Christmas Secrets in Snowflake Cove

by Emily Harvale

  Evie nearly choked on a mini marshmallow.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Snowflake Cove was a winter wonderland. Snow had continued falling during the night and by the time Evie crawled out of bed, there was at least a foot of it covering the ground. The sun hadn’t yet come up, so all she could see in the darkness was the area surrounding the inn, illuminated by the lights inside the building and the fairy lights along the façade, but it looked magical.

  Evie’s room was in the attic, which she loved. She and Severine had shared it when they were young but as they grew up, Severine insisted on a room on the ‘grown-ups floor’ below. Severine was about Raven’s age – fifteen – at the time and Evie was thrilled. It meant she now had one of the largest rooms in the inn, albeit long and narrow with arches and sharp angles, and a view not only of Snowflake Cove on one side, but also Michaelmas Bay and the harbour on the other.

  She also had a choice of beds. Severine insisted on a new, double bed, like the grown-ups had, so Evie got one too. But Evie asked to keep the two single beds already there. Severine soon saw the mistake she’d made. Evie could now have friends to stay, so Severine demanded bunk beds in her new room. The mattresses had been replaced over the years, but the bed frames in both the attic room, and what was Severine’s room, remained unchanged.

  Evie peered through her window overlooking Snowflake Cove. The lights on the outdoor Christmas trees were barely visible, with only patches of pale colour shining through the blanket of white. Branches bowed under the weight of the snow and it was impossible to see the edges of the footpath leading to the bridge.

  She ran with child-like enthusiasm to the window on the other side and could see the lights in Michaelmas Bay, and on the boats bobbing in the dark waters of the marina but that was all. She would have to wait until the sun came up to see more.

  She opened the window just a fraction. It was chilly in her room, as usual, so it didn’t make much difference. There was hardly a sound apart from the waves gently lapping at the rocks below and swishing and swooshing in and out of the inlets, one eerie cry from a gull … and Juniper’s snoring. Juniper was virtually buried beneath the duvet of the twin beds which had been pushed together to form a double, many years ago. Juniper’s bed was at this end of the room, Evie’s bed at the other but they were side on, enabling the occupants to lie in bed, facing one another and chattering to their hearts’ content. Which is exactly what Evie and Juniper had done last night. Or should that be, early this morning, as they hadn’t got to bed until after one a.m. and had still been chatting at two. Since Juniper had moved in with Darren and lived just across the bridge she no longer spent the night at Evie’s, so they had made the most of it.

  Evie let her friend sleep. It was only six a.m. She padded downstairs in her ‘Christmas Cats’ pyjamas and red fluffy, knee-length dressing gown which was covered in white doily-like snowflakes, yawning as she went. Voices and laughter wafted towards her from the kitchen. Her parents were up and so, by the sound of that cackle, was her gran. At this time? That was unusual for her.

  Evie pushed the kitchen door open with her back, yawning and stretching as she twisted round. Her yawn turned into a gasp of surprise. Zachary and Brandon were sitting at the table, fully dressed, drinking coffee and eating toast. Huge grins spread across their faces and Zachary looked her up and down.

  ‘Good morning, sweetheart,’ John said. ‘Goodness. You look a bit the worse for wear.’

  Molly shook her head and grinned. ‘Coffee? Large, I assume.’

  ‘Good God, Evie,’ Jessie said. ‘Haven’t you got a mirror in your room? You look as if you’ve been dancing on the tiles all night.’

  ‘Let me get my camera,’ Brandon said.

  Zachary didn’t say a word. He merely grinned at her over the rim of his coffee mug which was emblazoned with a snowman.

  Evie pulled herself upright, sneered and tied the belt of her dressing gown tighter. ‘And a very good morning to all of you,’ she said, sarcastically. She gave Zachary an icy stare. ‘Well? What have you got to say? I can tell from that massive grin on your face that you’re dying to say something.’

  He raised his brows a fraction and the grin got bigger. ‘Good morning. Love the PJs. What I can see of them.’

  ‘Go to hell.’

  Molly tutted. ‘That’s not a very nice thing to say to a paying guest, sweetheart. And you did ask.’

  ‘Sorry. Late night. Have you seen how deep the snow is?’

