Gabe watched Pip as Wren pointed out the sights from the dining room, their faces pressed up against the glass.
He loved this room, how it was lit up only by the natural light that streamed in from the glass roof and walls. At night, each table was lit up by candles. During the day the light from the windows was all the room needed, lending a superb outlook over almost the entire island, the valleys and the huge lake below that gave the hotel its name. Out in the distance you could even see the sea too. There wasn’t a single building in sight of the dining room; the island was completely unspoilt and beautiful from where they were sitting. He could look out on that view forever, if only he had the time. But now his eyes were fixed only on Pip and he smiled at how she was completely taken with the view too. She must have seen some incredible sights on her travels over the years, but the fact that this little island clearly held so much beauty for her as well touched him. He wondered if for her too the island would always remind her of the holiday they had spent here and all those wonderful memories.
Neve moved her head to intercept his gaze and he dragged his eyes from Pip to his sister.
‘I take it you two have talked.’
Both Pip and Wren were far enough away for him and Neve to be able to talk without them hearing, but he still lowered his voice when he spoke.
‘We spent the whole night talking.’
‘And you now have closure? You can stop wondering and move on with your life?’
He focused on his mug of tea because the last thing he had was closure.
‘I have moved on with my life, I’ve not exactly been waiting around for her to come back. I’ve lost count of the number of girlfriends I’ve had over the years.’
‘All women that you deliberately chose for some fun, never anyone that you wanted a serious relationship with. You’ve been holding back and I don’t know whether it’s because you’re scared of getting hurt again or because none of them were Pip.’
He glanced over at Pip again. Was that really the reason that he’d never fallen in love since Pip had left? Because he was subconsciously comparing every woman he met to his best friend and none of them could meet his high standards? Had he put Pip on a pedestal over the years, made the memory of her better than the real thing? Though he’d seen nothing since she’d come back into his life to think he’d oversold her.
‘She broke your heart,’ Neve said, softly. ‘I can tell by the way you are looking at her that you’re falling in love all over again. I don’t want you to get hurt.’
‘It was a silly misunderstanding that drove her away, it wasn’t her fault, not really.’
He quickly explained what had happened that day, how terrified and upset Pip had been after the accident.
‘That must have been terrible for her, and I hate that she went through that, but it doesn’t excuse what she did. She cut you out of her life with no word, no explanation. She should have had the courage to end things with you properly.’
‘She was seventeen. Did you not make mistakes when you were seventeen? Christ, we’ve both made mistakes all our lives. I don’t think someone should be judged on one rash moment twelve years ago.’
Neve had the grace to look embarrassed. Neither of them had squeaky-clean pasts.
‘So, what? You’re just going to start dating again?’ Neve asked.
‘No. I don’t know.’
‘So just sex, then?’
‘No.’ He didn’t know the answers.
‘What do you think will happen if you guys get involved again? Spend cosy nights together by the fire? She is leaving in just over two weeks. You’ll fall in love and she’ll leave just like she did last time. She has spent the last ten years or more travelling the world, seeing the most wonderful things on planet earth. Do you honestly think this tiny one-town island would be enough to make her want to stay? There’s nothing for her here. The bright lights of the big cities, the beautiful beaches of Thailand or Australia, the rainforests, the great canyons and mountains, we don’t have any of that. And the worst thing is that it won’t just be your heart that will get broken all over again; this time it will be your daughter’s heart too. Pip hasn’t even been here a day and Wren adores her.’
Gabe looked at Neve and wondered if she was scared of getting hurt too, of letting Pip in again and watching her walk away at the end. They had all been hurt by Pip’s departure when she was seventeen. It had hit him the hardest but he knew they all had felt her loss, almost as if she too had died in the lake that day.
‘Wren has never got attached to the women I’ve dated before.’
‘You’ve not had any of the women you’ve dated live with you before. Wren never got a chance. Don’t get me wrong, I like Pip, I really do, but this is not going to end in the way that you hope it will. She has been running her whole life and a few weeks with you is not going to change that.’
‘I know.’
