Pip stood at the bottom of the steps of the plane with Stephen, waiting for the guests to board. Stephen looked smart as always in his long green coat and top hat. Pip had dressed as smartly as she could for the occasion, but she wondered if she should ask Gabe if she could have some kind of uniform to present a unified front.
She stamped her feet with the cold and blew into her hands. She realised she was worried about the guests, though Stephen seemed completely unaffected.
‘Aren’t you nervous?’ Pip asked.
Stephen shook his head. He seemed unruffled about most things. ‘Why would I be nervous?’
‘Because these guests could be difficult, or they might not like it and they could tell their friends they don’t like it. Some of them are journalists and they’ll write about us in their papers or magazines. Then there’s this Mr Black to consider; he could make or break us. I just want this to work for Gabe.’
Stephen nodded. ‘Worrying about those things isn’t going to change the situation. So we might as well try to enjoy it. There will be teething problems, there always is in these circumstances. But I also know that Gabe and Neve have worked their socks off to get everything ready, they both have a lot of experience in this area and I trust them to be able to pull it off. We can’t change what Mr Black thinks of us. We can just give all our guests as enjoyable a time as we possibly can and hope for the best.’
Pip smiled at Stephen’s laidback attitude. ‘I’ll try to take a leaf out of your book.’
Stephen nodded his head towards the steps and Pip glanced over as the first guests came down them. They were a young family, the parents maybe early thirties with a boy of five or six holding the dad’s hand and a little girl of two or three fast asleep in her mum’s arms. The little boy looked entranced by the red plane and Pip quickly fired off a few shots of him and the family as they took in the plane and Stephen.
‘Good morning, Mr and Mrs Chambers, Master Nate, I’m Stephen and I’m going to be your flight attendant today. This is Piper Chesterfield, she is our official photographer for Stardust Lake Hotel. She’ll be taking some photos of you during the course of your stay.’
Pip blinked. It had been a long time since she had been Pip, but just a few short days with Gabe and his family and she had so easily assumed that identity again that she had almost forgotten her identity of Piper. To be referred to as such almost seemed alien now.
Charmed by Stephen’s easy manner, they all smiled.
Mikael suddenly appeared by Pip’s side and offered to take the hand luggage from the family. She hadn’t realised when she had first met Mikael that he was the pilot for Juniper Island Airlines. Mikael escorted them aboard where Pip knew that Elise and Carter, two teens from the village, were waiting to welcome the guests with mulled wine and hot chocolates. Everything was in place and Stephen was right, she had to learn to relax.
The next guest who came down the stairs was on her own. She was in her late forties and dressed in a suit that was too big for her. She scowled up at the sky as tiny little snowflakes danced and twirled through the air. She was obviously one of the journalists who had been told to come and cover the opening, but she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. Pip let her camera fall round her neck. The last thing she wanted was to take a photo of someone when they were miserable and probably tired. That would not be a good memory for her. Though she vowed she would get at least one natural smile out of her before she left the island.
‘Good morning, Mrs Hughes. Welcome to Juniper Island Airlines. I’m Stephen and I will be your flight attendant today. This is—’
‘Yeah whatever, can you let me get on the plane and out of this horrible weather rather than making me greet people I have no interest in getting to know,’ Mrs Hughes said.
Pip was unable to stop her jaw from falling open in shock, though, yet again, Stephen seemed unbothered.
‘Of course, Mrs Hughes, right this way.’
Stephen offered out his hand for her bag and took it from her and she stormed up the stairs as Mikael came rushing down them to escort her up.
Pip waited until the lovely Mrs Hughes was inside and out of earshot before she spoke.
‘How rude.’
Stephen shrugged. ‘The world is made up of rude people; fortunately the world is also made up of lovely people. You didn’t take her picture?’
‘There didn’t seem much point. Besides, I thought her sour face might break the camera.’
The next guests were a young couple who were obviously still in that honeymoon stage of being head over heels in love with each other. It was lovely to see. The man was holding the girl’s hand and staring at her as if he was completely and utterly in love with her, as if he wasn’t aware of anyone else in the world but her. Pip fired off a few shots of them looking at each other, giggling at some private joke before they finally noticed Stephen and the plane.
‘Good morning, Mr Richards and Miss Brown,’ Stephen said. ‘Welcome to Juniper Island Airlines.’
Stephen introduced himself and Pip and then Mr Richards escorted his girlfriend onto the plane. Pip couldn’t help smiling at them.
The next couple were American, Pip could hear them talking as they came down the steps. The couple were probably close to retirement. The woman clearly thought the plane and Stephen were really quaint and cute while the man was taking lots of photos himself. Pip fired off a few shots of them both.
