Christmas under a Cranberry Sky

by Holly Martin

  Next came a choir made up of several people from the village, the oldest members of the village right down to the youngest, all dressed as angelic choir members. They walked along in their white robes, carrying candle-lit lanterns, singing ‘Silent Night’, and Pip was stunned by their voices; the rendition was flawless. They stopped in front of the guests and stood until they had sung the last soulful note. But as Pip was smiling at the simplicity of their performance they suddenly all ripped off their choir robes, revealing glittering red clothes underneath, and launched into a rocking, jiving version of ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’. The guests lapped it up, clapping and dancing and laughing as the older members of the village danced as well as the younger ones. It was perfect, catering for all tastes in one performance.

  More dancers followed on after the choir singers had moved off, this time dressed entirely in silver, and dancing with illuminated snowflakes. Some of the snowflakes were giant in size and some of them tiny, and the dancers were juggling or throwing them between them.

  Four stilt-walkers came after them, two couples waltzing around each other despite the fact that they were balanced on six-foot poles of wood no more than a couple of inches wide. The men wore long black suit trousers that covered the whole stilts and the women were beautifully dressed in elegant ball gowns that almost touched the floor. It was utterly mesmerising.

  Some of the villagers dressed as elves, complete with stripy red and white tights and pointy green shoes, followed after the stilt-walkers, each leading a tiny Shetland pony that had plumes of red, gold and green feathers on its head. The guests oohed and aahed again, the tiny ponies getting the loudest claps and cheers of the night so far.

  The elves and ponies were followed by Santa on his sleigh being drawn by all nine reindeer in their shiny red harnesses. It was quite spectacular and the children all squealed and cheered as they watched him glide past, waving and giving the obligatory ho, ho, ho.

  As the procession came to an end and the guests started following it down the path towards the ice palace, Pip noticed Gabe standing on top of the steps leading into the hotel reception area.

  Gabe hoisted Wren on top of his shoulders as he walked past Mikael and Boris and came down to join her while they followed the guests down the hill.

  ‘That was incredible,’ Pip said.

  ‘It was all co-ordinated by some big theatre producer. She flew up here a few weeks ago to go through a trial run with the villagers, although we hadn’t seen how the procession would look complete with all the performers – this was the first time they did it all together.’

  ‘It worked so well, the guests loved it. I even saw Mrs Hughes smile.’

  ‘Well, that is a victory.’

  ‘Did you enjoy it, Wren?’ Pip asked, though the little girl’s eyes were shining bright, her cheeks flushed pink with excitement. She was bouncing up and down on her dad’s shoulders with a huge smile on her face. Pip didn’t really need to ask.

  ‘It was beautiful,’ Wren said. ‘And now we get to see Elsa’s palace too.’

  ‘Just the outside, Princess, we’ll see the inside on Christmas Eve, that’s just two days away.’

  For once, Wren didn’t seem that bothered by not being able to see it right away; obviously the excitement of the procession was still running through her veins.

  The crowd just ahead of them parted slightly and for a brief moment Pip saw Luke walking with Audrey. From the way she was looking at him as he talked to her, it was quite clear she adored him. Pip took a few photos of them. If this was going to turn into something then it would be nice to record it from the beginning.

  ‘I got some great photos,’ Pip said as she let her camera fall round her neck. ‘I took some of the guests and the performers. I think you could use most of them on your website too.’

  ‘Would you use any of them for the travel company you work for?’ Gabe asked.

  Pip cringed a little. That lie was going to keep tripping her up. She knew she would have to come clean with it at some point, but she didn’t like the idea of rocking the boat when everything was so new and fragile between them.

  ‘Yes, I’ll send it to them, though there’s no guarantee that they’ll use it.’

  ‘Which company was it you said you worked for?’ Gabe asked and the tone of his voice was not as casual as he clearly hoped it would be.

  ‘Ocean View,’ Pip said. ‘Though I don’t work for them any more, or anyone in fact, I handed my notice in this morning.’

  ‘It’s funny, Neve said she contacted Ocean View today and they didn’t know anything about you.’

