Christmas Under a Starlit Sky

by Holly Martin

  ‘I need you guys to co-ordinate the arrival of the helicopter, make sure none of our guests get in the way and then, Mikael, I’m sorry to ask but I’ll need you to fly Gabe and his family to the hospital in Lerwick. I’m not sure how many passengers the helicopter will be able to take but I suspect it’ll just be the one and I imagine Oakley will take that seat.’

  ‘Of course,’ Mikael said. ‘We will do anything to help.’

  ‘Boris, can you get a car ready to take Gabe and his family to the airport?’

  Boris nodded.

  Adam waved his thanks to them and raced back to the hotel. He grabbed a snowmobile and took off down the track towards Luke’s cottage.

  The husky puppies were jumping and chasing each other around the small garden as Luke stood on the front doorstep, sipping a mug of coffee and watching them. He clearly enjoyed this solitary existence away from the hotel and away from everyone. Adam knew Luke was close to his family and had probably planned to spend the afternoon with them but for him starting Christmas Day with just himself and a bunch of puppies for company was probably as close to perfection as it could get. When he pulled up outside the cottage, it surprised Adam that Audrey stepped up beside Luke, having come from inside the house. He knew she hadn’t spent the night with Luke, having seen him leave her house the night before, but for her to be there on Christmas morning said something about their relationship – although he wasn’t sure what and there was no time to get into any of that now.

  Adam got off the snowmobile and quickly walked into the garden. Audrey grinned at him and gave him a wave but Luke didn’t look too pleased to see him. He would be even less pleased in a second.

  ‘Neve’s been involved in an accident. She fell down the stairs and she’s unconscious. The air ambulance is on its way.’

  Luke went very still and when Adam glanced down he noticed Audrey clutching Luke’s hand. He seemed almost frozen, unable to move or speak.

  Audrey stroked his arm. ‘Luke, you need to go to her.’

  Luke nodded, suddenly seeming to come out of his reverie. ‘Can you take care of the puppies?’

  ‘Of course, I’ll make sure I get them in.’

  Luke stepped outside without any shoes, obviously moving in shock, before Audrey stopped him.

  ‘You need shoes and a coat,’ she said.

  ‘There’s no time.’

  ‘There’s plenty of time,’ Adam insisted. ‘It’ll probably be half an hour before the air ambulance can get here.’

  Luke looked angry at this. ‘Why will it take so long?’

  ‘Because it has to come from one of the other islands.’

  Luke nodded as Audrey tugged him back inside to get his things.

  A few moments later Luke came hurrying back out and he and Adam got on the snowmobile.

  ‘What happened?’ Luke asked as they roared back towards the main hotel.

  ‘I have no idea. Oakley was with her but I don’t know any details.’

  Adam pulled the snowmobile to a stop outside Neve’s lodge and with still no sign of the helicopter, he and Luke ran inside.

  There was no sign of Gabe or the rest of his family either, but Adam suspected he was still getting Wren dressed and talking to his parents. Neve was lying pale and unresponsive on the sofa and Adam cringed that Oakley had obviously moved her after her fall. Oakley was kneeling next to her, talking to her, trying to persuade her to wake up. She looked so pale and vulnerable and Adam’s heart sank. They had been friends for eight years and she was such a strong person but right now she looked as weak as a kitten.

  Luke immediately went to Neve’s side.

  ‘I tried to catch her,’ Oakley muttered, not taking his eyes off Neve’s face. ‘She fell so quickly and I tried to get to her.’

  Luke took her hand and Oakley shifted slightly to make room for him but as he did so, he glanced up at Adam and his face turned to one of hate. Oakley suddenly launched himself across the room at him and before Adam could say a word, Oakley had him pinned up against the wall by his throat.

  ‘This is all your fault. I knew it, I knew you wanted her and you waited until she was upset and vulnerable before you got her drunk and took advantage of her. I should kill you for this.’

  Luke leapt up and grabbed Oakley, yanking him away from Adam with apparent ease. ‘What the hell is going on? Whatever your issues with each other, now is not the time.’