‘Why don’t I take her round the island over the next few days? If you’re not with her all the time it might be easier for you when she leaves.’
Pip glanced over at him and flashed him a brilliant smile.
‘You’re right, I know you are. But if I let her go without giving us a second go, I’ll always be wondering if I missed my chance, whether she really is the one that I’m meant to spend the rest of my life with. We could spend the next few days together and realise there’s nothing left between us, maybe there’s no spark at all, and we’ll just end up being friends. If that’s the case then I’d finally be able to let her go. But I have to know whether there is something there worth fighting for.’
‘I don’t think spark will be a problem; it practically crackled between you over breakfast.’
Gabe smirked. Neve was right. The little glances and smiles between him and Pip as they had eaten breakfast, it seemed all new and exciting all over again, like riding a rollercoaster and making their way to the very top. He knew he was going to get hurt again but there was also nothing he could do to stop himself as he tumbled over the other side.
Piper stood outside the main reception area while she waited for Gabe. She quickly finished writing the email to Wendy, explaining that she didn’t think it would be a good idea to do this review, that there was too much of a conflict of interest for her and she hoped that after ten years of exemplary service, Marcus would allow her to start her sabbatical early.
She shoved her phone back in her bag and looked around. Fresh snow had fallen overnight and the lodges looked so pretty in the grounds of the hotel. Fairy lights were strewn from all the roofs though she was yet to see them lit. Apparently, the power still hadn’t been restored to the guest accommodation.
In the daylight everything seemed bright and clean, the winter sun sparkling off the snow and ice. The sky was a beautiful cornflower blue with not a single cloud to dull the effects of the sun. She pulled her camera out of her bag and fired off a few shots of the trees, the lodges and her and Gabe’s footprints in the snow.
Gabe had promised to show her around and she couldn’t wait to see it all, although secretly she knew she was more excited about spending time with him.
It didn’t make sense to feel this way about him after all this time, it didn’t make sense that when she saw him with Wren it made her want to weep that she could have had a child with him and she had missed out on that. She had never wanted to be married or have children, she was perfectly happy on her own, or so she had told herself over the last twelve years. Looking at him now, she couldn’t help imagining what could have been and hopelessly imagining what still could be, which was ridiculous – as he’d said himself, they could never go back.
There was something more between them now that had never been there before. She had fallen completely in love with Gabe when she was younger and of course she was attracted to him, but the chemistry that was zinging between them over breakfast was almost tangible and not something she had ever felt before. Maybe it was years of suppressed feelings that had built up or maybe it was just something more basic than that and nothing more than lust and desire, just two people who were attracted to each other wanting to do dark and wonderful things to each other. She smiled at the glorious thoughts that were suddenly running through her head. Being just friends was going to be torture.
A noise in the trees made her glance over that way and she noticed Leo and his gang of reprobates were back, glaring at her through the leaves of the fir trees. It was silly for the islanders to be scared of such tiny ponies and she couldn’t possibly imagine any trouble these animals could cause, but as she endured their endless gaze she felt a shiver down her spine. Was it her imagination or were they all staring at her as if they were planning her untimely demise?
Leo stepped forward towards her and bizarrely started scraping his foot against the floor as if he was a bull about to charge at her.
The door opened behind her and she looked round to see if it was Gabe. She was startled to see the most gorgeous, blond male model walking towards her, looking like he had just stepped out of a catalogue advertising winter ski holidays. He had the most incredible blue eyes and those chiselled cheekbones that could cut glass. She quickly turned back to the ponies, not wanting to be caught off-guard and mowed to the ground, but the blond model had clearly scared them away as they disappeared back into the trees.
She looked back at the model again and as he saw her he smiled.
‘I think you just saved me from the evil ponies,’ Piper said.
‘Ah, their attitude is worse than their bite.’ He strode towards her and bent to kiss her on the cheek.
‘You must be Pip, you are more beautiful than Gabe described,’ he said exuberantly. He had a foreign accent, Swedish maybe or Icelandic. He surveyed her at arm’s length, smiling knowingly.