  Pip frowned that he had completely missed the part where she had said she’d resigned, before registering that he had caught her in her lie.

  ‘Oh, I always get confused which company has sent me where, I just go where I’m sent by the freelance agency I’m signed with. I send the photos to the agency too and they send them on, I don’t really have any dealings with the travel companies directly.’

  ‘That’s what I said to Neve, that you’d probably got confused. I told her you wouldn’t lie to us.’

  He looked at her and she felt her stomach clench with guilt. It was such a tiny lie that didn’t mean anything, but she knew she had to tell him the truth. However, with the excitement of the carnival and with Wren enjoying the evening’s entertainment, now didn’t seem like the right time.

  ‘Look, Daddy, there’s the palace, there’s Elsa’s palace,’ Wren squealed with delight as she pointed and wriggled around on Gabe’s shoulders. ‘Oh Daddy, it’s so beautiful.’

  Gabe smiled and wrapped his arm round Pip’s shoulders. She felt safe in his arms, one little lie was not going to break them, she knew that.

  There was a small hut by the side of the ice palace and Pip saw Jake and Iris handing out more hot chocolates and hot mulled wines to the guests as they walked past, following the trail of fairy lights down the path towards the lake. The performers and Santa trailed off behind the ice palace, but the elves and the ponies stayed on the path leading the guests towards where the fireworks were going to take place.

  ‘Why was the carnival delayed?’ Pip asked as they approached the frozen lake.

  Gabe smiled. ‘You’ll see.’

  The elves led the guests to the wooden decking on the lake’s shore and no sooner had the last guest stepped up onto the platform than red fireworks exploded into the sky on the opposite side of the lake, the colours reflecting off the frozen surface beautifully.

  Wren clapped and cheered as another gold explosion took the place of the red one.

  Pip took a few photos and then slipped from Gabe’s side to take some pictures of the guests as they watched the colours light up the night sky.

  After a few minutes, she returned to Gabe’s side, leaning into him as he kissed her head. As the fireworks continued, a riot of colour suddenly appeared behind the explosions and the guests gasped with shock and delight as the Northern Lights seemed to preside over the proceedings. As silver, blue and gold rockets sparkled and glittered across the lake, the Northern Lights lit up the sky beyond with greens and blues, dancing and shimmering to their own private rhythm.

  It couldn’t be more perfect and as she looked up at Gabe and Wren, she knew that Gabe was right, the Northern Lights had called her home.

  * * *

  After the fireworks display, Pip trudged back to the lodge with a very excited Wren on her back. The evening couldn’t have gone better.

  But something was wrong, Gabe had been so quiet all evening.

  ‘Why don’t I put Wren to bed and then we can have a glass of wine and talk,’ Gabe said and something about the way he spoke suggested talk meant something serious and not a night of hot passionate sex as she had originally planned.

  Pip nodded in confusion.

  ‘I want Pip to put me to bed,’ Wren said. ‘I want her to read me a story.’

  ‘I’d be happy to,’ Pip said. ‘Why don’t you light the fire and get the wi
ne ready? I’ll be down soon.’

  Gabe nodded and Pip carried Wren upstairs to bed. She helped her into her pyjamas and then lay down in bed with her, picking up the book Wren had been reading with Gabe. Winston leapt up onto the bed and curled up at their feet.

  She was so tired from running around taking photos all day, but she knew she had captured some wonderful images for the guests. Conversely, Wren, it seemed, was still buzzing from the fireworks and Pip suspected that she would take a long while to wind down.

  * * *

  Pip had been gone a long time and Gabe could still hear Wren chatting away upstairs. Obviously Pip was having some trouble getting her to go to sleep. He went up to Wren’s room and found Pip fast asleep in Wren’s bed and Wren playing with Winston next to her.

  ‘Daddy!’ Wren whispered. ‘Pip fell asleep reading my story, so I thought I would read it to her instead, but the words are too hard so I decided I would make it up. Winston has been helping me with the end of the story.’

