The Heart of Winter

by Emma Hannigan

  ‘Are you certain you’re OK from here?’ Pippa asked as she fell in her hotel room door.

  Brianna waved and clunked the door shut.

  ‘I’m going to hit the hay too,’ Pippa said with conviction. ‘I was such a mess today and I’m probably going to be as bad tomorrow.’

  Much to her relief Missy agreed. Pippa took off her make-up with shaky hands and pulled on her shorts and T-shirt, ready for bed. When she lay down, her body throbbed and her eyes burned, but her brain was still whirring like a hamster on a wheel.

  She hadn’t really taken Danny’s advice to heart. She shouldn’t have downed so many cocktails.

  Anger soared through her. What would he know? He was a bloody druggy, after all. Pippa thought of Lainey and Joey, who were putting their heart and soul into getting Huntersbrook off the ground, and felt utterly ashamed in comparison.

  Pippa loved fun and entertainment, but she hated this awful feeling that she was doing the wrong thing. She would curl up and die if her family knew the truth about Danny.

  As tears seeped onto her pillow, all anger at Danny melted. She wished she could stay angry at him. She wished he didn’t make her heart do flips. She wished he wasn’t funny and clever and charming. She wished she wasn’t falling head over heels in love with him . . .

  Joey

  JOEY COULD BARELY CONTAIN HIMSELF AS HE tucked the basket into the corner of the back seat of his car. He’d heard about the picnic basket hiring company when they’d come to the office to pitch for business a couple of weeks ago. When he called them, wondering if they’d deliver to Wicklow, it turned out their premises was a fifteen-minute drive from Huntersbrook.

  He’d ordered the most luxurious version, which promised to be a feast. It included champagne, caviar and napkins to match the picnic rug. Every detail had been thought about and perfected. If this worked out well, he could see Huntersbrook using the hire company’s services in the future to wow guests.

  He needed this day to be perfect. Skye was being so helpful to Lainey and he couldn’t fault her enthusiasm over project Huntersbrook, but he also was aware that she was going to be under a bit more pressure to come to corporate events over the next while as he established his career as partner. He felt they needed a day away from work and Huntersbrook so they could reconnect. He adored Skye, but there was a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that they were getting a bit lost in translation as a couple of late. She hadn’t mentioned their argument the other night and neither had he. But he knew they should clear the air.

  Having agreed to meet the delivery van at the main gate, Joey was confident about today’s surprise. When he’d last spied her, Skye was in a backroom working on a website for a customer. Although they’d had high-speed broadband installed, it seemed to work best at the rear of the house. His palms were sweating as he tried to act nonchalantly. Having taken delivery of the basket, he stowed it in the car and drove back to the main house, then walked through the house to find Skye.

  ‘Hey.’

  ‘Hi,’ she said looking surprised. ‘I thought you said you were going into Wicklow town for a bit. Did you forget something?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I forgot you! Come on with me and we’ll go for a bit of lunch. What do you reckon?’

  Skye stretched and yawned.

  ‘I’ve been rooted to the spot here for the morning,’ she said, gazing longingly out the window. ‘Sure, go on then. It is meant to be my week off after all.’

  Skye was quiet until they drove in the wrong direction out the main gate.

  ‘Aren’t we going to Wicklow?’ she asked.

  ‘Not today,’ he said evenly. ‘I’ve heard of a place that does amazing lunches. Ones like you’ve never experienced before. One you’ll never forget,’ he added.

  ‘Have you been drinking?’ Skye asked with a grin. ‘You’re in a very odd mood today.’

  ‘Am I?’

  As they pulled up at the wooded walk they’d been on many times before, Skye opened her seatbelt and sat to face him.

  ‘Joey, have you lost your marbles? I’m hardly wearing walking gear and there’s nowhere to get food here unless we’re planning on doing it Bear Grylls style.’

  ‘Follow me,’ he said with his nose in the air. ‘In fact, you go and stand over there,’ he said pointing to the little wooden stile. ‘I’ll be with you in a sec.’

  He watched as Skye walked over, shaking her head. He pulled the picnic hamper and fold-out stools from the car and followed her.

  ‘What the . . .’

  ‘No questions,’ he said firmly. ‘I’m in charge and you’re going to do what you’re told.’

