The Heart of Winter

by Emma Hannigan

  ‘He can’t have gone far,’ Paddy said, turning around with a smile.

  ‘Ely!’ Holly screamed as she ran from one end of the marquee to the other. Realising he wasn’t there, panic set in. Matt climbed down from the ladder as everyone dropped what they were doing and joined Holly outside.

  Matt was brilliant as he sent different people in each direction, instructing them to yell loudly when they found him.

  Blood rushed through Holly’s ears as she ran toward the farmhouse. Praying that he’d simply gone home, she felt a wave of nausea when she reached the property and he wasn’t there.

  Turning on her heel, she rushed back, looking left and right frantically as she went. She could hear the others calling his name and the answering silence.

  She met Paddy at the rear of the marquee. Stricken, she fell into his arms.

  ‘Jesus, Paddy, what will we do if something’s happened to the child? Lainey will never let us near him again.’

  ‘Hush now,’ Paddy said, hugging her. Holding her away from him, he spoke firmly and slowly. ‘We will find him. He’s only tiny. He can’t have gone far.’

  Nodding, she wiped her tears away and took his hand as they continued to search.

  What felt like a decade later, they found themselves on the main road circling the estate. Holly’s screams rang out across the road as she noticed a stationary car with the driver’s door wide open.

  ‘No!’ she called out, running frantically toward the scene. Paddy got there before her and fell to his knees. The lady driver was crouched on the ground, chatting to Ely. Seeming totally at ease, he was gabbling away to her as if he did this all the time.

  ‘Oh thank God,’ Holly said stooping to scoop him up in her arms. Squeezing him and twirling around joyfully she made him giggle.

  ‘I was driving down and saw this little fella scurrying along,’ the lady said. ‘He’s lucky a truck didn’t come around the corner and flatten him.’

  Holly gasped and buried her face in his soft downy hair.

  ‘Thank you. Thank you so much. Oh my God, Ely,’ she said as tears of relief soaked her face. ‘We were all frantic looking for him. He was there one minute and the next he was gone.’

  ‘Where is his mother?’ the lady asked. There was a tone in her voice that suggested she wasn’t entirely happy about leaving him in the care of Holly and Paddy.

  ‘Our daughter, Lainey, is in hospital at the moment. Ely’s father is back there, at the house. It was one of those things where we each thought the other was minding him.’

  The lady regarded them for a few moments. ‘Make sure you keep a closer eye on him,’ she said coldly. ‘He could have been killed here today and you would only have had yourselves to blame.’

  Holly’s face burned at the woman’s words. Paddy nodded curtly. Holly thanked her again and they stood to the side to allow her to drive away.

  ‘Bit sharp,’ Paddy said tightly as he lifted Ely and set off for home.

  Holly put her face in her hands and wiped away her tears.

  ‘What do you expect?’ she said. ‘We let a toddler run on the road. We were meant to be minding him and he could’ve been killed. We’re lucky she didn’t insist on calling social services.’

  Paddy told her not to overreact. That things like this happened all the time. That it was all fine now. But Holly was shell-shocked. She knew Lainey would hit the roof when she heard what had happened. The last thing Lainey needed right now was more stress and more reason to feel out of control.

  They were welcomed with hugs and relief when they returned to the marquee. Poor Matt looked like he’d been hit by a bus.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Matt,’ Holly said and burst into tears.

  ‘Hey,’ he said putting his arm around her. ‘It wasn’t your fault. He’s a little maggot. He’s here one second and gone the next. All’s well that ends well and sure we’ll all have to realise that he’s fast enough to make a run for it now.’

  ‘Thanks, Matt,’ Holly said gratefully.

  Ely seemed oblivious to the chaos he’d caused, giggling as his daddy tickled him.

  No matter how kind Matt was or how Paddy and Pippa tried to reassure her, Holly knew she’d have flash-backs of that awful moment she realised he was gone for some time to come.

  Pippa

  AFTER THE SHOCK OF ELY’S ESCAPE FROM THE safety of Huntersbrook, things settled down again as the men got back to working on the marquee. Skye left to visit Lainey, so Pippa decided to do what she couldn’t believe she was going to do: phone Jodi Ludlum to arrange to see her again.

