Christmas under a Cranberry Sky

by Holly Martin

  They were heading away from the resort now and the lodges were left far behind them. Pip saw a little stone cottage tucked into the trees, smoke swirling from the chimney. The house had stunning views over the frozen lake which spread out from almost right in front of the cottage door.

  Without even asking, she knew that was where Luke lived. Whereas Gabe lived almost right next door to the main reception area, wanting or needing to be there for any problems that might occur, Luke had always been quiet and withdrawn and this location was perfect for him.

  The man himself was sitting on his doorstep, eight husky puppies sitting at his feet, not moving as they stared up at him. He slowly fed each dog a treat, one at a time, and the other puppies didn’t move or try to get the food first; they just sat patiently waiting for their turn. He obviously had them well trained.

  He looked up at their arrival and dismissed the puppies with a wave of his hand and, just like a switch had been flicked, the dogs returned to their normal puppy state, jumping over each other, gambolling, pouncing on each other’s tails as if they had just caught their prey. They were fluffy and adorable.

  Wren ran on ahead, bursting into Luke’s tiny garden without any fear she would be turned away and, sure enough, Luke grabbed her and threw her into the air, catching her seemingly just before she hit the ground to great shrieks of approval from Wren.

  Gabe opened the gate, letting Pip go ahead of him.

  ‘Hey Luke, how’s it going?’ Gabe greeted him cheerfully though it was clear Luke wasn’t happy to see them, well, probably more accurately, her.

  ‘Morning,’ Luke nodded at his brother, eyeing Pip suspiciously. She gave him her best smile but it did nothing to change his features.

  ‘I thought Pip might want to see the puppies.’

  Luke’s shoulders fell a little as he clearly sighed with defeat. ‘Wren, why don’t you introduce Pip to the puppies, you know them all so well.’

  With that, Luke disappeared inside his house. Gabe gave her an awkward smile then walked into the house after him.

  ‘This is Blue,’ Wren said, pointing to one of the puppies that did seem to have more of a smoky blue colouring than the others. ‘This is Coal,’ she said, pointing to one that was almost entirely black, though he still had those distinctive blue eyes. ‘This is Jemima, Honey, Diva, Rex, Ray, and this is my favourite, Blaze.’

  Pip kneeled down and the puppies leapt all over her, yapping and wagging their tails excitedly. Though above the yapping, Pip could hear raised voices coming from inside the house.

  ‘I thought she could feed the puppies for you, maybe walk them, free up a bit more of your time,’ Gabe said, defensively.

  ‘I don’t want her in my house or anywhere near my dogs.’

  ‘Luke, that’s unfair and really nasty and I’d never expect that from you.’

  ‘Why is Blaze your favourite?’ Pip asked, trying to keep the emotion from clogging her throat. Why was she so unlikeable that she had been rejected her whole life? Luke had never had any time for her when she was growing up, but now it sounded like he hated her. She fought the tears that sprung to her eyes.

  The arguing continued inside but Pip blocked it out.

  ‘Because I like his diamond in the middle of his head and because he keeps escaping like I do. Luke says that he must be copying me.’ Wren giggled then looked at Pip more closely. ‘Are you crying?’

  ‘No, no honey, I’m fine. Sometimes the cold makes my eyes water and it’s really cold down here.’

  Wren studied her and then threw her arms round her neck and hugged her, just as Gabe and Luke came walking out the house.

  ‘Daddy, Pip is sad because she hasn’t got anyone to love her.’

  Pip’s eyes bulged. Holy shit, the kid was insightful.

  ‘No, I’m fine,’ Pip laughed awkwardly. ‘It’s just windy and cold down here and it’s making my eyes water.’

  Luke looked at her and she immediately saw guilt and regret wash across his face. Gabe clearly wasn’t happy.

  ‘Come on, I’ve got some other things to show you before we go to the Christmas market this afternoon.’

  ‘Oh Daddy, we just got here,’ Wren said.