  Laughing, she walked alongside him as he heaved the large basket.

  ‘Have you a dead body in there or what?’ She tried to catch a peek inside.

  ‘Ah-ah,’ he warned. ‘Walk on ahead.’

  ‘At least allow me to carry the stools. Where did you get all this from?’ she giggled.

  As soon as they came to a little clearing with enough space to spread a blanket, Joey stopped. Laying the basket down gently, he opened it and took out the pretty rug and folded out the two stools.

  ‘Wow, this is awesome!’ he said staring inside. ‘Look at all this.’ The delicious quiche and salads were in easy to open containers and the matching gingham-patterned plates and cutlery were delightful.

  ‘Where did you get this?’ Skye asked. ‘It’s amazing!’

  Joey explained and said he wanted to test the product before they considered buying more from the company as corporate Christmas gifts.

  ‘You wouldn’t give picnic hampers at Christmas, though. It’d be freezing out and nobody would use them. This is pushing it,’ she shivered, ‘and it’s only just November.’

  ‘True,’ Joey agreed. ‘But they do the usual Christmas fare of puddings and cakes and mince pies along with pâtés and other seasonal food. I suppose people could eat them inside!’

  Skye tucked into the quiche. Joey’s mouth was dry and he honestly thought he was going to have to bolt off behind a tree and be sick.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked mid-munch. ‘Don’t tell me you’re feeling sick?’

  ‘No.’ He didn’t look or sound convincing.

  ‘Well you’re as green as Yoda.’

  He felt Skye staring at him as he made several attempts to speak. He gulped, coughed and then stared again.

  ‘Joey, what’s happening?’

  ‘I . . . I had all sorts of things to say. I wrote it down and practised it in the back shed . . . About how I appreciate all the support you’ve given me since we got together . . . How happy I am that you get on with my family. That we’ve been doing really well at living together and all that . . . But . . .’

  ‘Did you bring me here to break up with me?’ Skye asked, her eyes starting to well up. ‘I . . . I thought we were OK? I know we had that awful row the other night. But I felt so mean afterwards. I know I should’ve apologised . . . I was raining on your parade. It was wrong of me. But I was genuinely feeling ill . . .’

  ‘No!’ he shouted, sitting onto his hunkers. ‘I’ve made a total bags of this and I’ll have to try and do the speech properly later, after several pints of gin or a shot of adrenalin to the heart, but Skye . . . will you marry me?’ He fumbled in the side of the picnic basket and found the little box Holly had given him.

  Now it was Skye’s turn to look dumbfounded and sit in stunned silence. By the time Joey managed to prise open the ring box, tears were sliding down her cheeks.

  ‘Will you marry me?’ he repeated, crawling closer to her on his knees. All she could do was nod as she threw her arms around his neck.

  ‘I’m stunned,’ she said eventually. ‘Wow that’s some ring. It’s gorgeous.’

  ‘It was Grandma’s. Mum gave it to me at the weekend.’

  ‘Does she know you’re giving it to me?’ Skye asked in astonishment.

  ‘Ding-dong!’ he laughed. ‘That was the general idea. She hardly thou
ght I was going to wear it now did she?’

  ‘But what about your sisters? Won’t they be annoyed I’m getting your grandma’s ring?’

  Joey explained what Holly had said and how she was certain Skye was the right woman to wear it. Fumbling somewhat, Joey removed it from the box and slipped it onto her finger.

  ‘It fits!’

  ‘Just about,’ she said, blushing.

  As they kissed, Skye began to sob.

  ‘Hey, I hope they’re happy tears,’ he said.

  She nodded.

  ‘Sorry. I don’t know why I’m being such a ninny. I’m not usually this ridiculous.’

  ‘What? All the other times you’ve gotten engaged,’ he teased.

  ‘You know what I mean,’ Skye said. ‘Well one thing is for certain, I won’t ever forget this lunch.’

  ‘I’m sorry I made such a hames of it all. It was meant to be romantic and perfect. I had the speech all ready . . . I wanted you to have an amazing start to the rest of our lives.’

  ‘And giving me a bespoke picnic and a glittering rock isn’t?’ Skye said. ‘If you feel this was a bad start, I’m looking forward to the bits you think are great! It was a marriage proposal, Joey, not a work pitch. Besides, you got your client,’ she teased.

