Christmas under a Cranberry Sky

by Holly Martin

  Pip found her voice. ‘If Gabe told you what happened, then you’ll know that I did come to you and saw him in the barn with Jenny Maguire.’

  ‘Yes, he did say that’s what you thought but…’

  ‘Did he also tell you what my dad said to me on the day of the accident?’

  Lizzy looked confused and David shook his head.

  ‘Dad was driving me to the train station when the accident happened; he didn’t want me to live with him any more. He had threatened to kick me out many times before but he’d never actually done it. This time he was serious. I said that if he didn’t want me, I’d live with you guys instead. Just before he crashed the car, he told me that he had offered you five thousand pounds for me to move in with you and you told him that you didn’t want it.’ Pip swallowed. ‘Or me.’

  Lizzie paled and looked aghast and Pip could see immediately that what her dad had told her had been the truth.

  ‘Oh my darling, come and sit down,’ Lizzie said and Pip followed them to the sofa. Lizzie sat down next to her, taking Pip’s hand.

  ‘Your dad did come and see us and he did offer us five thousand pounds to take you in the day before he died. And it’s true that we turned him down, but it’s not for the reasons that you think. We had no idea that your dad had been threatening to kick you out before then. I turned him down because I thought you would be heartbroken to find out that your dad didn’t want you any more. That kind of rejection was the very last thing you needed. We knew you carried the fear of being rejected with you after being abandoned as a baby and we feared this would only make things worse for you. We ended up having a massive row with him. I told him that he needed to face up to his responsibilities as a parent and that we understood his grief for your mum but the time had come for him to be the dad your mum would have wanted him to be. He didn’t want to hear it and he stormed out,’ Lizzie said.

  Lizzie looked over to David and he picked up the story. ‘We felt so guilty afterwards. We knew that living with your dad had always been hard for you and here was a way out. We loved you and it would never have been any hardship for you to come and live with us. We talked about it for hours after he left, and when Gabe went out to meet you that night we asked him to get you to come round for dinner the following night so we could discuss what you wanted to do. We were going to tell you that you would be very welcome to live with us and that we would love to have you, but we wanted it to be your choice rather than it being forced upon you. If I’d known that he was going to kick you out anyway I would have moved all your things into our house that very same day.’

  Pip stared at the flames dancing in the fire. They had wanted her after all.

  ‘Please tell me that you didn’t move away because of that?’ Lizzie asked, her voice catching in her throat.

  It would have been so easy to lie, to say that it didn’t have anything to do with her decision. But she wanted them to know that she didn’t run away from what she had with Gabe lightly. She wanted their approval for her and Gabe to be together again, she didn’t want them thinking that she was flighty and undependable.

  ‘It was part of the reason. I just didn’t think I had anything left for me there any more. I would never have hurt Gabe like that. I just wasn’t thinking straight after the accident and you have no idea how much I regret the way I handled it.’

  Lizzie squeezed her hand.

  ‘It was no one’s fault, you can’t blame yourself,’ David said. ‘We certainly don’t.’

  Silence fell on the room, the only sound the crackling of the logs in the fire, and she wondered if they were also thinking about how it could have been.

  ‘So you and Gabe are back together again?’ Lizzie asked, but there was no judgement from her, and certainly no anger as there had been from Neve and Luke.

  ‘We’re trying again. When we met it was clear there were all these suppressed feelings there that never went away, for both of us. It’s hard, we’re different people now, and we’re both cautious of getting hurt again but…things are going really well so far.’

  Lizzie smiled hugely and Pip remembered what Gabe had said about Lizzie having them married off before Christmas.

  ‘There’s Wren to think of as well now. It’s a big responsibility to raise a child who isn’t yours,’ David warned.

  ‘David!’ Lizzie said. ‘We’re not talking about Pip raising Wren as her daughter. Gabe and Pip have only been back together again for a few days. Let them have some fun first before we start walking them down the aisle.’

