Christmas Under a Starlit Sky

by Holly Martin

  ‘There are always teething problems in a relationship, little hiccups here and there, but what matters is being able to get through those issues. When you put a ring on someone’s finger, you are promising to love them through the rough and the smooth, the good, the bad and the ugly, to be there for them when times get tough. You don’t run away when things get a bit sticky. She is carrying your child, now is not the time to get cold feet.’

  Oakley didn’t have the heart to correct her.

  ‘I see you with your son, I see you playing on the beach with him and Neve is there, heavy with your second child. I see this as clear as you are standing before me.’

  Oakley stared at her for a moment.

  ‘You can see into the future?’ he asked, incredulously. He would have laughed but she was standing there so serenely as if the words that had just come out of his mouth were not the most ludicrous thing in the world.

  ‘Some say that, yes. I prefer to think of it as seeing your true path. Your destiny, if you like. Neve is your destiny and that is not something to take lightly.’

  He swallowed down the sudden lump in his throat.

  ‘Now, I’ve taken the liberty of filling out the form for you,’ Mikki added, producing a form with his and Neve’s names already printed on it. ‘You will just need to sign and date it. Now if I were you, I’d backdate the form to the beginning of December. We are supposed to register an application to marry twenty-eight days before the ceremony unless there are extenuating circumstances. I imagine that you being a Hollywood star and filming schedules would hold some weight, but I can also say that snow and bad weather and Christmas bank holidays delayed the form being sent by post. Just sign here.’

  Oakley opened his mouth to protest but at a glare from Mikki he did as he was told. Just because he was applying for a marriage licence, it didn’t mean he would have to use it.

  No sooner had he signed his name than Mikki had whipped the form away from him before he could change his mind and he quickly left the shop before she made him sign away one of his kidneys too.

  Could any of what Mikki had said be true? That he and Neve had a future together? He didn’t believe that someone could have the power to see into the future but Mikki was right about one thing. Marriage was for better or for worse and he had offered Neve that when he had proposed to her.

  Neve looked around the Christmas market with a smile. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t been down here to see all the progress that had been made. Almost every day since she arrived on the island a few months before had been spent sitting in her office, making calls, answering emails, and she had missed out on seeing the wonderful developments that Gabe and the boys had made. She knew about them of course, but even the photos she had seen hadn’t done the place justice. The island was so small, there really was no excuse for not coming down and seeing it.

  When she had visited in the early part of the summer, the houses had been stone cottages, the road had been little more than a dusty dirt track. Now all the houses were bedecked in wooden planks, continuing the winter ski lodge theme down here too as well as the accommodation up in the main part of the hotel. The shops were in what had been the front room of the house, with large leaded windows showing their wares inside. Fairy lights were strewn across the street, sending sparkling orbs across the snow. Each shop held something unique, mostly handmade and wonderfully Christmassy. She had bought all her presents for her family online but now she wished that she had bought something for them from the market instead.

  She pushed open the door of one shop and walked inside. The glass Christmas ornaments twinkled and gleamed in the shop lights, twists of bright colours and glitter, sparkling in a multitude of patterns. Each piece was completely unique and each tree decoration was a different shape, in curves of gold, balls of green and drops of blues and purple.

  Movement at the back of the shop caught her eye. Despite the cold of the day, Antoine, the man working at the back in a separate room, had no top on. He was muscled, dirty and filthy and had that sexy Poldark look to him. But despite his natural good looks, Neve was drawn more to what he was doing as he made the little glass ornaments. She stepped closer and watched as he pulled out a burning ball of glass from a furnace and blew into the pole holding it, making the ball wider. Using a tool, Antoine pulled at the end of the glass, making it longer, before he rolled it in tiny beads of multi-coloured glass and stuck it back into the furnace again, twisting and turning the pole as it melted in the heat. He pulled it out, rolled it on the table, pulling at little bits of it here and there, blew into it, twisted it, rolled it. Each time the piece was changing shape and, as the glass cooled, she could see all the different colours sparkling in the light.

