Christmas under a Cranberry Sky

by Holly Martin

‘Well, Daddy is my best friend too.’

  ‘When I grow up, I’m going to marry Chester.’

  ‘Are you? Does he know?’

  ‘I told him. He didn’t like it, but I said he had to do as he was told and he had to marry me. Will you marry Daddy when you grow up?’

  So much for distraction tactics. ‘Well, if he tells me I have to marry him, then I suppose I’ll have to do what I’m told too.’

  ‘Then you’ll be my step-mummy.’

  This conversation couldn’t get any worse. Pip had to remember to think twice and three times before making some offhand comment, as everything would be stored in her tiny mind for future use.

  ‘I don’t think your daddy will ever get married. He loves you too much and there’s no room for him to love someone else too.’

  ‘Well that’s silly,’ Wren said, with all the wisdom of someone five times her age. ‘He can’t marry me, can he?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘And I’ll be married to Chester, so who will look after Daddy then?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  Wren frowned slightly. ‘Maybe Chester can live with me and Daddy once we get married. Then we can both look after Daddy.’

  ‘That sounds like a good idea. Why don’t you try to go back to sleep for a little while? It’s not time to get up yet.’

  Wren snuggled into the side of Pip’s neck, making her smile.

  Wren was silent for a while and Pip thought she had gone off to sleep very quickly.

  ‘And Pip, tomorrow we can tell Daddy the plan,’ Wren said, sleepily.

  ‘What plan, sweetheart?’

  ‘That you’re going to marry Daddy and I’m going to marry Chester and we will all live here together.’

  Pip cringed. Gabe was going to kill her. If there was one thing guaranteed to dull his affections for her it was Pip inadvertently staking a claim over his life and somehow leading Wren to believe she would be her step-mum.

  Wren shifted closer to Pip and she stroked the little girl’s hair. It was silly to think about marriage and being part of Gabe’s family so soon after coming back into his life, but right now there was nowhere else she’d rather be.

  Chapter 12

  Gabe woke up to a dull grey light outside and snowflakes swirling past the window. He smiled when he saw Pip lying on her back with her arms tight around Wren who was curled up on her chest. Wren was sucking her thumb and looked utterly content. His arm was wrapped round them both and he had never felt so complete as he did right then. This was how it was meant to be. Winston had even moved into the room during the night and was curled up round Gabe’s feet. It felt like they were the perfect little family.

  He moved a stray hair off Pip’s face and kissed her softly on the forehead. She stirred slightly but didn’t wake. Instead she rolled towards him, still holding Wren so she ended up between the two of them. Wren didn’t stir at all.

  ‘Pip,’ Gabe whispered.

  Pip’s eyes opened slowly, her golden gaze fixing on him as she smiled.

  He motioned for her to be quiet as Wren slept on unknowingly between them and he leaned forward and kissed her.

  She moaned softly and stroked his face.

  ‘Yay. I knew you two loved each other,’ Wren said and Gabe snatched his mouth from Pip’s.

  His daughter was sitting up, her eyes wide with excitement.

  ‘And now you’re going to get married and Pip will be my step-mummy and I can be bridesmaid.’

  Wren leapt to her feet, bouncing on the bed between them. Winston yapped with excitement and Gabe grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap, tickling her mercilessly, anything to stop her talking about marriage. She squealed and giggled and when he finally relented he hoped that the subject would be dropped.

  ‘Will you get married in Elsa’s ice palace, Daddy?’ Wren said, as she gasped for breath, sprawled across his lap.

  ‘We are not getting married, you silly thing. Pip and I are just friends.’

  He glanced over at Pip and she smiled briefly before getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and Gabe sighed. Nothing was ever simple.

  ‘Right, Princess, let’s get dressed then we can go over to breakfast.’

  He stood up, swinging a giggling Wren over his shoulder, and left Pip’s room.

