he pushed his way through the bystanders. He crouched down next to a young man who was obviously with the woman and introduced himself. ‘My name’s Max Curtis and I’m a doctor at Dalverston General. Is there anything I can do to help?’
    ‘It’s my wife. She…she’s having a baby!’
    The man looked as though he was ready to keel over at any second so Max moved him aside. He smiled at the young woman. ‘My name is Max Curtis and I’m a doctor. As luck would have it, I work in the maternity unit at Dalverston General.’
    ‘Thank heavens for that!’ she exclaimed.
    ‘Can you tell me your name and when your baby’s due?’ he asked, checking her pulse.
    ‘Alison Cooper and my baby was due on New Year’s Day, although I don’t think he’s going to wait that long,’ she added ruefully.
    ‘So how long have you been having contractions?’ he continued, wanting to build up a clearer picture of what was happening.
    ‘I’m not sure. I’ve been having pains on and off for a