  ‘Luke has a lot of work to do in the village and I don’t want us to be in his way.’ Gabe scooped Wren up so there could be no further argument and walked out the gate.

  Pip stood up and faced Luke properly. He towered over her, but she refused to be intimidated by him.

  ‘I’m not sure what I did to make you hate me so much, but I’m sorry.’

  She turned away but he snagged her arm and pulled her back. ‘I don’t hate you. I’m sorry if you overheard what we were talking about in there.’

  Sorry that she’d overheard, not sorry that he’d said it.

  She removed her arm and walked away.

  ‘Pip, I’m just an arsehole. You’re better off staying away from me.’

  She caught up with Gabe and Wren. Wren was on Gabe’s shoulders, holding onto his head.

  Gabe looked at her and smiled, sadly.

  ‘Daddy, what’s an arsehole?’

  * * *

  It was a while later when Gabe escorted Pip down to the village. He’d shown Pip around a bit more of the resort, they’d had lunch and then Wren had skipped off quite happily to help Neve with the cakes.

  He looked down at his hand holding Pip’s, their fingers entwined, and smiled. He had no idea who had instigated that but he had a vague recollection of their hands slotting together automatically like two magnets as they made their way down the track.

  She looked up at him and smiled and he felt his heart melt a little more. He wondered where he and Pip would be in their relationship now if he didn’t have to worry about protecting Wren and he had no brother or sister to put a dampener on things. Neve and Luke being rude to her was not helping Pip come to the decision to stay. He wanted to whisk her away from everything, just for a little while, and truly discover whether they had something between them, whether going back was even an option. He tried to clear his mind of what would happen if they were completely alone. Making love to his best friend had been uppermost in his mind since he had set eyes on her again. But there would be no coming back once he had. If he was scared he was falling in love with her now, making love to her would seal the deal completely.

  He cleared his throat as he tried to block out that glorious and wonderful thought.

  ‘So this card will bill directly to your room account,’ Gabe explained, handing her a plastic credit card. ‘It seemed impractical to expect the villagers to pay for a credit-card machine and lots of our guests will only have credit cards, not cash, so we came up with the idea of these room cards. That way we only had to buy scanners for all the shops. It links straight back with the hotel and gets applied to your room, and when you pay it gets refunded back to the relevant shop.’

  ‘That’s a really clever idea.’

  Gabe shrugged. ‘It’s how they work on cruises. Every excursion, souvenir or drink is charged to the card and then they just get a bill at the end; it’s more efficient for our customers. I’ve given you two hundred pounds’ credit to go some way towards the inconvenience of not having the lodge you paid for. You’ll probably be with me for another night at least, which hopefully will not be too much of a hardship.’

  He really hoped the power wouldn’t come back on; he was enjoying having her live with him.

  ‘I think I can suffer it.’

  He laughed. ‘And you know, if your room isn’t comfortable enough we can perhaps find you alternative accommodation.’

  ‘What’s the alternative?’

  ‘My room.’

  She laughed loudly at this and he loved the sound of it.

  ‘But where would you sleep if I was sleeping in your room?’ she teased.

  ‘Oh well, I’m sure we can come up with some kind of sleeping arrangement that’s beneficial for everyone.’

  ‘I’m sure you can.’

  The
y were flirting and he loved it.

  The icy wind raced through the trees and as she shivered in the cold, he found himself instinctively putting his arm round her shoulders trying to warm her up. He knew they had fallen into a close relationship way too quickly, but he was enjoying every moment. He had his best friend back and he knew he hadn’t been this happy in years.

  Chapter 13

  Pip looked at the village as they approached it from the only road. Whoever had built it all those years ago had chosen a great location, something she hadn’t appreciated when she’d come here as a child.

  The hills that populated the middle of the island served as a great backdrop for the village and made the place very picturesque, but they also protected the houses from the arctic wind that must blow in from the north on an almost daily basis.