  * * *

  Pip had been a bit quiet over breakfast and Gabe didn’t know if it was because he had denied that they were getting married or whether it was something else. Wren had chattered enough for all three of them. What Wren had said was certainly playing on his mind.

  He finished his mug of tea and stood up.

  ‘Would you mind keeping an eye on Wren for a second? I just need to have a word with Neve.’

  Pip nodded, though he was sure he heard her mutter something about getting Luke to watch Wren as he walked away.

  He found Neve in reception, talking to Iris. He waited until they’d finished talking then took her to one side.

  ‘Can you watch Wren for me today?’

  ‘I can this afternoon. Why, what’s going on?’ Neve was immediately suspicious. She knew him too well.

  ‘I think you were right. I’m worried about her getting too attached to Pip. Wren has already talked about Pip and me getting married. I ended up sleeping with Pip last night and…’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Sleeping, just sleeping. Pip had a nightmare about the accident and I went to see if she was OK and ended up staying with her. Wren got up in the middle of the night and found us together.’

  ‘Gabe, you need to be careful about exposing Wren to that kind of thing. She doesn’t need to see you lying in bed with a string of different women.’

  ‘She has never seen me in bed with a woman before and we weren’t doing anything, just sleeping next to each other.’

  ‘Well, if Pip is the first woman Wren has properly seen you with, it’s no wonder she is getting so excited about it. It’s a novelty for her.’

  ‘I know. I woke up this morning and the two of them were cuddled up in bed together like…like mother and daughter – except Wren’s mother never cuddled her like that. And then Wren saw us kissing and has now got it into her head that we’re going to get married and Pip will be her step-mum and she’s all excited about it and it’s just got into a big mess.’

  Neve’s face softened. ‘Wren gets excited about everything, Gabe, the snow, the ice palace, her new Frozen wellies, Buzzpip, the puppies. She is also a very resilient child. Nothing ever keeps her down, she just bounces from one day to the next, taking it all in her stride. If Pip leaves, Wren will probably have forgotten her by the time we are celebrating the New Year’s Eve ball. I know I was worried about her getting attached, but if Pip stays then she needs to know that life with you comes with a child and what that’s actually like.’

  ‘Pip has treated Wren with nothing but patience and kindness. Pip knows that I come with Wren and it hasn’t put her off yet, where other women would run a mile. I just think that the less time that Pip and Wren spend together the better, at least for the next few days.’

  Neve nodded. ‘That’s fine. I have some stuff I need to sort out this morning, but I can take her this afternoon. We can make mince pies together or do some kind of baking.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  A noise behind them made him turn and Pip was standing there with Wren.

  ‘Sorry, we were just going to go outside, I didn’t realise you were here, I thought you would be upstairs.’

  ‘No bother, we’ve finished talking anyway,’ Gabe said, praying that Pip hadn’t heard anything. ‘Shall we go and see the reindeer?’

  Wren cheered and ran towards the door, and Gabe caught her and swung her up onto his hip.

  He waited for Pip to catch them up. ‘You have real reindeer?’

  ‘Yeah. We thought it would be a good draw for Santa’s Grotto. Santa and his reindeer. They are in a paddock round the back of the staff quarters at the moment, but when we have
our guests here we’ll move them to the enclosure outside the ice palace. Luke and Boris are busy building a shelter down there for them.’

  They stepped outside and the snow was still falling gently around them. He took a little path round the side of the reception that led through the trees and behind the staff quarters.

  ‘Wren, you’re going to stay with Neve this afternoon, is that OK?’

  ‘But I want to play with you and Pip.’

  ‘You can if you want to, Princess, but Neve needed some help making some mince pies and cakes and she asked if you would like to do it. It’s only six days until Christmas and there’s lots of cakes and biscuits to make. Neve will be very busy if she has to do it all on her own.’

  Wren clearly thought about this for a moment. ‘I’ll help Neve. I like making cakes.’

  ‘That’s very kind, Neve will be very grateful.’