  Pip smiled. ‘I adore Wren. And maybe I haven’t really thought about the consequences or responsibilities of raising a child yet or what it will mean if I do stay, but it hasn’t felt like a burden or an inconvenience to have her around. I love spending time with her, playing with her and talking to her. It will be hard, of course it will be. I’ve never had any experience of childcare before, but it’s not something I’m afraid of.’

  ‘Well, we can have Wren for a sleepover tonight, give you guys some time alone,’ Lizzie waggled her eyebrows, mischievously.

  ‘That’s not necessary. We can have time alone once Wren has gone to bed. I feel like the poor girl has been passed from pillar to post recently as we’ve been getting ready for the opening of the hotel. It would probably do her good to have some stability,’ Pip said.

  David and Lizzie exchanged smiles.

  ‘Spoken like a true parent,’ Lizzie said, fondly. ‘But we insist. We haven’t seen her for two months, she’s growing up so fast. We would love to have her over and I’m sure she would love to come. We’ll ask her, see what she wants to do.’

  ‘OK. But I warn you now, if she tells you she normally sings all the Frozen songs before she goes to sleep, then she’s lying.’

  Lizzie laughed. ‘Sounds like you’re learning from experience already.’

  Chapter 18

  Gabe looked over at Pip as the dessert plates were cleared away. It had been a funny night and he just hoped that his weird, wonderful and overprotective family hadn’t scared Pip away. Although Pip had come back from seeing his parents much happier than when she had left, she was still a bit nervous about sitting down to dinner with his whole family as if she belonged there. For Gabe, he knew that she did and he failed to understand why she couldn’t see that. Even before they got together, as kids she had been part of their family, and now she belonged there even more.

  Luke had talked to Pip a bit. His mum and dad had been their usual warm, friendly chatty selves and to his surprise Neve had been chatting to her all night and making a real effort to be friendly. Pip had come out of her shell completely and they had listened to many a story of some of the wonderful and terrible hotels that Pip had stayed in over the years.

  Wren clearly had not been as captivated by Pip’s stories, as she was curled up on Pip’s lap, her head on her shoulder, dozing off with her thumb in her mouth. Pip seemed really at ease as she stroked her hand down Wren’s back.

  His dad stood. ‘Well, it’s been a long day and I think we’ll turn in.’ He looked at Wren in Pip’s arms and smiled. ‘It looks like this little one could do with going to bed too.’

  As his mum came to take Wren from Pip, Pip stood up and kissed Wren on the head.

  ‘Goodnight beautiful,’ Pip whispered as she passed Wren into Lizzie’s arms.

  Wren stirred slightly and opened her eyes. ‘Nanny, can we go and get Winston too, he won’t be able to sleep without me.’

  ‘Of course darling, we can get anything you want.’

  Gabe bent over and kissed Wren goodnight too. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow for breakfast, sweetheart.’

  Wren nodded and closed her eyes again.

  They said their goodbyes and left just as several other members of staff walked in. Gabe had called for a full staff meeting but promised to keep it quick ahead of the guests’ arrival the next day.

  He sat back down as he waited for everyone else to arrive. Pip seemed to hover between staying and leaving, bu
t he caught her hand and tugged her back into her seat. ‘You’re part of the team too. Besides, I want to introduce you to everyone so they all know you’re not just a guest.’

  Pip looked shocked. ‘You’re going to introduce me? As what? Lover, friend?’

  ‘I was going to go with girlfriend, if that’s OK?’ he said, quietly. ‘They’re going to see us together anyway, I’m not going to hide that.’

  Pip stared at him for a second and then smiled. ‘Girlfriend is fine.’

  Neve leaned across the table to talk to Pip. ‘I’m not sure if Gabe told you, but he showed me some of your photos.’

  Gabe’s heart sank a little; he had been going to tell Pip himself but his sister clearly had other ideas.

  Pip looked back up at him in confusion. ‘My photos? How did you show Neve my photos?’