  ‘We’ve been out in it,’ Brandon replied. ‘This place was stunning without it, but with it. Wow! It’s so picturesque you’ll have people flocking here to spend the holidays. I’m tempted to get the family down myself. The kids would love it.’

  ‘You’ve got kids?’ Evie was surprised.

  ‘A boy and a girl. Five and eight.’

  ‘Aw,’ said Molly. ‘The perfect ages at this time of year.’ She handed Evie a mug of coffee.

  ‘I hope Tracy and Trevor Bright get back to Norfolk today,’ John said. ‘According to the news, it’s travel chaos out there but trains are running. Just not to schedule. Speed limits have been imposed on the motorways and people are being advised to stick to the main roads where the gritting lorries have been out in force.’

  ‘A few flakes of snow and the country grinds to a halt,’ Jessie said. ‘In my day a little bit of snow wasn’t a major drama.’

  ‘In your day there weren’t so many maniacs behind the wheel of a lump of metal,’ Evie replied. ‘God. I hope the wine makes it through. Felicia will be in panic mode.’ She shot a look at Zachary. ‘Sorry. Me and my mouth.’

  Zachary beamed at her. ‘I’d already said the same before you joined us. We were planning to send out a search party if there’s no sign of it by lunchtime.’

  Evie grinned. ‘Will this heavy snow affect your filming schedule? It’s much worse than it was last night.’

  ‘Probably. But it means we won’t need the lorry load of fake snow we brought with us and that there’ll be plenty of the real thing to give us the perfect backdrop. If it takes a few extra hours to set things up, so be it.’

  ‘And you’re filming the entire thing live?’

  Zachary shook his head. ‘We’ll have live feeds from different cameras but we’ll also be filming segments which will be re-sequenced and spliced together. Then we’ll add transitions and special effects. It’ll give the overall effect of being a live show, but parts of it will have been filmed earlier. You’re welcome to come and see how it’s done, but I suppose you’ve got better things to do with your time. Like be rude to your paying guests.’ He grinned. ‘I was joking. Seriously. If any of you are interested, the offer’s there.’

  ‘I’d love to see a bit of it,’ John said.

  ‘Me too,’ said Molly.

  Evie nodded. ‘Me three. What about you, Gran?’

  ‘I’ll wait to see it ‘live’ from my armchair, thank you. All that standing around in the cold is not for me. Is there any more tea in that pot, Molly? I’m parched from all that laughing earlier.’

  ‘What were you all laughing about before I came in?’ Evie asked.

  ‘Zach was telling us some of the things that can go wrong during live filming,’ John said. ‘Especially when animals are involved. And talking of animals. I’d better go and check on Starlight.’

  ‘Starlight’s our horse,’ Evie said, to Zachary and Brandon.

  ‘We know,’ replied Zachary, with a smile. ‘We met him yesterday. I suppose we’d better get started on our day too. We want to get a few shots before it gets light.’ He got to his feet and looked Evie in the eye. ‘We’re going to start here, at the inn. This pristine snow is too good to miss and we want to get it on film before it sees too much traffic. We’ve got a few details to sort out but we should be ready to begin just after breakfast.’

  ‘Too much traffic?’ Evie said. ‘This is Snowflake Cove. There isn’t any traffic. Unless you count a couple of cars as traffic.’

  ‘An
d the wine merchant going back and forth carrying all those bottles,’ Zachary added, grinning. ‘Being serious, once all of us, plus the guests and staff, start coming and going, leaving huge boot prints everywhere, it’ll take away that aspect of remoteness. One set of footprints would be good, visually. Several, and it starts to lose the image of peace and tranquillity. See you at breakfast. Thanks for the coffee and toast, Molly.’

  ‘You’re both very welcome,’ Molly said. ‘Breakfast at seven?’

  ‘If that’s OK with you.’

  Molly nodded. ‘Perfectly OK. I’ll turn the ovens on now.’

  ‘I thought you’d had breakfast.’ Evie glanced at the empty plates.

  Molly tutted. ‘That was just a little early morning snack, sweetheart.’

  ‘Oh.’ Evie shook her head and yawned.

  Everyone started going about their business. John headed out to see Starlight, Molly attended to the ovens, and Jessie did one of the crosswords in her puzzle book.