  ‘She’s pregnant,’ Oakley said, his voice choked with emotion. ‘She’s carrying your child. We were supposed to be forever and you ruined that.’

  Adam stared at him incredulously. Although he had strongly suspected that Neve was pregnant, he had no idea where Oakley got the impression that the baby was his. In all the years he had known her, they hadn’t so much as shared a kiss. They had both been hurt in the past and the way they had dealt with it was to throw themselves one hundred percent into their jobs. There had never been anything remotely romantic between them – she was his friend and that was as far as it had ever gone. Oakley had always assumed something was going on between them but it was a big leap to go from that to believing they had slept together and she was carrying his child. Unless... Neve had told him that. But what possible reason would she have for lying? It would be very easy to tell Oakley that he had never slept with her but if Neve had told Oakley that for a reason, Adam didn’t want to undo the lie. His loyalty was to her, certainly not to Oakley.

  He swallowed, choosing his words carefully. ‘I had no idea she was pregnant.’

  ‘She didn’t tell you?’ Oakley said.

  Adam shook his head, honestly. In fact he had asked her outright if she was pregnant a few days before and she had flat out denied it.

  ‘Are you going to marry her?’ Oakley asked.

  ‘No,’ Adam said. It was one thing pretending the baby was his, quite another to pretend to be husband and wife. What a complete mess.

  Oakley went for him again and if it wasn’t for Luke, he would have succeeded.

  ‘So you’re going to leave her to look after the baby on her own?’

  This was getting more and more complicated. ‘I will make sure she and the baby are OK,’ Adam said. ‘But I have no intention of marrying someone I don’t love and who doesn’t love me. That would be a mistake.’

  The fight seemed to go out of Oakley at this and as a deafening noise erupted outside, signalling the arrival of the helicopter, they both knew that this argument would have to keep.

  ‘I need my shoes,’ Oakley said, disentangling himself from Luke’s arms and running upstairs.

  Luke stared at Adam as if he’d quite like to punch him as well.

  ‘I haven’t slept with her,’ Adam whispered. ‘We’ve never even kissed. If she’s pregnant, that baby is his.’

  ‘Then why didn’t you tell him that?’

  ‘Because I wonder if Neve told him that the baby is mine for a good reason. Or it could be just a big misunderstanding but I want to speak to Neve first before I discredit her.’

  Luke nodded.

  ‘I’ll go and talk to the helicopter crew,’ Adam said, leaving the house just as Oakley came running down the stairs again.

  Adam spoke briefly to the helicopter crew just as Gabe and his parents went running into Neve’s house. He explained how she had fallen, had been unconscious since the fall and was pregnant, probably around ten weeks.

  They ran in, carrying a stretcher and, knowing there would be far too many people inside Neve’s small lounge already, he waited outside.

  A few minutes later, the helicopter crew returned with the stretcher between them. Oakley was by her side as they carefully manoeuvred Neve towards the waiting helicopter, her family bringing up the rear.

  Oakley climbed on board before they had even loaded Neve in there, ensuring there would be no question over him not going with her.

  They carefully placed her on board and her family gathered round, obviously concerned. Adam hung back a bit but stood close enough that he could he
ar what was said as the pilot briefly told Gabe which hospital they would be heading to and then advised them to stand back.

  The Whitakers shuffled backwards out of the way and a few minutes later the helicopter started its engines and took off. They all stared after it in numb shock.

  Adam stepped forward. ‘Mikael is going to fly you to Lerwick and I’ll make sure there is a car waiting for you at the other end. He’ll come back here but as soon as you need to come home, give us a call and we’ll come back out and get you.’

  ‘It’s Christmas Day,’ Gabe said, weakly. ‘The guests…’

  ‘Will be fine, I’m going to take care of all of that. You don’t need to worry. I have a car waiting to take you to the plane now.’

  ‘I need my bag,’ Neve’s mum, Lizzie, muttered, tearfully.

  ‘That’s OK. You guys take your time to get yourselves organised and get your things,’ Adam said, calmly. ‘Whenever you’re ready, the car will take you there.’