  The sea was on the other side, far enough away that the residents didn’t get the cliff-top winds but close enough that every house in the village could experience sea views.

  They passed a cluster of six houses that was a little way out of the village. There were several men busily working on the outside of them, hammering and sawing and drilling. Pip guessed these were the houses they were getting ready for the guests. Luke was among them, his huge size making him stand out from the rest.

  ‘Would you be helping them if you weren’t looking after me?’ Pip asked.

  ‘Yes, and I’ll be helping them tomorrow I’m afraid. We have to get them finished before the guests arrive in three days.’

  ‘You don’t need to worry about entertaining me. Besides, I’ll be down here too, helping with the Christmasifying on the inside.’

  ‘Thank you for that.’

  She smiled as she leaned against him. He had put his arm around her to protect her from the cold, but although the wind had dropped since they’d walked into the shelter of the hills, he hadn’t relinquished his hold. It felt right though, being in his arms, as if no time had passed between them.

  They drew closer to the village. All the houses were two storeys. She remembered they were once old stone houses, but they had been given a new lease of life and covered in planks of wood to make them look like the ski lodges up in the resort. Strings of fairy lights hung from the roofs and from above the shop windows. Lights hung from the lamp-posts too and zigzagged across the street.

  Every shop had large windows with leaded square panels. Each glass square was about a foot wide interspersed with the thick black edging that reminded Pip of the Victorian era. The windows glowed gold, spilling their light onto the snowy street. Sweet scents of chocolate and sugar filled the air and smoke billowed from all the chimneys. It was picture perfect and she quickly grabbed her camera and took a few photos, though she knew the camera wouldn’t capture the true essence and smells of the place.

  ‘It’s wonderful Gabe, you’ve done an incredible job. People are going to love it.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  She looked around. ‘So all the villagers just gave up the downstairs of their homes?’

  ‘We’ve built extensions onto the backs of people’s houses, so the room that now houses the shop has been moved to the extension. It was a big ask, and their whole lives and homes were completely disrupted this year, but surprisingly everyone was willing to take part. None of these people wanted to leave the island, but without income coming into it they would have had to at least try to seek work on the other Shetland Islands and there’s not exactly a lot of spare jobs going up here. They’ll make money from the goods they sell, but they’ll be paid too. Whatever money we make in the resort, a percentage of that will go to pay the villagers for the use of their homes. The Christmas village is going to be a big draw for the tourists and guests and it didn’t seem right that we would almost solely benefit from tourists coming here to see it so hopefully their sacrifice will be worth it in the end. Which shops would you like to visit?’

  ‘All of them.’

  He grinned down at her. ‘I was hoping you’d say that. I know they’d be disappointed if you didn’t at least pop in and have a look around. Don’t feel you have to buy something from every store, though. But if you end up buying a lot or big things we can arrange for them to be collected by the Range Rover and taken back to the hotel later so you don’t have to carry them.’

  ‘Is that a service you’ll provide for the guests too?’

  ‘Yes, we don’t want anyone to be put off buying big and heavy things because they have to carry them all the way back to the hotel.’

  ‘You’ve thought of everything.’

  ‘I hope so. Shall we walk up this side and then we can walk back down the street on the other side?’

  ‘Sounds like a plan.’

  ‘Come and meet Mikki O’Sullivan. I think the tourists will love her shop but I think you’ll love it especially. Mikki is a bit…kooky, but there’s no denying she has a real talent for her art.’

  ‘Kooky?’

  Gabe put on a spooky voice. ‘She can see into the future.’

  Pip laughed. ‘What makes you think she can’t?’

  ‘Well, if I could see into the future, I think I would look at the winning lottery numbers. I’m not sure she would be living in a tiny house on a remote Scottish island if she had won the lottery.’

  ‘Why not? You’re doing quite well financially and you’ve chosen to live here. Sometimes you don’t need the luxurious trappings to be happy in life. It’s about the places and the people you’re with. Anyway, from what I can gather from the people who claim to have that gift, they don’t choose what they see, they don’t have any control over it, the visions just appear in their head.’