  She went to her old bedroom at Huntersbrook and fished the precious piece of paper out of her purse. Her hands were shaking as she dialled the number. Holding her breath, she almost wished it would go to voice mail.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Hello . . . J . . . Jodi . . . It’s Pippa Craig here. I met you . . . Eh I was there when you were shopping . . . I was the sales assis . . .’

  ‘Oh hello, Pippa, how are you?’ Jodi said. ‘Thanks for calling, I really appreciate it.’

  ‘Oh, no problem,’ Pippa said, feeling as if she were having an out-of-body experience. ‘Thanks for your note. I was totally stunned, if I’m honest.’ Pippa managed to laugh. ‘It’s not every day someone like you gives me their mobile number.’

  ‘Well it’s not every day I meet someone with a lovely home that sounds perfect for my requirements,’ Jodi shot back. ‘I was chatting to Harry after we left and we’d really love to come and have a look around at Huntersbrook, if you were on for it?’

  ‘Seriously?’ Pippa’s voice sounded like a squeaky toy. Clearing her throat, she tried to be cool. ‘You’re welcome any time, Jodi. You and Harry.’

  They chatted about potential dates and settled on the following day.

  ‘I’ll be here trying to get things ready for Missy’s party. My whole family are getting really excited now.’

  ‘I’ll bet,’ Jodi said. ‘I don’t want to sound like a total diva here, Pippa. But would it be possible to keep it quiet that I’m coming? I know it must sound totally contradictory for a movie star to say this, but I’m not crazy about folks knowing too much about my private life.’

  ‘Of course,’ Pippa assured her. ‘The only people who might be there bar my family are a couple of catering staff. But we can avoid them if you’d prefer. Put it this way, I won’t be calling the newspapers.’

  ‘Aw that’s great, thanks Pippa,’ Jodi said. They settled on two o’clock as a meeting time and Pippa clarified exactly where the house was. She hung up and sat motionless staring at her phone in a daze. Had that really happened? Was Jodi Ludlum actually coming to Huntersbrook?

  She was just putting her phone in her back pocket when it vibrated. She looked at the name on the screen and contemplated not answering, but that wasn’t going to solve anything.

  ‘Hi Danny,’ she said evenly. ‘Listen, I won’t stay on long if you don’t mind. I’m up to my tonsils here. We’ve had a couple of setbacks and I need to keep my head down.’

  ‘That’s OK,’ he said. ‘Will you be back in Dublin before Missy’s party?’

  ‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘My family need me here to help out. With Lainey so unwell, I need to take on some responsibility, so I’ve arranged time off with Brianna.’

  ‘Listen, I want to be there with you, Pippa. You can rely on me and I need you to know that. You don’t have to do things on your own any more. I can come down after work and be there tomorrow to give a hand, if you like?’

  ‘Eh I’m not sure, Danny. I think maybe we need some family time. I can’t afford for there to be any shenanigans either.’

  ‘There won’t be,’ he said sounding stung. ‘I wouldn’t dream of pitching up at your family home with any of that shit on my person.’

  Pippa sighed heavily

  ‘Pippa, please believe me,’ he said. ‘I did some bad things. I made money in an awful way, but I’m not a liar. I want to get to know you better. I want us to try and
have a proper relationship . . .’

  ‘Right now, Danny, I need to concentrate on sorting some family stuff.’

  ‘I understand.’ He sounded crushed and Pippa wanted to cry. ‘You go and do what you have to do and I’ll call you in the morning, yeah?’

  ‘OK, thanks,’ she said.

  ‘Take care, pretty Pippa,’ he said and hung up.

  Pippa smiled. The stupid nickname should probably annoy her, but much as she hated to admit it, she found it quite endearing.

  She pushed Danny out of her mind and decided to focus entirely on Huntersbrook and what she could do here. She smiled as she thought of Jodi and went to find her family.

  She found Matt, Ely, Jacob and her parents in the almost-finished marquee, sitting at a round table chatting.

  ‘You’ll never guess who’s coming here tomorrow,’ she said.

  ‘Paddington Bear!’ Paddy jibed.

  ‘Jodi Ludlum,’ Pippa deadpanned.

  ‘I beg your pardon?’ Holly gasped.

  ‘You heard me correctly,’ Pippa said coolly. ‘Huntersbrook is going to play host to the hottest movie star around, and it’s happening tomorrow!’

  ‘Oh Jesus Mary and Joseph,’ Holly said jumping up out of her chair. ‘Oh dear, I think I need to sit down again,’ she said flapping in confusion. ‘This has to be one of the most unnerving days I’ve ever had in my life. Now tell us everything,’ she said.