  ‘I just need to say goodbye to Wren,’ Gabe said. ‘Pip is going to stay with her, I didn’t think it was a good idea to bring her to the hospital.’

  He looked at Adam to see if he agreed with him. But Adam was certainly no expert when it came to children. He guessed that Wren would be upset by the events too and she was old enough to know something was going on even if they hadn’t been entirely truthful with her. She might be even more upset that Gabe was leaving her when she would want to go and see if Neve was OK too, but if that’s what Gabe thought was best, he wasn’t about to tell him it was wrong.

  ‘That sounds like a good plan and I’m here if Pip needs any help.’

  Gabe nodded numbly and walked off towards his house while his parents rushed off towards the lodge where they were staying. Only Luke remained.

  ‘Is there anything you need to get?’

  Luke shook his head as he watched the helicopter disappear into the sky. ‘She’s always wanted a child.’

  Adam bit his lip, he couldn’t let any emotion take over now, not yet. He had to stay calm for Gabe and his family. ‘I know.’

  ‘It will destroy her if she loses this baby.’

  ‘She’s strong and Oakley is too. That baby is going to come out wearing a superhero outfit, just like his dad, and be up and running by the time he’s a few weeks old.’

  Luke smiled, sadly. ‘I hope so.’

  Adam sighed. ‘And if the worst happens and she loses the baby, we will all be here to support her and help her through it. She won’t go through this alone.’

  Luke nodded. ‘No, she won’t.’

  Gabe came running back out of his house, just as his parents returned, and Adam escorted them all over to the waiting car. Boris was waiting for them with the doors open and his son, Chester, standing next to him.

  ‘Can you stay with Adam?’ Boris said to Chester. ‘I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.’ Boris stood up and addressed Adam. ‘I won’t be long. Take him to play with Wren if you want,’ he said, handing the small boy over into his care.

  Chester took Adam’s hand and before Adam could say anything, Boris ran round to the driver’s side and the car roared off down the road, taking Gabe and his family with it.

  He looked down at the boy, who stared up at him with wary, wide blue eyes.

  Adam smiled, to try to put the boy at ease. ‘Daddy won’t be long. Did you get some nice presents from Santa this morning?’

  Chester nodded. ‘I got Transformers and a red bike and a Frozen magic wand, just like Wren’s, and an Incredible Hulk costume and Star Wars pyjamas and a water pistol and Lego and roller skates and spaghetti.’

  ‘Spaghetti?’ Adam asked, in confusion. Surely he had misheard or Chester had used the wrong word.

  ‘I love spaghetti, it’s my favourite thing in the world, and Daddy cooked it and made it different colours and then let it go cold and wrapped it up for me so I can play with it, though not on the sofa or on the carpet but I can play with it on the kitchen floor if I want. I like the way it feels and tastes but Daddy said not to eat this stuff, this spaghetti is just for playing with, but I’m having spaghetti on toast for my Christmas lunch when everyone else is having turkey and I can eat the spaghetti at lunch but not the spaghetti that I can play with. Do you want to see my spaghetti?’

  Adam couldn’t help but smile at how Chester was quite obviously more excited about the spaghetti than the brand new bike or other toys.

  ‘Sure, let’s go and see your spaghetti.’

  Adam looked up to see that a man, one of the guests, was waiting for him. He had a camera round his neck.

  ‘Sorry to bother you, I can see you’re busy,’ the man said. ‘I’m Ben Eustace, from the Daily Oracle. I couldn’t help but notice the air ambulance arriving. Is everything OK?’

  ‘Everything is fine. One of our staff had a fall, it’s nothing to worry about,’ Adam said, walking past him towards Boris and Mikael’s house.

  ‘And was that Oakley Rey I saw getting on the helicopter? I’d heard rumours he was here, but that was quite a surprise to see him.’

  ‘I can’t discuss the identity of the guests in my hotel.’

  ‘I’ll take that as a yes. And what was the name of the member of staff he was with?’