  ‘Hello, Miss Whitaker,’ Antoine said, his eyes barely leaving the ornament he was making. ‘Can I help you with anything?’

  ‘No, I was just watching you,’ Neve said, then blushed when he smiled to himself. This was a man who clearly knew how good-looking he was. She quickly corrected herself. ‘The glass blowing is fascinating. I’ve not had a chance to look around all the shops yet. It’s wonderful to see.’

  ‘It is. And the people are all lovely. They were all very worried about you when they heard about your fall on Christmas Day.’ He snapped the glass twist off the pole with a pair of pliers and, rolling it around in his gloved hands, he walked towards her, his dark eyes shining as he approached. ‘I hope your arm doesn’t hurt too much and there’s no lasting damage.’

  ‘Hopefully I’ll be out of this cast in six weeks.’

  ‘And you have someone up at the hotel to look after you?’

  ‘Yes, she does,’ came Oakley’s stern voice from behind her.

  Neve whirled round to see Oakley glaring at Antoine with ill-disguised hatred. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Antoine, who was still gazing at her with amusement.

  ‘That’s good. Here, why don’t you take this with you, to remind you of your time in the village today? It’s still quite warm but you can touch it.’ Antoine held out his hand and placed the intricate twist of glass into her hands. ‘It has the colours of the aurora so it’s one of our more popular pieces.’

  Neve held up the spun glass and watched the lights catch the flecks of colour. ‘It’s beautiful, thank you.’

  He nodded and with another smile turned back to his workshop.

  Neve walked out onto the street and Oakley followed closely behind. As soon as the shop door closed behind them, he turned on her. ‘Is he the father of your baby?’

  ‘Christ, Oakley, do you want to get a loudspeaker and shout it across the village? I’m pretty sure there’s one or two people in the street who didn’t hear you.’

  She stormed away from him but he caught her up.

  ‘Is he?’ he repeated, more quietly this time.

  ‘No, he isn’t and I’m not talking about this with you here. You need to stop glaring at every man that I speak to.’

  ‘You were practically drooling over him back there.’

  ‘For your information, I was watching him blow glass and I would have been watching him with the same interest if he was a bald, fat man twice his age or even a woman.’

  Oakley let out a sound of disbelief.

  ‘There is only one man that I’m attracted to, one man that makes my heart skip a beat just by smiling at me, and that man is currently acting like a complete ass. You owe Adam an apology, by the way.’

  ‘Yes, I do.’

  She stopped at the lack of protest from him.

  ‘I bought you some chocolate truffles,’ Oakley said, handing her the paper bag as a peace offering.

  She took it and sighed, popping one in her mouth and letting the creamy chocolate shell melt on her tongue. He smiled at her hopefully.

  ‘It’s delicious. Thank you.’

  His smile brightened his whole face.

  She reached up and ran her hand down his cheek, feeling the stubble under her fingers. He instinctively put his hands on her wa
ist. ‘Let’s go home, we really need to talk.’

  He looked at his watch and nodded. ‘OK.’

  A flash suddenly went off in their faces and then another and Neve looked around, blinking under the bright lights. One of the journalists who had come to review the hotel for the grand opening a few days before was taking photos of them. She frowned in confusion before she realised what was happening then she took a step back, knowing that Oakley wouldn’t want his photo taken with her as he’d always been very careful not to be seen with her in public before, but he surprised her, looping an arm round her waist and holding her against him.

  ‘Oakley Rey, Ben Eustace from the Daily Oracle. Is it true that you and Neve are expecting a baby?’

  Neve gasped. How had he found out? But then she realised that any of the hospital staff could have gone to the press with their story. The hotel guests had probably seen Oakley wandering around too, though she knew at least that the hotel staff would have been loyal to her.