‘I’m Boris, I’m a groundsman here and snowmobile instructor. I have many jobs actually,’ he smiled again.
Piper couldn’t help but smile too. When Gabe and Wren had talked about Boris the night before, she’d imagined an old man, not this sprightly vision of loveliness.
‘It seems I also owe you a debt of gratitude; you looked after Wren last night when I was supposed to be watching her. It had been a long day, shovelling snow and getting ready for your arrival and I was so tired. I closed my eyes for five minutes and when I woke up she was gone. I was horrified.’ Boris put his hand to his chest.
‘It was no problem, I saw her dancing in the snow and I just wrapped my coat around her and took her back to her home.’
‘Wren loves the snow. Chester doesn’t really like it so much. That’s my son. She was playing with him, but then, from what I can gather, they were playing hide and seek and Chester climbed under the bed and fell asleep. Wren couldn’t find him and I was asleep, so she went outside to play in the snow alone. Mikael was furious with me. Oh, here he comes now. Shush, don’t mention about last night, he has only just forgiven me.’
Another blond sexy hunk of a man came out and down the steps towards them, clutching a sweet little blond boy on his hip. The boy had the most massive blue eyes and was sucking his thumb.
‘Mikael, this is Gabe’s Pip. Pip, this is my husband Mikael and our son Chester.’
Chester stared at her with unblinking eyes and Piper tried hard not to smile at the fact Boris had said she belonged to Gabe.
Mikael, clearly not as affectionate as his husband, offered her his hand and a small smile. ‘Hello, pleased to meet you. I hope my husband has apologised for last night. We are not negligent parents or babysitters.’
‘I didn’t think you were, these things happen and I’m sure Wren was perfectly safe. If I hadn’t found her, I’m sure some of the other staff would have. The island seems like a very safe place to raise your children.’
‘It is a haven,’ Mikael said, softly.
The door opened again and Gabe appeared at the top of the steps, carrying Wren over his shoulder. As soon as Chester saw her, his whole face lit up.
Gabe trotted down the stairs towards them. He plonked Wren on the ground and Chester wriggled to be out of Mikael’s arms. Mikael put him down and Chester immediately hugged Wren, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Wren hugged him back as tightly as she could when they were both wearing padded snowsuits and then, holding hands, they ran off together to play in the snow nearby.
Something jolted inside Piper. She and Gabe had been exactly the same when they were little, going everywhere together, holding hands and cuddling each other. That affectionate relationship had never worn off; in fact they had just grown closer and closer over the years.
Gabe watched them go with a smile and then turned his attention back to Piper. ‘Are you ready for the tour?’
She nodded.
‘I thought we’d take the snowmobiles. There’s quite a lot to see and it’s certainly faster and more fun.’
‘That sounds great.’
‘I have two ready for you, boss,’ Boris said. ‘And if you want to leave Wren with us, we’d be happy to look after her. I know Chester would be pleased too.’
Boris looked at Gabe hopefully, clearly wondering if Gabe had forgiven him.
‘We would take very good care of her, Mr Whitaker,’ Mikael promised.
‘Of course she can stay with Chester if that’s what she wants. And I don’t want you to feel bad about what happened last night. She keeps wandering off all the time; I’ve had a stern word with her about it this morning. It’s so different here from where we used to live. We had a small garden with six-foot high fences, she was always outside playing but she was safe, she couldn’t wander off. Here there are no fences and I think she sees the whole island as her back garden. But I trust you both. I know you’ll take care of her.’
‘Thank you, Mr Whitaker,’ Mikael said.
‘Gabe, I keep telling everyone to call me Gabe but it’s not sinking in.’
‘You are Mr Boss Man, that’s why,’ Boris said.
Gabe sighed. ‘Let me see what Wren wants to do.’
He called her over and she came running back to him. He knelt down and she threw herself into his arms.
‘Wren, I’m going to take Pip round the island. You can come with us if you want or you can stay here and play with Chester, Boris and Mikael.’
Wren didn’t hesitate for a second. ‘I want to stay with Chester.’