  They approached the paddock and he watched the frown disappear from Pip’s face as she saw all the reindeer. They were all wearing shiny red harnesses with their names embroidered in gold. The harnesses had bells on and the bells rang softly as the deer nestled in the straw or moved around eating the food that had been laid out for them. He had considered taking the harnesses off until the guests arrived but there was no way he would remember which reindeer was which without the harnesses and he didn’t want to confuse the animals by calling them the wrong name. They had been trained to pull sleighs and, although he hadn’t tried it yet, he assumed the animals would cooperate more if they were at least called the correct name.

  ‘Meet Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen,’ Gabe said, pointing each one out.

  Pip laughed. ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘Yes, of course, they’re Santa’s reindeer.’

  ‘They’re beautiful.’

  ‘They’re very tame, feel free to stroke them.’

  Cupid came plodding over to see if they had any treats and Pip reached across the fence to scratch between her ears. Wren reached out and stroked her nose. Wren had already met them several times, though she found it all a bit confusing that they were there and Santa wasn’t.

  ‘I wonder if you would mind taking on their feeding while you are here. I have a couple of girls from the village that come up and muck out their shelter twice a week, so that’s taken care of. Normally Luke would be feeding them, he’s in charge of all the animals, but I need him to help Boris with some of the hard labour jobs over the next few days. Most of the staff have gone off for a few days’ holiday before the guests arrive. They’ve all worked so hard to get everything ready and as we are pretty much fully booked until April, now was the only time that I could let them go. In hindsight, I should have kept a few of them back to help with maintenance, so I need Luke to help me.’

  ‘Everything looks perfect. What is there left to do?’

  ‘They are trying to get some of the houses in the village ready for our guests in case we need them. We own six small houses down there that we were going to open to guests in the busier periods, but we didn’t intend to open them this year. With the power down, I want to make sure that we have the option of putting some of the guests in the village if we need to. The weather is only going to get worse over the next few months and even if the power does come back on, it might go off again. Once Christmas is out of the way, I need to look at getting a more reliable power supply. But anyway, if you could free Luke up by taking on the feeding that would be really useful. Twice a day. There’s a great big container in the shelter. Just take four buckets of it and fill the trough here and half a bucket for Rudolph.’

  ‘Rudolph?’

  Gabe looked across to the next paddock, but the reindeer in question was nowhere to be seen. Probably still sulking in his shelter that he had been separated from his harem.

  ‘The stag. These are all girls, Rudolph is the boy. The breeder and trainer I bought them off said that the reindeer mating season is normally until the end of November, beginning of December, but sometimes it can vary because of the mild or cold weather, so he suggested to be on the safe side that I keep them separated until the new year. Rudolph isn’t happy. Next year I’ll probably breed them. I’m sure the visitors will be delighted to see baby reindeer wandering around the place, but this year it’s just another thing I would prefer to do without.’

  ‘Poor Rudolph. The lack of action is probably making his nose turn red.’

  Gabe laughed. ‘Let me just show you where everything is and then I’ll introduce you to the puppies.’

  He opened the gate, and as most of the reindeer were still busy with their breakfast, they didn’t even look up when Gabe and Pip walked into their enclosure. Wren ran on ahead into the shelter and Gabe shut the gate behind them.

  ‘Food is there, the buckets are next to it. If you could wash the buckets out at the end of the day and then leave them upside down to drain out…’ He glanced over at Pip, taking it all in. ‘Are you sure you don’t mind doing this? I feel bad, you’re supposed to be a guest.’

  ‘I’m your friend, of course I don’t mind helping. What about the houses in the village? Is there anything I can help with down there? I’m probably not any good at building and repairs but I can help with the painting.’

  ‘That’s very kind. I think most of the painting has been done, it’s just the external repairs and renovations now.’

  ‘What about decorating the houses for Christmas, I can do that?’