  Were their pictures already in the papers? Were people looking at her and wondering what on earth Oakley saw in her? Were they judging her, judging their relationship? Were they deciding that she was too plain, too boring, too common for Oakley? What would his mum think if she saw the photos of them together? What could they tell the press about their relationship? At the moment it was in tatters and she definitely didn’t want to tell them that.

  Oh God, what a horrible situation to be in. If Oakley told the press that the baby wasn’t his, how would he explain the truth later? No one would believe that the boy was Oakley’s once the press ran the story that he wasn’t. If they got back together then people would always be looking at her like she didn’t deserve to be with him because she had slept with someone else behind his back.

  She looked up at Oakley and he must have seen the fear in her eyes as she shook her head.

  ‘Let’s go home, baby,’ Oakley said, completely ignoring the photographer.

  He took her hand and led her away.

  ‘I see you’re engaged,’ the photographer called after them. ‘When’s the wedding?’

  When they were far enough away, Neve turned to Oakley. ‘You can’t say anything to the press.’

  ‘I never do.’

  ‘There’s something you need to know first.’

  ‘I’m listening, Freckle.’

  She looked back to see the photographer was still following them, albeit at a distance.

  ‘I’ll tell you as soon as we get home,’ she told him.

  Chapter 14

  Neve’s heart was hammering against her chest as she and Oakley walked up the stairs to her house. She knew he would be angry but she was hopeful they could get through this.

  As she pushed open the door and stepped inside she was immediately met with a loud cheer and shouts of ‘Merry Christmas’. She looked up and saw the smiling, happy faces of her mum, dad, Gabe, Pip, Wren and Luke all wearing gaudy Christmas jumpers.

  ‘What’s all this?’

  Her mum, Lizzie, came over to give her a hug. ‘Well, you missed out on Christmas, love, so we thought we’d have it now. We have all our presents, the board games, and Chef has even prepared us a proper Christmas feast.’

  Neve smiled and turned to Oakley. ‘Is that why you were so slow walking back?’

  He grinned. ‘Didn’t want to get back before the big surprise.’

  She was touched that they would go to all this trouble. She turned to Gabe. ‘This is lovely, but I know how busy you must be getting ready for the New Year’s Eve ball. Do you have time for this?’

  He nodded. ‘Of course, this is important. We always spend Christmas together and we didn’t want you to miss out because you were in hospital. Besides, Wren wanted to do a proper Christmas with you.’

  Wren came over to hug her and Neve awkwardly picked her up with one arm, her body complaining at the weight. Neve gave her a big squeeze. ‘Was this your idea?’

  Wren nodded. ‘This way I get two Christmases.’

  Neve laughed and Oakley took Wren from her, obviously concerned about her and her bruises.

  ‘Oakley, Nanny said that Neve has a baby in her belly, is that true?’

  He nodded and everyone suddenly went very quiet. ‘It is.’

  ‘I asked Nanny how the baby got there and she said that you put the baby there.’

  He smiled.

  ‘How did you put the baby in Neve’s belly?’

  Oakley cleared his throat. ‘Well, when two people love each other very much then the man can put a special seed in the lady’s belly and then the lady will grow and look after the seed until it becomes a baby.’

  Wren stared at Oakley with wide eyes. ‘How do you put the seed in her belly?’

  Neve blushed, wondering at what point would be a good time to stop the conversation.

  ‘I have the seed inside me and when we cuddle I put the seed inside her,’ Oakley explained.

  ‘So if the seed is already inside you, why don’t you grow the baby?’

  ‘Well, have you seen a seed for a plant?’

  ‘Yes, it’s very small.’

  ‘And if I had one in my hand now, would it grow on its own?’

  ‘No, it needs soil and water and sunshine to make it grow,’ Wren said, knowledgeably.

  ‘That’s right. So I only have the seed, Neve gives the seed everything it needs to grow. She gives the baby food and water and lots of other important things to make the baby grow big and strong.’

  ‘So you don’t do anything to help make the seed grow once it’s planted in Neve’s belly?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘That doesn’t seem fair that Neve has to do all the work.’