  Pippa told them the whole story of how Jodi had come to the store and given her a note.

  ‘That’s unbelievable,’ Paddy said shaking his head. ‘Only you could charm Jodi Ludlum,’ he grinned.

  ‘She stressed that she wants to keep it all low key,’ Pippa said. ‘So I think we should keep it between the family for now.’

  ‘Of course,’ Paddy nodded. ‘I’m sure the poor girl is sick of the world nosing into her movements.’

  Pippa looked at her mother, who was clearly very shaken after the awful shock of losing Ely. She hoped things were going to improve. Between Lainey being ill and the house turning around, Pippa worried about her. She wasn’t getting any younger. Imagine if she knew about Danny? It’d kill her. Pippa couldn’t risk adding to her mother’s stress.

  Her mobile started to ring again and she expected to see Danny’s name flash up. It was even worse: Missy.

  Pippa closed her eyes and wished she could wave a magic wand and make Missy go away.

  ‘Eh yes, of course it’s OK for you to drop by,’ Pippa said loudly. The others looked up in alarm. ‘Ah isn’t that a coincidence that you’re at the gate. Sure . . .’

  ‘She’s not here this second?’ Holly said. ‘Tell me I’m hearing things.’

  ‘Sadly not,’ Pippa said. ‘Let’s just get this over with and then we can collapse in a heap.’

  As the cough medicine pink convertible Mercedes pulled up outside Paddy was the first to comment, much to Pippa’s amusement.

  ‘Now that’s a travesty if ever I saw one. Who knew you could do that to a Merc?’

  ‘Daddy, you can do what you like when you have Missy Hassett’s bottomless pit of cash,’ Pippa said dryly.

  She rushed to greet Missy as her mother climbed out of the car. She was literally a slightly more worn looking version of her daughter without an ounce of surplus body fat.

  ‘Hello, Mrs Hassett, it’s lovely to meet you. I’m Pippa.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Mummy, this is the girl I was telling you about. My friend. The one who works for us but isn’t common.’

  ‘Is this your house then?’ Mrs Hassett said.

  ‘Yes, well, my family home. These are my parents Holly and Paddy, my brother-in-law Matt, soon-to-be sister-in-law Skye . . .’

  ‘Skye? What kind of a name is that?’ said Mrs Hassett. ‘You poor child. No wonder you look drab. I would too if I had to cower away from my name my whole life.’

  ‘Muuuum,’ Missy said.

  Pippa raised an eyebrow. She’d never seen Missy cringe before. As Pippa introduced the others and showed them the marquee, Mrs Hassett hadn’t a nice thing to say about any of it.

  ‘Obviously the marquee is still under construction, but it’ll be stunning on the night of the party,’ Holly said. ‘Can I offer you ladies a cup of tea or coffee? I could go on ahead to the kitchen and have it ready for you?’

  ‘Coffee or tea?’ Mrs Hassett said. ‘I sincerely hope you’ll be serving something a little more edgy at the party!’ she whooped with laughter, clearly seeing herself as some sort of a comedian.

  ‘Would you prefer a pint of whisky or a shot of adrenalin?’ Paddy asked, jumping to Holly’s defence. His wit was totally lost on the two.

  ‘Ooh bubbles would be lovely,’ said Missy as she clapped. Paddy wandered off in the direction of the kitchen mumbling under his breath.

  ‘So what colours do the interiors come in then?’ Missy asked.

  They all looked at one another. ‘The base colour is cream,’ Pippa said. ‘But we can decorate with whatever colour scheme you have in mind.’

  ‘I thoroughly enjoy flower-arranging and I could do some understated yet beautiful centrepieces for your tables with some larger ones near the entrance,’ Holly offered.

  There was a slight pause before Mrs Hassett spoke, while smiling.

  ‘I don’t think you lot are getting the point here. Missy wants the wow factor. A few daisy chains and lame accessories are just not going to cut the mustard. Us Hassetts are known for our taste. We need to make this a party to remember. We have a reputation, you know.’

  ‘Oh I can tell,’ Holly said nodding. ‘I absolutely get you now.’

  ‘Yes I think we all do,’ said Matt.

  ‘What did you both have in mind?’ Pippa said, stepping in swiftly before someone attempted to show Mrs Hassett how effective the lump hammer could be.

