care, but in Willowmere itself.
She had found the perfect combination in this pretty Cheshire village where outside late summer was starting to turn the colour of the leaves on the trees and inside was the place where she was going to revel in the role that she’d been asked to play.
There was a waiting room painted in cream, beige and gold, with a honey wool carpet to match. Plenty of comfortable chairs that were not too low for heavily pregnant mothers to rise up from were arranged in rows, and in a corner was a reception desk.
Through a door at the end was a consulting room where she would interview new patients and listen to the problems of those already registered with the clinic.
Next to it there was a room divided into cubicles where she, and James if necessary, would check on the progress of the babies and the general health of the mothers-to-be. It was equipped with scales, a medicine cupboard for on-the-spot medication if needed, and various other items that her practised eye had noted, such as comfy cotton gowns for examination time and disposable sheets, plus a pile of glossy magazines to leaf through while waiting. Through another door were hand washbasins and toilets.
‘So what’s the verdict?’ James asked when she’d observed everything without comment.
‘Wonderful!’ she exclaimed, eyes bright with enthusiasm. ‘It’s so relaxing and clean looking. Who were the brains behind all this?’
‘The hospital hired a firm to do the make-over, but Lady Derringham had the last word on the décor and positioning of the facilities. You will be meeting her on Friday at the official opening.
‘You might have noticed that there hasn’t been room to put in any kitchen space for your needs, but we have that kind of thing in the surgery and you will be welcome to use it whenever you want.’
He was smiling. ‘And now do you think you can drag yourself away while I introduce you to the people on the other side of the communicating door?’
‘Yes, of course,’ she replied, and went to meet Ben Allardyce, a well-known paediatric surgeon, who was standing in for his wife, Georgina, the only female GP in the practice, while she was on maternity leave.
And then there was Gillian, one of the two practice nurses, holding the fort while Laurel was on her honeymoon, and Sarah Martin, a pretty, curvy girl and the youngest of the receptionists, who would be transferring to the new maternity centre.
Elaine Ferguson, the practice manager, came and shook hands and the good feeling that Lizzie had felt when she stepped into the place was still there.
Life without Richard and the child she’d been carrying would have been an empty thing if it hadn’t been for her job, she thought. Maybe here in Willowmere she might find a different kind of solace in friendly folk and delightful surroundings as everyone was making her most welcome.
The one who stood out amongst them the most, however, was the man who was now speaking in a low voice for her ears only. ‘It’s half past nine, my first patient is due any moment. I’m going to take you to Helen for a belated breakfast.’
Lizzie nodded with head averted, afraid to speak in case the tears that were threatening began to roll down her cheeks. She just wasn’t used to this, she thought unevenly. It would be easy to get to like it, and then what?
Loneliness had become a way of life and it was partly her own fault, but it had its advantages. By not ever getting close to anyone again she’d avoided any more pain. So was this beautiful Cheshire village going to make her see life differently? Did she want to be sidetracked into a kind of lifestyle she hadn’t bargained for?
As James’s middle-aged housekeeper plied her with eggs, bacon, hot buttered toast and a pot of tea Helen said chattily, ‘So, my dear, you’re the midwife who is coming to work in the new maternity clinic at the practice.’
‘Yes, that’s me,’ she said, smiling across at her.
‘James is highly delighted at the new arrangement,’ Helen informed her. ‘His life revolves around health care in the village. It comes second only to his love for his children and his sister. I kept house for his parents when he and Anna were young until I went to live in Canada to be with my daughter while her children were small, but now they’re grown up I’ve come back. I was homesick and James needed some help in the house, so here we all are.
‘Jess, their nanny, is also a classroom assistant during term time, which works well as she’s at school the same hours as the children and is available all the time during the holidays.
‘We leave James to it at the weekends to give him some quality time with Polly and Jolly. All those who love him would like to see him married again but he shows no inclination to put anyone in their mother’s place and seems happy enough. But I mustn’t go rambling on, though you’ll find out soon enough that he lost his wife in a car crash when the children were just a few weeks old.’
That was how she’d lost Richard, Lizzie thought. How weird that they should have both lost their partners in similar circumstances. Obviously all Willowmere would know what happened to James’s wife. It was that kind of place.
Not so with her situation. Most of the staff who’d been at St Gabriel’s when her own life had been torn apart had moved on. Any that remained had their own lives to lead, their own peaks and valleys to cope with, and that was how she’d wanted it to stay.
As she made her way back to the practice building, having thanked Helen most sincerely for taking away her hunger pangs, she avoided the surgery and went straight to the clinic. She was still trying to come to terms with what Helen had told her about James. How he was bringing up his children as a single father, and providing a high standard of health care for Willowmere at the same time.
That being so, it was to be expected that there wouldn’t be much opportunity for a life of his own and it could be one of the reasons why he’d never remarried. Though for most people who found themselves alone the need for someone to fill the gap outweighed every other consideration, but not in his case, it would seem, and neither was it so for her.
Her face was warming again at the memory of how she’d dragged him away from his breakfast that morning because of the placid Daisy’s appearance at her kitchen window.
Presumably he’d eaten when he’d got back, but she wouldn’t have been the only one who’d had to put a spurt on timewise, and then after all that he’d taken the trouble to arrange for Helen to cook breakfast for her.
Their lives were similar in some ways, she thought as she let herself into the clinic once more, but vastly different in others. Whatever his problems, James’s life sounded as if it was full and rewarding, except for the one big gap of a loving wife and mother, and if what his housekeeper had said was correct, those who cared about him would like to see the blank space filled.
But the length of time it remained empty was often an indication of the depth of the loss. It brought with it a steadfast loving faithfulness that was a barrier to any other relationships.
Memories of Richard were so clear and tender there was no way she wanted any other man to hold her close in the night or sit across the table from her at mealtimes. As for the baby she’d lost, there were moments when she envied a radiant mother as she placed her child in her arms, but it was also like balm to her soul every time she brought a newborn safely into the world.
Unlike the man in the surgery next door, her life was only half-full, but she’d learned to live with that, she always told herself when she was feeling low. Though was half a life better than none, she sometimes wondered.
It seemed that James lived by a different set of rules from hers. In the middle of his busy life he had found time to show her an impersonal sort of kindness that was heart-warming, and she was going to repay him by making his dream of a maternity clinic in the village an efficient reality.
She spent the rest of the morning unpacking deliveries of stationery and medical supplies, and at lunchtime went across to the Hollyhocks Tea Rooms for a quick bite. It was a luxury she knew she