  Neve suppressed a smile at the feminist attitude of her four-year-old niece.

  ‘That’s true. But the daddy has to look after the mummy while she is carrying the baby and then when the baby comes, they will both take it in turns to look after the baby.’

  Wren nodded thoughtfully. ‘Daddy and Pip cuddle a lot, will Daddy put his seed inside Pip?’

  ‘Hey, Wren, why don’t you sort out all the presents into piles so we know whose is whose?’ Gabe suggested suddenly and Wren wriggled down from Oakley’s arms and ran to the big pile of presents under the tree.

  ‘I have a Christmas jumper for you both,’ Neve’s mum said, handing over two large paper bags from the shop in the village.

  Oakley grinned as he pulled his jumper out of the bag, a large snowman face beaming out from the middle of it. Neve pulled her jumper out of the bag and looked at it. At the bottom, where her belly would be, were the words ‘Mummy’s Christmas pudding’ over a picture of a small pudding.

  ‘It’s baby’s first Christmas,’ her mum explained, obviously over the moon at the prospect of being a grandparent again. ‘We couldn’t resist.’

  Neve smiled and pulled it on, the pudding nestling directly over her little pregnant belly.

  ‘Well, let’s go and have some lunch and then we can open the presents,’ Lizzie declared, shepherding everyone to the large dining room table near the kitchen.

  Neve looked up at Oakley and he looked down at her pudding. ‘You look adorable, Freckle,’ he said, softly.

  She smiled. They were going to be OK, she was sure of it.

  Ivy placed a large sheet of glass on her easel and fixed it in place before wiping it down with a damp cloth. She hoped Adam would still be up for posing for her when he arrived. Because if it was going to end between them, she wanted a painting of him to remember the brief time in her life when everything was good and wonderful and perfect. And she was going to take advantage of everything he wanted to offer her now. She wouldn’t look back on this time with him and regret anything she hadn’t done.

  Right on cue, Adam walked through the shop door with a huge smile on his face.

  She moved to hug him, giving him a brief kiss as she ran her damp fingers through his hair.

  ‘What’s put you in such a good mood? Did you have a good day?�
� Ivy asked, as he pulled her tighter against him.

  ‘It was busy as always, but I had some really good news. Gabe has asked me to take over the role of manager if Neve leaves.’

  Her heart leapt. So that was it, he really was staying. ‘That’s fantastic, I’m so pleased for you. Is Neve leaving?’

  ‘She might not. She might choose to stay here and raise the baby with her family but if that’s the case, Gabe wants me to stay here permanently to help her with the hotel. But I have good news for you too. As part of the conditions for me staying here I asked Gabe to make your contract permanent and he agreed.’

  Her heart soared. ‘I get to stay here?’

  ‘Yes, for as long as you want to and I promise you, if we ever break up, that won’t be taken away from you. This is your home now.’

  Tears filled her eyes. ‘You have no idea how happy that makes me. When I split from my husband, the future looked so uncertain, I didn’t know where I was going to live or what I was going to do. I came here for a reprieve, but I knew it was never going to be permanent. Thank you so much, you’ve given me my life back.’

  Adam smiled. ‘You’re very welcome.’

  He bent his head and kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He slid his hands up to her face, cupping the back of her neck gently, his touch so soft, his hands moving down to her shoulders and down her arms. He smelt so good, so delicious, Ivy wanted to run her tongue over his body and taste him all. She slid her tongue inside his mouth and a deep guttural moan escaped his throat as he pulled her against him.

  She reached up and unzipped his coat and pushed it off his shoulders. Underneath he was wearing a soft grey jumper and a t-shirt. Her fingers travelled down to the hem and in one swift move she yanked both over his head. His mouth barely left hers for a second but his fingers quickly undid the zip on her hoodie and he slipped that over her shoulders until it fell to the floor and she was left standing there in her bra and jeans. As his hands traversed her skin and then moved to the top of her jeans, she pushed him back slightly.