The January Wish
Authors: Juliet Madison
The January Wish
Juliet Madison
Juliet Madison
From Escape’s queen of ro-magic comedy comes a sweet, emotional contemporary romance about the pleasures of making a wish and seeing it come true.
When Dr Sylvia Greene makes an impromptu wish at the Tarrin’s Bay Wishing Festival, it’s the most out of character action she can think of. Hers is not a life of wishes. Hers is a controlled life of order, plans and preparation…of science and research and diagnosis and treatment. But her past has been weighing on her mind, and decisions made long ago have far-reaching consequences.
A week later, the daughter she secretly gave up for adoption at sixteen arrives in Sylvia’s small coastal town with secrets that can’t be shared. Between feelings of guilt, gossip, and a growing attraction to an emotionally unavailable colleague, Sylvia’s well-ordered life is soon thrown into chaos. She is no longer alone, and for the first time she feels as if her world is open to possibilities.
They say be careful what you wish for, but, for Sylvia, the unexpected consequences may be just what the doctor ordered.
Juliet Madison is a naturopath-turned-author with a background in dance, art, internet marketing and perfume sales (yes, she was one of those annoying people in department stores who spray you with perfume). Nowadays she prefers to indulge her propensity for multiple careers by living vicariously through her characters. She likes to put these characters into extraordinary situations and take them on a challenging journey to discover their true passion and inner strength, weaving in some laughs, tears, romance and sometimes a touch of magic along the way.
Living near the beach on the beautiful south coast of New South Wales, Australia, Juliet spends her time running her internet business, raising her son, writing as often as she can, and doing her best to avoid housework.
Juliet is a proud member and volunteer with The Romance Writers of Australia and she loves to interact online with readers and writers via Twitter (@Juliet_Madison), and Facebook (
www.facebook.com/JulietMadisonAuthor
). She can be contacted through her website at
www.julietmadison.com
, where readers can also download some free short stories.
Thanks to the wonderful association that is Romance Writers of Australia for their support, knowledge, conferences, and professional development. And thanks to the volunteer judges of the RWA competitions I entered who gave up their time to read and provide feedback, which helped me in shaping this novel to prepare it for publication. Thanks also to the judges of the Choc Lit Search for an Australian Star contest who helped this book to become a finalist.
Mostly, a big thank you to Kate Cuthbert for saying yes to The January Wish, and the team at Escape Publishing for their efficient work in bringing books to life, and to my lovely editor, Belinda Holmes.
For my parents, thanks for supporting my dreams and leading me to the town I now call home, which is the setting I’ve based this novel on, and to my late nanna, my mum, and my cousin, Jennie, for reading the first draft of this book and giving me your encouragement.
Thank you, Alli Sinclair and Diane Curran, my supportive critique partners, for always being there to brainstorm and discuss ideas. I love sharing this journey with you. And thanks to my writing friends from around the world who make this career choice more sociable!
Thanks again to my son Jayden for being excited along with me and for his advice that I should ‘get publishing contracts more often’ because of the super-happy mother I am when I get one! Happy to oblige.
Lastly, thanks to YOU, the reader for choosing this book. Enjoy!
To Mum and Dad, for helping me create a new beginning.
Bestselling Titles by Escape Publishing…
Dr Sylvia Greene had never done anything like this before in her life. She wasn’t one for succumbing to fanfare or superstitious traditions. She didn’t knock on wood or cross her fingers, and couldn’t care less if she happened to walk under a ladder. But somehow, she’d found herself lining up to take part in the annual Tarrin’s Bay Wishing Festival.
What on earth am I doing here? People I know might see me!
Sylvia glanced around surreptitiously through the lenses of her Dior sunglasses. There were a few familiar faces, but most of the people wandering around and standing in line were tourists. Probably because the locals knew that wishes made by tossing a coin into the historic four metre tall fountain certainly didn’t come true. If they did, the local newspaper would be all over it. Not once had Sylvia read any proof that someone’s wish had come true. But every year on the 4th of January, the anniversary of the fountain’s construction, people came from far and wide to make their wish.
She only meant to wander around the market stalls in Miracle Park, soak up the delicious summer sunshine, and pick up a jar of her favourite chilli and tomato relish from the ‘Homemade for You’ stall, but as Sylvia walked past the huge line-up near the fountain, her legs had other ideas.
I should just go home.
She turned to the growing crowd behind her. To leave, she’d have to excuse herself past about fifty people in line, making herself
more
conspicuous. Plus, she spotted one of her patients in the line. A particularly loud and talkative patient, Mr Benson. Damn it! She’d have to stay in line or get noticed backing out.