  From the corner of her eye, Evie saw Zachary take his mobile from the pocket of his jeans hesitate for a second, then take a photo, seemingly of her.

  Evie glowered at him. ‘I saw that! Did you just take a photo of me? You’d better not use that in your show.’

  He looked like a naughty schoolboy caught doing something he shouldn’t.

  ‘I won’t. I promise.’

  ‘Then what did you take it for?’

  He met her look and held it. ‘For my wallet.’ He gave her an odd sort of smile, turned on his heels and strode out of the kitchen.

  For his wallet? What did he mean by that?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Just how much equipment did a film crew need? Evie couldn’t believe how many huge metal crates, stands, metal rods, large white screens – which were called blue – props, wires and one hundred or more other things Zachary and his team got out of the vans and cars in the car park. Thankfully, they didn’t need to take it all to the inn. Her dad would have spent all day going back and forth with Starlight and the pull-along luggage cart, but it would have served him right because he was the one who had offered; they hadn’t asked. It was easier, she had to admit, to load the gear into the cart, rather than the team carry it through deep snow. And the snow was deep. She hadn’t realised quite how deep until she and Juniper had showered, dressed and stepped outside.

  ‘Damn snow,’ Juniper said, her boots sinking down at about twelve inches.

  ‘You love snow,’ Evie said, giving Juniper a friendly nudge.

  ‘Yeah. But it could’ve waited until tomorrow to be this deep. There’s a very good chance Miranda’s flight will be cancelled and the last thing I need today is to have her back in the office.’

  ‘I don’t think Gatwick got it so bad. It said on the radio that flights were delayed. It didn’t say any were cancelled. We’ll keep our fingers crossed. But even if she is, you’ve only got today and tomorrow and then you’re off for a whole fortnight. Yay!’

  ‘I can’t wait.’ Juniper trailed a gloved hand along one of the branches of the outdoor Christmas trees, sending a mini avalanche of snow tumbling to the blanket of white beneath. ‘This looks gorgeous, but it’s a shame it’s covering the lights. You can only just see the colours shining through. Ooh. Talking of gorgeous. Here comes Zachary.’

  ‘Good morning, Juniper.’ Zachary gave her a smile and looked Evie up and down. ‘The PJs have gone, I see. Pity.’ He winked and stepped aside to let them pass.

  Evie scooped a handful of snow from the tree, rolled it between her hands and threw it at him. It hit his chest with a soft thud before falling to pieces.

  What had come over her? She hadn’t intended to do that. Too late now though.

  He gave a gasp of surprise before a smile curved his lips. ‘You may regret that.’

  ‘Really? I don’t think so. That was for taking my photo.’

  He grinned and shook his head. ‘A fair exchange. But wait until later. I haven’t had a snowball fight in years. I think it’s time to put that right.’

  ‘Is that a challenge?’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  Evie grinned. ‘You’re on. Juniper, Raven, Roland, Robin and Logan are on my team.’

  He raised his brows. ‘We’re having teams?’

  ‘Of course. But you can only have six in a team. And Felicia must be in yours.’

  He burst out laughing. ‘She will be pleased.’

  ‘It’ll have to be after work,’ Juniper said.

  ‘Six o’clock?’ Zachary suggested.

  ‘Oh.’ Evie threw him a sarcastic look. ‘I didn’t realise you only work part-time. Some of us work all day and don’t finish until after dinner.’

  A grin curved his lips. ‘Some of us start work before breakfast.’

  ‘Some of us are far too clever for our own good. Or think they are.’

  ‘Some us of could do with looking up the definition of ‘customer care’.’

  ‘And some of us,’ Juniper said, joining in with the banter, ‘have to get home, get changed, get their car out of a car park and get to work.’

  ‘Give my regards to Miranda,’ Zachary said, still grinning.

  ‘I’m hoping she’s on her way to Spain. And if she isn’t, there is no way I’m telling her about you. She’d be out here like a shot and we’d never get rid of her.’

  Evie linked her arm through Juniper’s. ‘I’ll walk with you to the car park.’

  ‘Have a good day,’ Zachary said, as they turned to walk away.

  Evie glanced back at him over her shoulder. ‘Shouldn’t that be my line?’