  Gabe smiled. ‘Why don’t I take Pip to bed and then I’ll come back and read the rest to you.’

  Wren nodded as she moved her Elsa doll across the sheets towards Winston.

  Gabe scooped Pip up and she didn’t even stir. He carried her back to his bedroom, undressed her and tucked her under the covers. Her breathing was heavy and she clearly had no idea that he was there.

  He watched her for a moment, her vulnerability in that moment achingly endearing.

  It was stupid to think she was Mr Black just because of what she had eaten. They had laid a trap and she had been the one to accidentally fall into it. Combined with Ocean View denying all knowledge of her earlier that day, it had set wheels in motion in his mind, prompting thoughts that he shouldn’t even be thinking about. He would simply talk to her about it all tomorrow.

  He left her in his bed and went off to read to Wren.

  * * *

  Pip woke to soft kisses being peppered down her spine. She opened her eyes in confusion and peered around the room, bathed in the morning sunshine. The last thing she remembered was reading Wren a story. But she had no recollection of coming to bed.

  ‘What happened last night?’ Pip said, rolling onto her back to look up at the man she loved as he transferred his kisses to her belly.

  ‘You fell asleep reading Wren’s story, I brought you in here and put you to bed.’

  ‘Oh, sorry about that. Did you want to talk about something last night?’

  His mouth paused just below her belly button. Then he leaned over her so he could kiss her on the mouth. She wrapped her arms round his neck and in a movement that was swift and confident, he slid one arm round her hips and the other round her shoulders as he lifted her up and sat her astride his lap so she was straddling him. She kissed him deeply as she ran her hands down his chest and he caressed her back. Obviously the time for talking was gone.

  He grabbed a condom, slid it on and then lifted her slightly as he moved inside her. She groaned against his mouth and he pulled back slightly, leaning his head against hers.

  ‘So, are you Mr Black?’

  Pip burst out laughing. When he’d said he wanted to talk she hadn’t been expecting that.

  ‘Can you imagine if I was, that would be hilarious,’ Pip said, though it was obvious Gabe couldn’t see the humour in it.

  ‘You would tell me if you were,’ Gabe said, moving slowly against her and causing her to arch against him, desperate for more.

  ‘Of course I would.’

  It didn’t sit well with her that she’d lied to Gabe the first night they’d met. They still thought she was a photographer and that lie was even worse than admitting the truth of who she really was, especially when they were willing to let her be their official photographer without any prior experience or qualifications. But they obviously saw a talent in her that she couldn’t see herself. They surely wouldn’t let her represent them in that way if they didn’t think she was capable. But despite the fact they believed she had skills, the lie still lay undiscovered between them. She had wanted to tell Gabe that she was a mystery guest but the words seemed to stick in her mouth. When would have been the best time to admit she had lied? The day after she’d made love to him for the first time? The day she realised she had fallen in love with him again? The day all the guests were arriving? None of it seemed the best time and as it seemed like an insignificant lie and one that was not going to impact on him in any way, it didn’t seem worth mentioning, though in truth she knew she was being cowardly. She was a mystery guest, just like Mr Black, and although she wasn’t him, nor wielded the same kind of power he clearly did, Gabe still had a right to know who she really was, even if the review she had written and sent off yesterday morning had been the best she had ever written.

  ‘What makes you think I’m Mr Black?’ she said, burying her face in his neck as she tried to hold back the orgasm that was threatening to rip through her.

  He ran his hands down to her hips, pulling her tighter against him. ‘We set a trap. He loves to eat mushroom soup, pasta carbonara and crème brûlée. It’s his test to compare hotels across the world. Of course not all hotels provide it, but in those that do he always eats those meals when he can. We thought if we provided all three he wouldn’t be able to resist ordering them all and it would be clear who the dreaded Mr Black was. The only person who ordered all three was you. Well, you and Wren, but I think I can let her off.’