  ‘Balloons!’ Missy said clasping her hands together. ‘Millions of them. In big bunches. Then an archway of them around the door, oh and over there,’ she pointed to the stage. ‘I want a net of them over the dance floor too, with glitter and flower petals.’

  ‘Are you all writing this down?’ Mrs Hassett asked.

  ‘No need,’ said Holly cheerfully. ‘We won’t forget a single detail. Carry on Missy, please do.’

  ‘Now, obviously it’s all going to be pink. The same colour as my car. Do you like it, by the way, Pip? Dad got it for me.’

  ‘Love it,’ Pippa said pursing her lips and nodding slowly. ‘I’m sooo envious.’

  ‘Yay! I know.’

  ‘So we’re going for that pink,’ Holly coughed. ‘And a paler one perhaps?’

  ‘Yeah but not too much paler. We’re not looking to tone things down here. It’s to be bling bling all the way.’

  ‘All our table linen is white, but we can do pink napkins and perhaps you’d like glittery centrepieces?’ Pippa suggested. ‘I’ve seen some really choice ones. They’re almost like a fountain for all the world, with little hearts shooting out of them on the end of thin sparkly shards of ribbon.’

  ‘Yes!’ said Missy. ‘Now you’re getting it.’

  ‘It’ll be fairly cold, so how about an ice sculpture at the door,’ Mrs Hassett suggested scratching her chin.

  ‘No, Mummy,’ Missy said dismissing her rudely. ‘That’d be tacky.’

  They discussed the menu in finer detail and thankfully they weren’t that interested in arguing about it.

  ‘We don’t really eat much,’ Mrs Hassett said. ‘A minute on the lips and all that. I’ll just be surviving on champers!’

  Skye and Matt stayed in the marquee as Pippa and Holly brought the ladies to the main house where Paddy was pouring some champagne.

  ‘This is Sadie,’ Holly introduced. ‘She’s been our housekeeper for over forty years and is part of our family.’

  ‘Oh you are a gas character!’ Mrs Hassett said swatting Holly’s arm. ‘Part of the family. As if! We changed over to a fully foreign staff a few years back. God, it’s a relief. They don’t speak much
English yet they get the job done. Far easier to deal with too.’

  Holly opened her mouth but no words came out. Pippa patted her gently on the back and led her to Paddy and Sadie so they could huddle together like startled chickens. She noticed Sadie’s grip of her metal whisk tightening so hard that her knuckles whitened. Holly mouthed ‘S-O-R-R-Y,’ to Sadie.

  ‘I’ll show the ladies the rest of the house,’ Pippa suggested. ‘You all have menial tasks to get to, I assume?’ They nodded wordlessly.

  The house tour was much of the same. The comments were thick and fast, in every sense of the word, and Pippa was expecting them to cancel by the time they reached the front door.

  ‘Well, that’s pretty much all I can do for you,’ Pippa announced as she snatched the two empty champagne flutes from them. ‘Do you want to get back to me on anything?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so,’ Mrs Hassett said looking more cheerful than she had. ‘It’s not as plush as our home, obviously. But it’ll do nicely. It has that olde-worlde charm thing going on. I couldn’t live here. It’s all too crumbly and ancient. I like new shiny things. But I know there are lots of people on our guest list who will be wildly impressed by the whole thing.’

  ‘It’s old money, Mum,’ Missy said matter-of-factly. ‘People will know this furniture didn’t come flat-packed and things like the staircase are amazing. I love all the squiggly-looking stuff in the ceilings too. It’s like very professional cake icing, isn’t it?’

  ‘Can you do pink lights in the marquee?’ Mrs Hassett said, clearly not interested in talking about the icing on the ceiling or any of the period features of the house.

  ‘I’m sure we can,’ Pippa said.

  ‘Good. Well, how about I write you a cheque for fifteen thousand euros to keep you going? You’ll need to buy all the balloons and things. Don’t scrimp on them now. There’s nothing worse than walking into a room and thinking the people were on a tight budget. No piddly little bunches now. Think OTT! It is a party after all!’

  Pippa thanked her for the cheque and showed them out the main entrance. The other family members congregated and entered into air kissing and frozen smiles.

  ‘We look forward to welcoming you and your guests for Missy’s special party,’ Paddy said. ‘We hope it’s going to be a night to remember.’