  ‘That would be really helpful. I’ll have a word with some of the boys to make sure you’ll have everything you need delivered down there. Thank you for this. The guests all arrive on Thursday; it’s just three days away, and I just want to make sure everything is perfect.’ He watched Wren happily splashing in the puddles in the entrance to the shelter and smiled. ‘This is so different to any hotel I’ve bought before. The hotels were all running when I bought them and though I spent a lot of time making the hotels bigger and better, I worked with what I had and improved on it. Here it feels like I’m starting from scratch. The other hotels have been glamorous and luxurious with spa facilities and everything the guests need, at least they were when I had finished with them. Here it’s a different feel entirely and I just hope I’ve captured the essence of a winter resort correctly. There’s no skiing or snowboarding here, so that’s one of the main things that stands us apart from other winter resorts and not in a good way.’

  ‘People are going to love it.’

  He smiled at the confidence she had in him.

  ‘Let me introduce you to Rudolph.’

  He took her hand and led her out the shelter and across the paddock to the adjoining gate. It was only when he went to open the gate that he realised what he’d done. He stared down at their entwined fingers. It had felt so natural to take her hand, just like he’d always done.

  He glanced at Pip to see what her reaction was, but she was smiling at him. She reached up to stroke his face briefly; it was all they could do when Wren was hovering nearby. It was all the encouragement he needed.

  Still keeping his hand in hers, he pushed open the gate and as soon as Wren was safely on the other side he closed it behind them.

  He led Pip into the shelter; Rudolph was standing in the corner, nibbling on a ball of hay. He was a big proud beast and he glanced up briefly at their arrival and then away again as if they weren’t worth bothering paying any attention to.

  ‘This is Rudolph. You can buy his affections with carrots and parsnips from the kitchen. Though to say he has a mind of his own would be an understatement.’

  ‘Hi Rudolph,’ Wren sang, though Rudolph didn’t even look up as she approached and ran a tiny hand over his belly and up his neck.

  ‘Your guests are going to fall in love with the reindeer,’ Pip said.

  ‘I hope so.’

  ‘Can I ask why you are opening so late? People would have been up here from the beginning of November to celebrate Christmas and see Santa.’

  ‘We were supposed
to open mid-October but we had a fire and it just put everything behind.’

  ‘Oh god, was anyone hurt?’

  ‘No, thankfully. It was gutting, though. It happened in the middle of the night and ripped through a row of six of the smaller guest lodges before anyone noticed and could put it out. We didn’t want guests to come up here and see the ruins, so we had to cancel or postpone many of the guests. We lost thousands of pounds but hopefully, with the grand opening on Thursday and all the journalists that will come and report on it, it will be great exposure for us and our rooms will be filled this time next year.’

  ‘Can we go and see the puppies now, Daddy?’ Wren said, when Rudolph was still failing to acknowledge her presence.

  ‘Of course we can, sweetheart.’ He held out his other hand for Wren and when she took it he smiled to himself at the perfect little family unit they appeared to be, all holding hands. If only it could be this way forever.

  * * *

  Pip followed Gabe and Wren along the track as Gabe chased his daughter and Wren shrieked with laughter every time she was caught. It was clear to see Gabe adored his daughter and enjoyed the time he spent with her. It would be difficult for him to add another person to the mix when it had been just the two of them for so long. But to actually not want Pip to spend any time with Wren was hurtful. She’d heard him say that to Neve and it had stung. He didn’t even trust her to look after Wren for longer than a few minutes, which was why he’d asked Luke to look after Wren the day before.

  It was confusing as hell. One minute he was kissing her and looking at her with puppy-dog eyes and the next he was deliberately trying to keep her and his daughter apart. What possible chance did they have for a future together if he wouldn’t let her in? And if he didn’t want a future, what did he want from their two weeks together: friendship, friends with benefits or something more? Pip sighed. It was still early days, she knew that. And just as Gabe had started from scratch with Stardust Lake Hotel, in many ways she was starting from scratch with him. But could she stay if all he could offer her was a snatched kiss now and again?