  ‘I emailed them to myself the other night when we were looking at them. I showed Neve this morning.’

  Her face fell and he immediately felt guilty. She didn’t see anything in her talent or skills as a photographer, but she had a rare and beautiful gift and he wanted her to realise that.

  Neve obviously realised she had stepped on some toes with her announcement. ‘Pip, those photos are incredible. Your talents are wasted taking photos of hotels, bedrooms and swimming pools. People would pay really good money to have something like your photos hanging in their homes. Gabe showed me because he thought it might be something I would be interested in for here. I have to say, I was very impressed with what I saw. I would gladly commission you to take photos of the island and maybe some of the other Shetland Islands too, and we would hang them in the lodges and around the hotel, to encourage our guests to explore the island. We’d put some on our website as well to showcase our resort in the best possible light. We’d also display them in some of Gabe’s other hotels worldwide to encourage guests to come here.’

  ‘We’d also be interested in buying some of the photos you’ve already taken,’ Gabe said. ‘They would be perfect for many of our hotels.’

  Pip stared at him. ‘You want to buy my photos?’

  ‘Yes, we would pay good money too.’

  ‘That’s very kind but I don’t need you to buy my photos just to be nice.’

  ‘Trust me, that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with it,’ Gabe said.

  ‘I didn’t even know they were yours when Gabe showed me; he just asked me to look at them, told me that someone had sent them to him with the view of him buying them and he wanted my opinion. I’m not blowing smoke up your ass here, Pip. I would never want to put photos in my hotel that were crap just to be nice. The photos I looked at were beautiful.’

  Pip didn’t say anything and Gabe didn’t know whether she was angry or just taking it in. She had been on her own for so long, she clearly had no idea what it felt like when someone believed in her.

  ‘I was going to talk to you about it. I wanted to ask Neve for an unbiased opinion before I did. I didn’t want to get your hopes up, especially when you were so down on your talent to begin with.’

  ‘I don’t know what to say,’ Pip finally said. ‘I just took those photos for me, I didn’t take them for other people to see. I wouldn’t even know what to charge for a photo.’

  ‘Well, just think about it. I can put you in touch with other photographers and they can discuss with you the kinds of prices they charge for something like this,’ Gabe said. ‘You don’t have to decide now.’

  ‘It would be a great help for us to have something like that on our website. It will really help us to stand apart from other resorts,’ Neve pushed, and Gabe glared at her.

  ‘If it’ll help, of course I’ll do it,’ Pip said, suddenly galvanised into action. ‘I can show you some of the personal photos of the island I’ve taken so far, see if any of those are good enough; if not I can take some more.’

  Gabe smiled. ‘Congratulations on your first commission for Stardust Lake Hotel.’

  * * *

  Pip listened to Gabe as he talked to his staff, about the guests arriving the next day, his expectations and how every guest must be treated like royalty. He spoke about the mystery guest again and Pip could see how nervous everyone was about Mr Black. It was worrying to think that one man could make or break Stardust Lake Hotel on its opening weekend.

  Gabe answered questions whenever he was asked and deferred to Neve too, as she was the manager and he clearly wanted people to know that. But throughout Gabe’s speech, he was friendly, approachable and, although she could tell he was serious and passionate about the hotel doing well, he just came across as so damned likeable. As she watched the staff hang off his every word, she couldn’t help smiling as she found herself falling further in love with him.

  ‘I’ll let you get off in a minute, I know some of you have jobs to do ahead of our guests’ arrival tomorrow and some of you have an early start too, but before I do, let me introduce some new members of staff that most of you won’t know. We had a couple of shortages, due to one reason or another, so Iris is now our reservations manager but she will also be helping out on reception too. This is Adam.’ Gabe pointed out a tall, impossibly handsome man who was sitting next to Neve and clearly very happy about being here. ‘He is going to be assistant manager for the next six months, he’ll be helping out Neve and if you have any issues or queries, you can talk to him. He has been deputy manager for my hotel in London for several years, so he brings a wealth of experience to the role. This is our head receptionist, Cora, also from my London hotel and she’ll be here for a few months too. And this is Pip, my girlfriend.’