  ‘Yeah,’ he grinned. ‘By the way, speaking of clients and all that . . .’ A small voice in his head was shouting at him that this wasn’t the time, but Joey was desperate to know that Skye would be on side. He needed her to understand what being Mrs Joey Craig would entail.

  ‘This ball that’s on next week . . . Clive’s wife, Janet, is doing most of the organisation and she needed some extra pairs of hands and I sort of volunteered your services,’ he said. ‘Hope that’s OK. It’s a great chance to—’

  ‘You what?’ Skye looked horrified.

  ‘Well, Clive didn’t give me much choice, if I’m honest. He was fairly adamant that you pitch in seeing as I’m about to be a new partner and all that. It’s kind of expected, sweetheart.’

  Skye nodded silently.

  ‘It’ll be cool,’ he said kissing her.

  Joey didn’t want to ruin their special moment, but he wasn’t impressed by Skye’s reluctance to back him up.

  Skye gazed at her ring. A feeling of warmth and safety crept through her. No matter what the world threw at her from here on in, she’d manage. Before this, she had always felt so isolated. Her childhood had been so odd and she couldn’t really explain it to anyone. It had left her feeling very alone in the world. But meeting Joey, and his family, finding Huntersbrook . . . it was the family she had always wanted. She looked up at Joey and kissed him again.

  She didn’t want to ruin this moment, but she knew the time had come for her to introduce Joey to her family. She’d have to call to their commune and share the news. But what if they wanted to come to the wedding?

  They weren’t bad people. There was nothing nasty or evil about them. But they existed in a bubble where the rest of civilization was blocked out entirely. They could be described as alternative, at best, and just plain odd, at worst.

  Skye was terrified Joey might see her in a different light when he saw where she came from, but at the same time she needed him to know, to have that insight into her. Joey tightened his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder.

  ‘Will we phone my parents?’ he asked. ‘Seeing as Mum gave me the ring, I’d like her to be the first to hear our news.’

  ‘Sure,’ Skye smiled. ‘We might have to think about making a journey to my parents at some point, too,’ she said carefully.

  He nodded happily.

  As Joey spoke to his parents on speaker-phone, Skye knew everything was going to be just fine for them. The excitement she could hear down the line was so touching.

  ‘Skye, I’m so thrilled you’re going to be a permanent part of our family, love,’ Holly said and Skye could hear the tears in her voice. ‘You and Joey are a wonderful couple and I couldn’t be happier.’

  ‘Thank you for giving me Maggie’s ring,’ Skye said as tears began to fall. ‘I’m so honoured to wear it. I can’t believe you’ve entrusted it to me. If you ever feel you’d like it back, just say so.’

  ‘Indeed I will not,’ Holly said. ‘It’s yours now, pet. I wouldn’t dream of taking it away from you.’

  ‘Thank you, Holly,’ she said.

  ‘Will you have a wedding in Huntersbrook?’ Paddy shouted out.

  ‘We literally haven’t had a chance to think about anything,’ Joey answered. ‘Leave it with us. We need to tell Skye’s family too.’

  ‘Are you telling your sisters and Echo?’ Holly asked. ‘Or do you want us to keep it quiet?’

  Skye and Joey looked at one another and smiled.

  ‘Maybe we should wait until Skye’s parents know before we spread the happy news,’ Joey suggested.

  As soon as they put the phone down, Skye sat onto her fold-up chair and faced Joey. She had a strong sense that they had to do this, quickly, before she lost her nerve and never showed him her past.

  ‘I’d like to go see my parents sooner rather than later,’ she said.

  ‘Well we have the rest of the day, why don’t we go now?’ he asked. ‘Clearly it’s going to mar your enjoyment of our engagement until you tell them. So shall we go?’

  Skye was totally taken off-guard.

  ‘Why not leave it until tomorrow?’ she asked, suddenly panic-stricken at the whole idea.

  ‘Ooh, I meant to tell you,’ Joey said. ‘I have to go to work for a bit tomorrow . . . So let’s get it over with while we have the chance.’

  Joey was right, Skye mused. Better to get it over and done with. Best not to have it hanging over her, dulling their happiness, but she hadn’t missed the fact he’d said he was going back to work again tomorrow.