‘That’s fine, honey. I’ll see you later. Remember what I said to you this morning. No wandering off.’
‘No, Daddy, I promise.’
Gabe stood back up and smiling his thanks to Boris and Mikael, he waved goodbye to Wren and motioned for Piper to follow him.
They were silent for a few moments, until Piper knew they were out of hearing distance of Boris and Mikael.
‘You’re a good man.’
Gabe looked at her with surprise as they walked. ‘Why?’
‘Because Boris was clearly upset about the whole thing and you just put them both at ease. Other parents wouldn’t be quite so understanding.’
He shrugged. ‘Wren is my entire world, but there’s no need to be an arsehole over her safety. Accidents happen and the exact same thing happened to me three weeks ago. I woke up early in the morning and found her gone, rushed outside and she was playing on the slope outside our house. She knows not to go too far. I told her off more about going off with a stranger than for leaving Boris’s house.’
Piper winced. ‘That was my fault. I told her that I wasn’t a stranger because we knew each other’s names. I just wanted to get her in the warm.’
Gabe considered her carefully. ‘It’s fine at the moment because she knows everyone here so there are no strangers for her to be worried about, but in a few days the place will be filled with guests and I can’t bear the thought of her wandering off with one of them.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s OK. You were only doing what you thought was best.’
They walked on in silence, the only sound their boots crunching on the snow as they headed round the outside of the main reception and down a track.
‘What made you come here, build this resort? From what you told me last night you’re used to developing hotels in much more glamorous resorts than this,’ Piper said.
‘The Golden Oak was my grandad’s. Do you remember him?’
‘Oh, I remember the old man that ran the place, I didn’t remember he was your grandad.’
‘That’s because we never called him that; he was always Andrew, never Grandad. He said “Grandad” made him feel old.’
Piper smiled. ‘I remember him. He was wonderful, funny, always had some scary story to tell us around the fire. And so much energy, walking all over the island with us.’
‘We spent many holidays up here with him, some of the fondest memories of my childhood took place here. It was hugely popular in the summer. Lots of people used to camp up here on the hills and fields. When he died the place just fell into ruin. I didn’t have enough money or experience then to try to start over with this hotel. But it was always my plan to improve it and relaunch it as something better. I never realised how much of a vital part my grandad played in the tourism of the island. He’d rent out bikes, organise horse rides, he even took people out in his boat. There were decent shower facilities for the campers and many of them would pay to have breakfast in the hotel too. Without him here there was very little for people to come back for. The summer months have always been popular with the whales that migrate up here, plus the puffins and other rare birds, but the tourists can see a lot of that from the other Shetland Islands and the other islands had much better facilities.’
They rounded a corner and Piper saw what appeared to be some stables up ahead.
‘The island was dying and I knew we had to do something to return it to its former glory. I just didn’t want my grandad’s legacy and hard work to die with him. I knew if we were going to bring the tourists back here, it wasn’t enough to provide good facilities for the bird watchers and whale watchers in the summer months; I had to develop something that would be attractive to tourists all year round and the whole island had to be a part of that. We had a meeting with the islanders and we agreed that we would turn the island into a winter and Christmas resort.’
‘A town called Christmas. I think that’s a wonderful idea.’
Gabe nodded. ‘Everyone wanted to be a part of it. We fitted out the houses in the village so they look like wooden lodges, even though they are mostly stone or brick underneath. The villagers all run a Christmas-themed shop from their own front room, but we worked hard to make sure that each shop is completely different from any other in the village so there is no competition, everyone sells something unique. We have a house that makes crêpes of all sorts of different flavours, one that sells candles, one that sells hats, scarves and gloves. A lot of the products they sell they make here on the island. We also advertised for a few artists and craftspeople to come and live in the empty houses, giving them a place to live and sell their wares but also expanding the market and not leaving any houses empty, either.’
‘So you have a year-long Christmas market?’