  He nodded. ‘It should. But you seem to have forgotten to read your customer service manual.’

  ‘Lost that long ago.’

  ‘I’ll buy you a copy for Christmas.’

  ‘Ah,’ she said, turning away. ‘And here was I hoping for jewellery.’

  His laughter echoed in her ears as Juniper said, ‘What’s going on with you two?’

  ‘What?’ Evie glanced at her. ‘Nothing. We’re just having some friendly banter.’

  ‘Hmm. It seems like more than that to me. What was that about him taking your photo?’

  ‘Yeah. That was weird. I looked awful. And I do mean awful. He took a photo with his phone. I was a bit concerned he might use it on the show. You know, the sort of thing where he says something about the inn they’re staying at and then adds: ‘The staff uniform is rather odd but the staff are efficient, eager and full of enthusiasm’, and then shows the photo of me in my dressing gown and PJs, hair all over the place, yawning my head off.’

  Juniper sniggered. ‘That would be amusing. He’s not going to though, is he? Use it on the show, I mean?’

  Evie shook her head. ‘He said it was “for his wallet”. Whatever that meant.’

  ‘His wallet? Bloody hell, Evie. Either the man was winding you up, or he’s fallen for you, big time.’

  Evie darted a look back to where Zachary had been standing, but he had disappeared into the inn.

  ‘Yes. Zachary Thorn loves Evie Starr. I don’t think so, Juniper. You’ve seen the man. He’s rich, famous, gorgeous. Has the body of a god.’

  ‘A sex-god.’

  ‘Yes. A sex-god. He’s got a fabulous career. No doubt a spectacular home. Can have anything he wants at the snap of his fingers. And any woman, I suspect. But yes. He’s obviously fallen for me, big time. I think not.’

  ‘You’re a numpty. All that stuff is irrelevant where love is concerned.’

  ‘The guy took a photo of me when I looked like the monster from the deep. I don’t call that love. I call that … potential humiliation on social media. Oh God. He wouldn’t, would he? No. Forget that. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t.’

  ‘I’m absolutely certain he wouldn’t. Don’t forget, Zachary Thorn has a bit of a shady past. Maybe shady is a bit too strong. But there was that incident before he left the SAS, wasn’t there? People with something to hide don’t usually make themselves a target for revenge b
y humiliating other people.’

  ‘Oh yes. I almost forgot he had a secret. I’d rather like to know what it is, wouldn’t you? And I’d still like to know why he took my photo.’

  ‘He told you why. For his wallet.’ Juniper nudged Evie. ‘At least he didn’t say something corny like: ‘I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you.’’

  Evie grinned. ‘That’s weird when you think about it. Zachary being in the SAS, I mean. He doesn’t look like that sort of person, does he?’

  ‘What sort of person? A soldier?’

  ‘The sort who could do all that undercover, secret missions sort of stuff.’

  ‘No, he doesn’t. Ooh! I wonder if I could get him to follow Darren. Send him on a surveillance mission to find out whether my boyfriend is getting up to something he shouldn’t. Take photos. That kind of thing. Although as he couldn’t take a photo of you without you spotting him, perhaps that’s not such a good idea.’

  ‘Perhaps he wasn’t very good. Perhaps that’s why he left.’

  ‘Maybe. But anyway, he’s not in Snowflake Cove on a covert operation. He’s here to film a Christmas Special. I’m so excited I could scream. We’re going to be on TV, Evie. We’re all going to be on TV!’

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Evie was not the only person to breathe a sigh of relief when the order from the wine merchant arrived. Felicia was so thrilled she insisted on opening a bottle immediately, not even caring when Evie told her that the champagne wasn’t properly chilled.

  ‘It’s come on that cart via the bridge, and it’s snowing outside. It’s chilled. I need a bottle sent to my room, immediately. And an ice bucket, in case it does need to be chilled a little more. And two champagne glasses.’

  Evie was tempted to take an empty ice bucket because the harpy with two names had not actually asked for a bucket of ice, but she thought better of it. Felicia was clearly under a lot of pressure if the woman needed champagne at ten-thirty in the morning. Why she wanted two glasses was a mystery. Her boyfriend was out filming with Zachary, and, oddly enough, her boss, Joshua was at Jane Dorset’s cottage having coffee.