  There was a sudden murmur of interest as everyone looked over in her direction. She could feel her cheeks glow red. It must be weird for many of the staff who had just arrived back on the island. They had left only a few days before when Gabe was single and now he had a girlfriend and she was living with him. By anyone’s standards, that was fast work.

  Gabe carried on regardless of the mutterings. ‘I’m sure you will see her around the place and she has kindly agreed to help out with the odd job and looking after the reindeer too.’

  Pip glanced across at Luke and he smirked at her at the mention of the reindeer.

  ‘I know some of you have already met our entertainers for tomorrow night’s carnival as they arrived earlier, but for those that haven’t they are staying in three of the larger family lodges, twelve, thirteen and fourteen. They should be treated as any guest, but just so you are aware that’s where they are. Oh and lastly, the couple in Lodge Four are my mum and dad, just in case you see them walking around with Wren or hanging around the offices upstairs. That’s it. I know the hotel is going to be a huge success because I absolutely have the best staff working here. Just continue to work as hard as you have been and I know our guests will be very happy.’

  There was a small round of applause and Pip smiled. They all wanted this to work as much as Gabe.

  The staff slowly filed out, some coming over to introduce themselves to the new members of staff, some coming to ask Gabe and Neve questions, and then they left too, until there was only a handful of them remaining.

  Adam came over to introduce himself to her, the only member of staff that had. ‘Pip, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s nice to know that someone has Gabe under control at last.’

  Gabe laughed.

  ‘It’s nice to meet you too,’ Pip said. ‘Gabe speaks very highly of you.’

  ‘Oh, it’s all lies, I assure you.’ He turned to Neve. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, boss.’

  Neve smiled. ‘Eight o’clock, don’t be late,’ she said.

  Adam laughed. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’

  He left and Pip could see there was no animosity from him despite the fact that Neve used to be his equal and was now in charge of him. She hoped that Adam would be exactly what Neve needed to help her get over Oakley.

  Neve and Luke stood up to go. ‘Pip, come and see me tomorrow and show me some of the photos you’
ve taken of Stardust Lake Hotel and the island so far.’

  ‘I will, thank you.’

  Neve smiled, Luke nodded at her and they both walked out, leaving her and Gabe alone.

  ‘That was a good speech,’ Pip said, as she stood up and looped her arms around his neck.

  ‘Thank you. And you didn’t mind being introduced as my girlfriend?’

  ‘No, although it certainly piqued their interest.’

  Gabe shrugged. ‘Give them something to talk about. Besides, they needed to know who you were. If any of them see me cavorting with someone they think to be a guest that would be very hypocritical as I told them all a few days ago they weren’t allowed to have relationships with anyone who was a guest.’

  ‘And do you intend to do a lot of cavorting with me?’

  Gabe smiled as he wrapped his hands round her waist and tugged her closer. ‘Well, I think we have the house to ourselves for tonight, so how about a bit more cavorting?’

  ‘Hmm, I could be persuaded.’

  ‘Let me try to persuade you now.’

  He bent his head down and kissed her. Immediately, that chemistry, that need for him ripped through her, as if it had been bubbling just below the surface all day and all it took was one kiss from him to ignite it again.

  Gabe could sense it too as his hands tightened at her waist.

  He suddenly snatched his mouth from hers and stared at her, his breathing heavy. ‘I think we better take this back to my house.’

  Pip nodded and Gabe grabbed her hand and walked out, past the reception and outside into the cold, which at least had the effect of cooling her cheeks, but not, it seemed, Gabe’s passion as he walked as quickly as he could back towards his lodge. Pip had to jog to keep up with him and the faster she moved, the faster he walked, until they were both running back to his lodge. It would be clear to anyone watching what they were going to do, but Gabe didn’t seem to care.