  Pip hesitated, her mouth pressed to his throat. Those foods were her calling card. She would always try them wherever they were offered. She hadn’t twigged last night that for the first time in ages all three had been on offer in the same place. But she hadn’t been comparing the night before. She had just picked her three favourite things. It was too much of a coincidence that another mystery guest also tested out those three foods in different hotels across the world. Could she really be the dreaded Mr Black?

  He pulled back slightly to look at her and she forced a smile on her face as she kissed him. Could she really be the mystery guest whose reviews held so much weight? Her reviews were in a tiny little article at the back of some magazine. She’d never even bought a copy of the magazine. She just wrote the reviews and handed them in. Surely if her reviews were so significant she would know about it.

  ‘Who does he write for?’ Pip asked, running her hands through the hair at the back of his neck and hoping she could distract him.

  He moaned softly, thrusting inside her. ‘The Tree of Life.’

  She froze, the bottom dropping out of her world. She was Mr Black and she’d had no idea. It was hard to believe that hotels had closed simply because of her reviews. Everyone had been so fearful of this Mr Black and it’d been her all this time.

  She suddenly heard Wren’s door slam open and her little footsteps as she ran down the stairs.

  ‘Someone’s awake,’ Gabe said, pushing the hair off Pip’s face. ‘We better wrap this up. She’ll be in here in a second demanding jelly and pancakes for breakfast and a game of Dragons or a Frozen sing-a-long before we go over to the dining room.’ He pulled her tighter against him, urging her to come as he thrust into her harder and faster. But her mind was too messed up to connect with what they were doing. If Gabe found out she was Mr Black after all this time he would be furious. And having just promised him she wasn’t would be the ultimate betrayal. She wasn’t sure he would forgive her for that.

  Sensing her mind was elsewhere, he slid his hand between them, running his finger over her most sensitive area and despite her confusion and fear she quickly tumbled over the edge. As he found his release, she clung to him and was surprised to feel tears on her cheeks. She couldn’t lose him, not when she had just found him again after all these years.

  Gabe shifted her off him, giving her a sweet kiss as he got out of bed.

  He looked at her with concern. ‘Are you OK?’

  She nodded, numbly. She had to tell him. He would hopefully see the funny side and not get angry that he and the re
st of the staff had been worrying about Mr Black all this time and she was actually him. She’d tell him she’d had no idea that she was Mr Black, which she hadn’t. He would understand.

  ‘I’m just going to grab a quick shower, can you check on Wren for me, see if you can persuade her to get dressed before we go over for breakfast? She might be more agreeable if you ask, she adores you,’ Gabe said.

  Wren. She didn’t want Wren to walk in on them when they were talking about Mr Black. She wanted time to reassure Gabe properly, not just drop the bombshell on him and then have Wren come in and interrupt them.

  ‘Do you have time to meet with me after breakfast?’ Pip asked.

  Gabe nodded, though she could see he obviously wanted to know why. ‘We can talk now if you want.’

  ‘I just need a few minutes to discuss the photography and stuff, it can wait until after breakfast.’

  Gabe nodded and disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door. A few moments later she heard the shower running.

  She felt sick at the prospect of having that conversation, but she had to tell him now and not let it drag on any longer.

  She got out of bed and threw on her clothes, then peered out of the window to see what the weather was doing. The early-morning sunshine glinted off the frozen lake. Movement caught her eye and her heart dropped into her stomach as she realised what she was seeing. Wren was on the lake.

  Chapter 21

  Pip screamed for Gabe as she ran out of the room and down the stairs. She quickly yanked on her boots, not bothering to do them up, and then ran out of the house.

  Stumbling on the snow she ran as fast as she could behind the house and down towards its edge, screaming for help from anyone else close enough to give it.

  As she drew closer she could see what Wren was doing. Blaze, Luke’s mischievous puppy, had escaped again and had run onto the frozen lake. Wren had clearly seen him from her bedroom and decided to save him, heedless of the danger to herself. At the moment, neither of them was in trouble, but it would only take Wren stepping on a particularly thin bit of ice as she chased Blaze across the lake and she would go straight through it. Or what if Blaze broke through the ice and she tried to get him out? It didn’t bear thinking about.