‘Yes. People love Christmas and one of the things I noticed about the gift shops in the hotels I own, the one thing that sells consistently well all year round are the Christmas decorations. Obviously the market won’t just be Christmassy; it’ll be more winter-themed than anything. Hot chocolates, fudge, jewellery, those things will sell well all year.’
‘People will love it. What about the hotel itself? The lodges look great and the main reception area and dining room are so pretty. What else have you changed?’
‘One of the big draws of the island are the Northern Lights. Or the Merry Dancers as the villagers call them. We see them so frequently up here and they are an attraction that so many people want to see. Have you ever seen them?’
Piper shook her head. ‘Never. Whenever I’ve been somewhere that’s north enough to see them and at the right time of year, I’ve always been really unlucky with the weather.’
‘You’ll see them while you’re here. I guarantee it.’
Piper laughed. ‘You can’t guarantee it.’
Gabe nodded. ‘Juniper Island is magical, can’t you feel that?’
‘Feel what?’
He stopped and turned towards her and she stopped too. He was a few metres away as he looked around for something to prove his point. His gaze fell on her.
‘Close your eyes.’
She frowned at him for a second but closed them anyway.
‘Don’t open them until I tell you,’ Gabe whispered.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
‘Just…feel.’
She didn’t know what she was supposed to feel as she listened to the silence of the woods around them.
Suddenly she knew Gabe was standing there right in front of her. He hadn’t made a sound, she couldn’t feel his warmth, but she knew he was there. Excitement thrummed through her at his proximity, goosebumps dancing down her spine. She smiled. But a few moments later she knew he had stepped away.
‘Open your eyes,’ he said.
She opened them and he was exactly where she had seen him last, though he was grinning at her.
‘Did you feel it?’
‘I felt something, I’m not sure it was the island.’
‘Sure it was. There are many explanations for the Northern Lights, lots of myths and legends. My grandad said they were spirits in the sky who would light their torches to guide lost travellers home.’
Piper swallowed as he stared at her. Had she really been lost all this time? ‘I like that explanation.’
‘Home isn’t always a house and it isn’t always where you grew up; sometimes it’s just a feeling.’
He stared at her and she couldn’t take her eyes off him and despite the fact he was a few metres away this time, that same feeling crashed through her, that same spark she had felt moments before. Eventually he looked away, letting out an embarrassed chuckle.
Piper looked around too, for want of something to do other than stare at him. ‘I can see a lot of people will want to discover the magic of the island themselves. It’s a beautiful place.’
‘It is.’ Gabe continued to walk down the path and she joined him at his side. ‘People will make the journey purely just to see the Northern Lights, but I wanted to give them somewhere warm and comfortable to watch it, considering that the most likely time to see it is in the winter months. We’ve made glass igloos and put large glass roof windows into most of the bedrooms in the lodges. With regards to other entertainment, there is a sledging and donut run at the back of the resort. We’re also going to have an outdoor ice-skating rink. We have snowmobile trails for the winter and we’ll have bike trails and horse riding in the summer, just like my grandad used to have. But the cherry on top of our cake is the ice palace. It’s not cold enough to have a real ice palace like they do in Sweden or Quebec, so ours is made from glass and fibreglass. But inside, the ice carvings, walls, seats and slides are all made out of ice. Wren can’t wait to see it, she’s convinced it’s actually Elsa’s ice palace.’
‘She’s not seen it yet?’
‘I wanted it to be special for her, so I said I’d take her Christmas Eve. That’s where she was taking you last night – she’d clearly decided to take matters into her own hands and to go see it herself.’
Piper laughed. ‘I like her style. Do you think though, that all this will only attract guests in the lead-up to Christmas?’
‘No, hopefully not. We are trying to hold an event every month of the year. We are having a big ice-and-snow carving competition in January and a big ice festival too, with different entertainment. We’re encouraging weddings all year round, especially in the ice palace, but we also have a licence for the dining room. We have a few weddings booked for next year already. Our first one is booked for Valentine’s Day. We have lots of shows booked throughout the year, using the ice palace as an auditorium when we won’t have ice carvings; we even have a Cirque du Soleil coming in May. We also have the Great Island Race in the spring, which will see a boat race between here, the most northern island, and the other Shetland Isles, and hopefully the wildlife will bring people back in the summer.