  ‘That’s none of your business,’ Adam snapped.

  ‘Well, as Gabe Whitaker and his brother Luke have just gone off to the hospital with two people I presume are their parents, I’m guessing the girl on the stretcher was Neve Whitaker.’

  ‘Yes, it was,’ Chester said, helpfully. ‘Daddy said that she banged her head but that she is going to hospital and that she will be better soon.’

  The journalist looked delighted by this piece of news.

  ‘And what is the relationship between Oakley and Neve?’

  Adam carried on walking.

  ‘Did I hear mention of a baby too?’ the journalist called after him. ‘Is the baby Oakley’s?’

  Adam walked up the stairs to Boris’s house as Ben followed from a slight distance.

  ‘A superhero baby, the world is going to love this. Will they call it Obsidian Junior?’

  Adam let the door slam shut behind him and resisted letting out a string of swear words.

  Chester looked up at him again. ‘Is Neve really having a baby with superpowers?’

  Adam sighed. ‘Why don’t you show me this spaghetti?’

  Chester ran off to the other side of the room and Adam sat down on the sofa. When he had thought every eventuality had been catered for, he couldn’t possibly have imagined that his day would have turned out like this.

  Chapter 8

  Ivy sat at the table in the corner and checked her watch for the hundredth time. Adam had definitely said twelve o’clock, yet it was gone half past twelve and there was still no sign of him.

  The other guests were sitting at tables, finishing off their delicious starters, laughing and joking, pulling crackers, and Ivy was utterly alone. If she was going to spend Christmas Day alone, she could have done so in the privacy of her own house instead of sitting at the table for everyone to see.

  Something was going on, she knew that. The waiters and waitresses were whispering to each other whenever they got the chance but she thought it was more than likely they were excited about the rumour that Oakley Rey had landed here the day before and they were wondering if he was going to turn up for the Christmas Day lunch.

  She stopped one of the waitresses as she rushed past.

  ‘Sorry, I was just wondering if Adam was coming or if you know where he is?’

  ‘He’s busy right now, but I’m sure he will be along shortly.’ The girl hurried off again, balancing plates and bowls in her hands.

  Ivy checked her watch again. As assistant manager for the hotel, it was bound to be busy for him, especially as it was Christmas Day, she understood that. Her stomach gurgled hungrily, made even worse by all the wonderful smells and delicious plates of goodness that kept on passing by her table. Should she start her lunch without him
? Surely he wouldn’t mind. She’d have her starter and by then he’d be there and they could enjoy the main course together. She waved the waitress over and asked her to bring the first course out. As the girl rushed off to the kitchen, Ivy looked back over to the doors leading into the dining room. He’d be there soon.

  ‘Come on, baby, open your eyes,’ Oakley said and hearing the worry in his voice Neve forced her eyes open and looked at him. His face flooded with relief. He was holding her hand and they were in a strange room and she wasn’t really sure of anything else. She had a vague recollection of being loaded onto the air ambulance and watching the sky whizz past as Oakley sat next to her, clutching her hand. But she didn’t remember much else.

  She realised she was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to a heart monitor which was beeping softly. Her arm and hand ached and as she became more awake the pain increased significantly.

  ‘Hey, Freckle, you’re awake. Does it hurt? Are you in a lot of pain?’ he said, softly, the anger he had felt before clearly gone, at least for now.

  Suddenly, everything came back. Her falling down the stairs and her hand went to her belly in horror. She had fallen so hard, her poor baby didn’t stand a chance.

  Sobs wracked through her body and Oakley squeezed her hand.

  ‘The baby, is the baby OK?’

  ‘I don’t know. They want to do an ultrasound and check for the baby’s heartbeat but they wanted you to be awake and they were waiting on some special baby doctor person to be available. Apparently she’s on her way down here now. God, you gave me such a fright. I tried to get to you to stop you from falling but I wasn’t close enough. I’m so sorry.’

  Tears filled her eyes. ‘I’m sorry too, about everything. I just...’

  ‘Don’t worry about any of that now. The important thing is that you and the baby are OK.’