When she was a hospital intern it had been easy to get out of difficult situations by simply pretending to be on call and rushing off to deal with a fake emergency. It certainly came in handy during many a disastrous date. Now though, she worked nine to five…well, to six or seven some nights, and was never on call. Sylvia loved her familiar routine. She’d been keen to get into general practice as soon as possible after receiving her qualifications, never having been able to cope with hospital shift work.
The coin in Sylvia’s pocket cooled her warm fingers as she fiddled with it impatiently. At least this was all for charity. That would be her excuse if anyone asked why she, Dr Sylvia Greene, sceptic and all round party pooper, was making a wish. She had a great life; an interesting career, a best friend, good health, a nice house, and even a new boyfriend. What else could she possibly wish for? What
was
she doing here?
Distracted by her thoughts, she jumped when the person behind tapped her shoulder and flicked a hand towards the front of the line. Sylvia took a step forward. Only one person to go, then it would be her turn. A teenage girl stepped forward and threw her coin joyously into the fountain, a hopeful smile on her face. Probably wishing for the boy she liked to notice her, Sylvia thought. The girl walked around the fountain three times, before exiting the cordoned area framing it and running off to hug her friends waiting nearby.
Legend says on the day of its completed construction in 1907, a young woman tossed in a coin to make a wish and walked around the fountain three times. That evening, her missing husband returned safe and sound. Another woman made a wish that day and not even a week
later was cured of a potentially fatal disease. Or so the legend says. Again, there had been
no
proof.
‘Step right up, ma’am,’ said the guy with the microphone whose nonstop commentating brought more people to the line by the minute.
No turning back now.
With her wish in mind, Sylvia tossed the coin. A gentle plop sounded and circular ripples spread outward through the water. Tiny bubbles rose to the surface as the coin joined the others that had gone before. She walked quickly around the fountain three times, adjusting her sunglasses and dipping her head on the way. The process seemed to take forever, conscious that all eyes were on her.
Relief greeted her as she merged back into the crowd, but only for a moment.
‘Doc! Who’da thought we’d see you here today, huh?’
Sylvia’s patient waved as he waited his turn in line.
‘So, what did you wish for, Doc? Wait! Don’t tell me.’ He covered his ears. ‘If you tell someone your wish, it won’t come true, will it?’
‘I’m, er…just doing my bit for charity,’ Sylvia said in her best doctor-like voice.
‘Good on ya, Doc. Oh, I’ll see you next week. First patient for the year I am, 9 a.m. sharp Mondee mornin’. Been waitin’ patiently for you to resume work. Ya see, my constipation’s returned, and geez, this prostate of mine, whoa! I tell ya, the nasty little bugger’s givin’ me such a hard time!’
Mr Benson would quite likely be perfectly okay with Sylvia doing a consultation and examination as he waited in line.
‘…And don’t get me started on me arthritis, let me tell ya —’ the person behind him, gesturing to move forward, politely cut off Mr Benson. ‘Oh, anyway, we’ll discuss all the details next week. See ya then, Doc!’
Sylvia waved, thinking she should have wished for Mr Benson to switch doctors.
The sun warmed her skin as she walked out of Miracle Park, past the historic terrace shops with their homewares, boutique clothing and unique gifts, and up the road towards her house. The afternoon ocean breeze ran like fingers through her hair as Sylvia thought about her wish. Eighteen years had passed since the day that changed her life forever, the memory playing on her mind more and more lately. She lived a satisfying life, but a part of her, deep inside, needed to fill the void that sat there.
Sylvia came to an abrupt stop and shook her head. What was she thinking? She should try to forget about that day, just like she did before. Why dredge up the past? The chance of her wish coming true was unlikely anyway. After all, wishes don’t come true. Do they?
‘Twins?’ Sylvia looked at the ultrasound photo that was thrust in front of her.
‘I know, can you believe it?’ Samantha Roseford circled a palm over her belly. ‘Here I was thinking I might never be able to have children, and now I’ve got two on the way!’
‘What does your husband think about two babies?’
‘Mike’s over the moon. A tad anxious, but very excited.’
Sylvia wrapped a cuff around Samantha’s arm and pumped the inflator. ‘He’s not the only one who’s excited, your blood pressure’s slightly higher than last time.’
‘It is?’ Samantha glanced at the numbers on the blood pressure monitor. ‘Not even halfway through the pregnancy and these little munchkins are already causing havoc.’
‘I wouldn’t be too concerned yet, but I’ll make a note in your referral letter to Dr Engelstein. You’ve booked an appointment to see him soon, I hope?’ Sylvia looked up with raised eyebrows after typing notes into the computer.
‘Yep. Two weeks time,’ replied Samantha.
‘Great. You can be confident in him to take over your prenatal care.’
‘I hope so. He’s not an old fuddy-duddy, is he?’
Sylvia chuckled. ‘He’s been around for a while, but he’s one of the best obstetricians on the coast. Not that there’s many of them around. You’ll be in good hands.’