‘We also offer free and cheap boat tours to the other islands. I didn’t want to be that arsehole who steals all the tourism from the other islands. I’m hoping that if people come here that perhaps wouldn’t have considered a holiday in the Shetland Islands before, free boat rides will tempt them to visit the other islands too. We’ll also offer whale-watching boat tours and scenic boat tours around the islands. We’re going to offer helicopter rides over the islands as well, although guests will have to pay for those as an added extra.’
‘And what about the grand opening? I’ve heard some of the staff talk about it, they’re clearly very excited. What do you have planned?’ Piper asked.
‘We’re having a Christmas carnival on the evening that all the guests arrive. There’ll be a procession from the hotel, down to the ice palace and round to the lake where there will be a firework display. The procession will take in all the sights and facilities of the resort but will also showcase the spectacular views of the island. All the villagers and staff will be involved and wearing Christmas costumes, some of them will even be performing. We have fire-breathers, dancers and other entertainers flying up here for the night. It will be quite the show and I know everyone here is looking forward to it.’
‘Sounds like a lot of fun, I’m sure the guests will love it. You’ve worked so hard, people are going to flock here.’
‘I hope so. We’ve poured so much into developing it, so much time and money. It has to work now, I can’t let the islanders or my grandad down.’
It was so important to him and she was touched by his passion to save the island. This would never be a good moneymaker: it was so remote and hard to get to that it could never make as much as his New York, California or London hotels. But he knew that and he was still pouring everything he had into it.
She had slipped her hand into his before she even realised what she was doing and he faltered in his step as he felt her touch.
‘It’ll work, I guarantee it.’
He looked down at her. ‘How do you know?’
‘Because the island is magical.’
He laughed.
‘And because you want it to work so badly, you won’t possibly let it fail.’
He stared at her and then down at her hand. She went to pull away, but he held her hand tighter.
‘Wanting something badly doesn’t always mean you get it. Sometimes you can do everything humanly possible to keep something and you still lose it.’
She knew he was no longer talking about the hotel.
‘And sometimes it’s no one’s fault, fate just has a knack of getting in the way,’ he added, sadly.
‘And maybe sometimes fate has a way of making up for it,’ Piper said.
He nodded thoughtfully as he walked. ‘A second chance?’
She hesitated before she spoke. ‘If you’re willing to take the risk.’
He gazed down at her and then loosened his fingers from her hold. ‘I’m not sure if I can.’
She took a step away from him. Her being there was difficult for both of them, she understood that. She would just accept the friendship from him and not push him for any more than that. It was her fault that they had ended up in this situation and she couldn’t expect him to throw himself into her arms again just because she had come back after twelve years.
‘It’s not a great time, Pip. We have the grand opening in a few days, the place will be filled with journalists. There’s still stuff we need to get ready. I can’t afford to take my eye off the ball. Plus there’s Wren to think about and…’ he trailed off.
‘It’s OK. I get it.’
‘You do?’
‘No second chances.’
He pulled a face. ‘I’m not saying… I just… You leave just after New Year’s Day and…’
‘It’s fine,’ Piper reassured him. ‘It was silly to even suggest it. Seeing you again reminds me of all those memories and feelings. I know you feel it too. But we really are better off as friends.’
He stared off into the distance and sighed.
‘And you certainly don’t need to babysit me or feel you need to be with me if you have other things you need to do. I don’t want to be in the way. But I’d be happy to help you with any last-minute preparations if you want me to.’
‘You’re on holiday.’
‘I’d like to help. That’s what friends do, isn’t it?’
He was silent for a moment. ‘There are probably a number of things you can help me with over the next few days. I stupidly gave most of the staff a couple of days off ahead of the Christmas rush and there are still a few things that need to be done.’
‘That’s settled then. You can give me the guided tour today, so I know where everything is, and tomorrow you can put me to work.’
He smiled. ‘OK.’