  They finished their picnic and packed the car. The cottage was situated in the midlands, about two hours’ drive away. Joey chatted easily as they sped from Dublin. He was so pumped about his new partnership, and Skye knew it meant the world to him.

  ‘I know it’s going to take me away from home for longer hours at times, but I can’t remain stagnant,’ he reasoned. ‘I need to move onwards and upwards, you know?’

  She nodded and said she understood. But a tiny spark of uncertainty was taunting at the back of her mind. He’s not going to have time for you . . .

  As they neared her parents’ commune, Skye tried to act nonchalant. She rarely divulged much about her family and her childhood was a time she didn’t particularly want to recall. Nothing dreadful had happened to her, but she couldn’t help feeling slightly resentful of the fact that her parents had turned her out into the world completely unprepared for modern life.

  This visit would be as swift as possible, with little or no encouragement on her part for her family to get involved with the wedding.

  ‘Looking forward to seeing your folks?’ Joey asked as they neared the site.

  ‘Not really,’ she said honestly. ‘They’re really left of centre, Joey, so be prepared.’

  ‘Ah, they can’t be that bad,’ he said with a reassuring pat of her leg.

  ‘They’re not like your family,’ she warned. ‘I hope my dad has reconsidered and visited a doctor.’

  As soon as they drew up outside the cottage, Skye regretted coming. The small thatched building had a plethora of lean-to add-ons badly made from breezeblocks and corrugated iron roofing. The watery sunlight did nothing to make the yard and surrounding land any prettier. Although there were unspoiled meadows out the back as far as the eye could see, the immediate area was like a junkyard.

  Scrawny chickens pecked at the muddy earth and picked their way around, looking disgruntled.

  A weary mongrel with matted hair waddled over to sniff them.

  ‘Bernard!’ Skye said, looking fleetingly pleased.

  ‘Bernard?’ Joey looked mildly amused.

  ‘Yeah, Echo and I were desperate to have what we deemed normal names so all our pets were
called John or Mark or Mary. Bernard was only a pup when I left for Dublin. Now, as you can see, he’s a grizzly old man.’

  ‘Hello there.’ A woman with exceptionally long grey woolly hair appeared, dressed in an elongated caftan style dress in rainbow colours.

  ‘Hi Mum,’ Skye said as she and Joey turned to look at the woman.

  ‘Skye!’ she said, holding her hand up to her eyes to shield the sunlight. ‘You’re welcome,’ she said. ‘And your man friend. Welcome,’ she repeated clasping her hands and nodding vehemently.

  Joey stood and stared as neither woman made any attempt to gravitate toward one another. He saw his own mother constantly, yet each time she saw him she hugged and kissed him as if he’d been missing in action for a hundred years. He found the lack of warmth from Skye’s mother unnerving.

  ‘I’m Joey,’ he said offering his hand. She gazed at it in confusion until he retracted it.

  ‘I’m Heaven,’ she said. ‘Come this way.’

  ‘Sorry, Joey,’ Skye said looking desperate. ‘She’s probably stoned out of her mind.’

  Joey shrugged his shoulders and followed silently.

  Inside, the small stone cottage was dark, damp and horribly chilly. Joey dreaded to think what it might be like when the really cold winter weather set in later in the winter.

  ‘Hi, Auntie M,’ Skye said. ‘This is Joey.’

  ‘Hey,’ said a woman who looked similar to Heaven, with pepper and salt curly hair. ‘What brings you kids around? Is Echo with you?’ she asked peering around Skye.

  ‘No,’ Skye said, ‘we came on a spur of the moment visit. He doesn’t even know we’re here.’

  Bar the wooden kitchen table and chairs, there was very little proper furniture. Auntie M was slouched on a corduroy beanbag, knitting.

  ‘So you still sell your knitted stuff I see,’ Skye said clasping her hands together awkwardly. Joey looked over at his girlfriend, not really recognising the harsh tone in her voice.

  The two women nodded.

  ‘So Joey,’ said Heaven. ‘It’s lovely to meet you.’ She held out a hand that looked as if it should belong to a ninety-year-old. Her fingernails were yellowed and clogged with dirt. Joey shook it. He was totally confused by this woman. She certainly didn’t conduct herself the way his mother did.