  ‘Are you telling me you believe in that sort of thing?’ Gabe asked.

  ‘I’m saying that fate sometimes works in mysterious ways. Maybe there are things beyond our knowledge and understanding, maybe some events are predestined and, if that’s the case, maybe some people can see that destiny in front of us. There are many stories out there about couples who have got together in weird and wonderful ways. There was one man who had a photograph of him playing on the beach as a child and in the background was his wife playing on the same beach, though they didn’t meet until years later. I don’t know how it all works. But I do feel that some couples are meant to be together, like two halves of a whole. Life sometimes gets in the way, but fate will always bring them together in the end.’

  He stared down at her and smiled. ‘It is odd that of all the hotels in the world, you get sent here where I am. Maybe fate did play a part after all. Even if we are only supposed to be friends in the grand scheme of things, I’m glad you’re back in my life.’

  Pip frowned slightly. Was friendship the only thing he really wanted? But then what was with all the kisses?

  As they walked to the first house, Pip noticed the name above the door, painted in gold curly writing on a wooden plank, ‘Stardust Snow Globes’. On closer inspection all the lodges had beautiful names like ‘Emerald Emporium’ or ‘Pancakes & Port’. It was very cute.

  She pushed open the door and was met with a wall of warmth and the smells of freshly baked cookies, which she noticed were on a plate by the door along with a handwritten note asking her to help herself.

  ‘Mikki makes amazing cookies,’ Gabe said, grabbing one and taking a huge bite. He nodded his encouragement for her to take one, which she did, and then stepped further into the shop.

  A log fire was burning merrily at the back of the shop and, like the ice palace, the room was almost in darkness apart from the spotlights that lit the displays from underneath. Wonderful snow globes of every shape and size filled the room. They were displayed beautifully, not just row upon row on shelves but standing on black boxes, cascading down the walls and jutting out of the floor like cave formations or the Giant’s Causeway. The snow globes were incredibly detailed with tiny houses and buildings inside and many of the larger globes had real lights in the windows and streets. Each snow globe was completely unique, showing tiny snow-topped vil
lages, towns or great cities. As Pip moved around to admire the pieces she realised they were representations of real towns and cities of the world and that she had visited almost every one of these places. The snow globes were grouped into countries, making it easier for Pip to find the places she loved the most.

  ‘These are incredible,’ Pip said, noticing Gabe was watching her carefully.

  ‘I knew you’d like it.’

  ‘It’s like a reminder of all the wonderful places I’ve visited. I could spend all day in here. How does anyone choose which globe to buy?’

  Gabe laughed. ‘Most people don’t have the extensive travel experience you have. Most people will choose their favourite place or their home town or maybe one of here as a souvenir. Mikki makes them all herself.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Let me introduce you.’

  He took her hand and moved towards the back of the shop. If Pip had been expecting an elderly lady with a headscarf and a crystal ball she would have been very disappointed. Mikki O’Sullivan was stunning; she looked like a younger Cindy Crawford. She was crouched over the makings of a globe, painting the intricate detail of what was obviously Stardust Lake Hotel, the surrounding lodges, the glass igloos and the ice palace.

  ‘Mikki, this is my friend Pip, Pip this is Mikki, one of the most talented artists I know.’

  Mikki stopped what she was doing and sat up smiling. ‘Pip, I’m so pleased to meet you.’

  Pip smiled at the gorgeous Irish lilt in her voice.

  ‘Stephen told us all about you when you arrived, how you had come here on holiday when you were little and that you were friends with Gabe.’ She glanced down at their joined hands and smiled even more. ‘Very good friends it would seem.’

  ‘Just friends,’ Gabe said, smiling, though it was obvious he was a little embarrassed by her comment.

  Pip couldn’t help feeling a little hurt by the denial even though, in reality, they were nothing more than friends at the moment. She wondered if they would ever be anything more.