The Magic of Christmas

CHAPTER ONE

‘YOU’RE going to fall in love with a strong, handsome man, dear. And he’s going to propose to you on Christmas Day.’

‘I hate to disappoint you, but all the men I meet are either sick or injured and there’s no way I’m marrying any of them.’ Lara applied the last of the Steristrips to the woman’s leg and glanced at her patient with laughter in her eyes. ‘Anyway, the last thing I need right now is love.’

‘Everyone needs love.’

‘You sound exactly like my mother,’ Lara murmured, checking the wound one last time. ‘And I’m not disagreeing, I’m just saying that this is a bad time. I’ve resigned from my job and I’m going travelling in January. I’m visiting my brother. He’s been gone for six months and I miss him horribly.’

‘Yes, Australia is a long way.’

‘How do you know that he’s living in Australia?’ Startled, Lara looked up from the wound and her patient gave a placid smile.

‘I’m a psychic, dear. Seeing the future is what I do. I was on my way to do a Christmas party when I slipped. The pavements are very icy today.’ She drew her beaded scarf around her shoulders and studied Lara closely. ‘Your aura is red—the colour of strength and passion.’

‘Well, I have no objection to passion or to meeting a strong handsome man.’ Trying to work out how the woman could possibly know that her brother was living in Australia, Lara reached for a dressing. ‘I could do with a bit of excitement in my life. But no man, however gorgeous, is going to stop me going to Australia.’

‘Not stop, no. But you’ll be cutting your trip short. You won’t want to be without him.’

‘Thea, you have to stop this!’ Lara stared at her patient with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. ‘From the moment the paramedics brought you in, you’ve been predicting everyone’s future. You’ve already shocked Fran on Reception by telling her that she’s going to be pregnant by Christmas.’

‘Why is that shocking?’

‘Because she doesn’t even have a boyfriend! You have to admit that single to pregnant in less than a month is a bit of a leap even for the broad-minded.’ She carefully placed the dressing over the wound and secured it with a light compression bandage. ‘There. That’s done. You can go home.’

And so could she. It was her half-day and there was somewhere she needed to be.

‘I’m not going anywhere until I’ve read your palm. I want to repay your kindness to me. It’s the least I can do. I might be able to give you some clarity.’ The woman reached out and took Lara’s hand in a firm grip. ‘Let me see…’

Amused, Lara gave her hand a little tug. ‘My hand is going to tell you that I’m a single, overworked nurse who doesn’t have time for romance.’

‘Love often arrives when you’re not looking for it,’ Thea murmured, holding Lara’s palm in a firm grip. ‘Oh, my dear girl, you’re so lonely, aren’t you? You work so hard that you don’t have a social life, you’re tired all the time and deep down you dream of having a big, noisy family of your own. You can’t understand why everyone seems to be in a couple, apart from you. You’re asking yourself if you’re too fussy.’

Lara sat for a moment, trying not to be spooked by the accuracy of the woman’s assessment. She gave herself a mental shake. ‘I have bags under my eyes so it’s obvious that I’m tired. I’m a nurse in the busiest emergency department in London, so it’s obvious that I’m going to be working too hard to have a social life. It’s not rocket science. I don’t know how you found out about the ticket to Australia, but plenty of people go there so it was just a lucky guess.’

It had to have been a lucky guess.

Ignoring Lara’s brisk interjection, Thea continued to scrutinise her palm. ‘You’re dreading Christmas because this is the first year that the whole of your family won’t be together and you’re feeling sad about that.’

Lara felt her heart twist and she stood up suddenly and snatched her hand away. ‘Go back to your GP in five days to have the dressing taken off.’

Thea gave a gentle smile. ‘You’re wondering how I know so much about you, aren’t you? You’re telling yourself that I’m just a silly old lady talking mumbo-jumbo.’

‘Thea—’

‘What can I possibly know? But, you see, I do know. I can read the future. Wonderful things are going to happen to you this Christmas. A wonderful man. Four children.’

‘Four children?’Lara shook her head and started to laugh. ‘Well, that’s going to be relaxing.’

‘You have plenty to laugh about.’ Thea stood up and adjusted her coat. ‘Your future is with a strong, handsome man who is sexier than sin. Plenty of women have wanted him but you’re the one he’s going to spend his life with. Women are going to envy you.’

Lara washed her hands, wondering why she found the woman’s words so disturbing when it was all nonsense. ‘And where am I going to meet this gorgeous specimen of manhood?’ Keeping her tone light, she tugged paper towels out of the dispenser with more force than was necessary. ‘Will he be lying under my Christmas tree?’

‘Sometimes you have to look for love and sometimes it just finds you.’ Thea glanced around her with interest. ‘He’s already here, waiting for you around the corner.’

The door to the treatment room flew open and one of the emergency department sisters stuck her head into the room. ‘Lara? I need you in Resus right now. Are you nearly finished here or shall I find someone to take over?’

Resus? So much for her half-day.

Lara dropped the towel in the bin. ‘I’ve finished, Jane.’ She turned to Thea. ‘Do you need to call someone to give you a lift home?’

Thea reached calmly for her bag. ‘I booked a taxi when I woke up this morning. I knew I was going to fall so I thought I might as well arrange my transport home from hospital.’

Thoroughly unsettled, Lara just about managed a smile. ‘Right. Well…’ She cleared her throat. ‘You need to come back in five days to have that wound checked, or go to your GP. Don’t forget to keep that leg up.’

‘And don’t you forget what I said.’ Thea walked slowly towards the door, limping slightly. ‘Mr Right is waiting for you around the corner, in this very department. He’s the path to your happiness. I’ve seen it all in your palm.’

‘I’ll remember,’ Lara waited for Thea to leave the room and then followed Jane into the corridor.

‘What on earth was that about?’ Jane tucked her pen back into her pocket as they hurried towards Resus. ‘What’s supposed to be in your palm? Tell me it’s not MRSA. There shouldn’t be anything in your palm if you’re washing your hands properly.’

‘Apparently my palm holds the answers to my future. My patient was a psychic. She told Jack, the paramedic, that his wife is

going to have a boy, even though the ultrasound has already confirmed it’s a girl. She told Fran that she’s going to be pregnant by Christmas, and apparently Mr Right, who just happens to be strong and handsome, is waiting for me around the corner.’ Lara glanced at her watch. ‘Unfortunately for my empty stomach, my future didn’t seem to include lunch and at the moment I’d swap a lifetime with Mr Right-around-the-corner for a decent meal.’

‘You’re going to meet Mr Right?’ Jane’s face brightened and Lara threw her an incredulous look.

‘Oh, yes, of course I am. After all, the emergency department is such a perfect setting for romance, don’t you think? I’ve always had a thing for violent drunks.’

Jane shrugged. ‘You can joke, but what is life without hope?’

‘I think it’s called reality. Oh, and apparently I’m going to have four children.’