‘Welcome to Juniper Island Airlines, Mr and Mrs Weatherby. I’m Stephen, I’m your flight attendant today, and this is Piper Chesterfield, our photographer.’
Mr Weatherby’s eyes lit up at the prospect of a fellow photographer. ‘What kind of camera is that?’
Pip felt embarrassed at being labelled as a professional photographer when this guy clearly knew his stuff. Just one look at his camera with his telephoto lens had Pip green with envy. She had always wanted to invest in some decent photographic equipment, but as she always had to travel light it wasn’t really a luxury she could afford or practically take with her.
‘It’s just a Lumix,’ Pip said, shyly.
‘Lumix cameras are great, I love them,’ Mr Weatherby said.
‘I’ve got some great photos from this over the years,’ Pip said, growing in confidence under his approval.
‘What kind of stuff do you like to take pictures of? Landscapes, nature, architecture?’
‘Oh, all of it. But I think my favourite thing to take is people. You can really capture the essence of a place from its people and how tourists engage and interact with the place too.’
Mr Weatherby smiled. ‘I think so too.’
‘Juniper Island is a beautiful place, I’m sure you will be able to take a lot of stunning photos here.’
‘I hope so, we both want to see the ponies.’
‘Oh, there are lots of them here wandering free around the island. Most of them are very tame and will be very obliging when it comes to having their photos taken.’
Mikael appeared then and helped them on board with their carry-on bags.
The next guests arrived through a side door with a member of the airport crew. Pip looked over as a girl of eleven years old wheeled herself to the foot of the steps in her wheelchair and a woman, presumably her mum, followed carrying a few bags.
‘Hello Poppy and Mrs Matthews,’ Stephen said before introducing himself and Pip.
‘This plane looks fab,’ Poppy said. ‘And are we staying in a real glass igloo?’
Stephen consulted his clipboard quickly. ‘Yes you are. The view is quite spectacular, I’m sure you’ll love it.’
Mikael came back down the stairs and, between him and the airport crewman, they lifted Poppy and her wheelchair up the steps and into the plane as Poppy talked to them both throughout the whole thing.
A few more guests arrived, one with a daughter the same age as Wren, one elderly couple and one man on his own.
Pip and Stephen got on the plane and Stephen got to work making sure everyone had drinks and mince pies. She took some more photos of the guests as they started to warm to their surroundings. It was a strange mix of people who were there to genuinely enjoy it and journos who were there to report on the place. Pip just hoped that Stardust Lake Hotel would capture all their hearts as it had captured hers.
By lunchtime all of the guests had arrived. Gabe had met most of the guests personally and although some of the journalists were obviously there only to review the place, everyone had seemed charmed by the little log cabins, open fires and the beauty of the island. There had been one guest, Mrs Hughes, who had complained about a few things, but that was always to be expected. He still had no idea who the dreaded Mr Black was, but as everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves there was no point worrying about it too much.
The one thing he was worried about was Neve. He watched her get up from the lunch table and run to the toilet holding her mouth. She was sick and had been for several days. She was trying to hide it, but she wasn’t eating her food and this hadn’t been the first time he’d seen her run to the toilet to throw up. Thankfully Adam was here to help support her and lighten her workload a little, but despite Gabe’s insistence that she take a few days off, she refused to do so and it just made him so worried. The village doctor was away on holiday and wouldn’t be back till after Christmas. He wanted Neve to visit the doctor on one of the other islands, but she kept saying she didn’t have time. He’d offered to pay for a doctor to come out to the island, but Neve didn’t want that either. Thankfully with their mum and dad here, they might persuade her to see a doctor or at the very least take a few days off to recover.
Gabe couldn’t help wondering if the stress over the whole Oakley thing was at the heart of the sickness. He knew how painful and upsetting it was to try to get over a broken heart and he was so tempted to call Oakley and get him to come here and sort things out between them. If ever there was a couple that were meant to be together, it was Neve and Oakley. As far as he could see they should never have broken up in the first place.
He understood that Neve was scared, but he also understood what it meant to love someone completely and what it felt like when that love ended. If Neve and Oakley were meant to be together then they should try to find a way to make it work.
Adam came and sat opposite him with a cup of coffee in his hand.
‘She’s not well, is she?’
Gabe shook his head.
Adam took a sip of his coffee. ‘I appreciate the fact that you might not want to tell people, but if she’s pregnant then I need to know.’
Gabe nearly choked on his lunch. ‘Pregnant? Christ, that thought never even occurred to me. If she is, she certainly hasn’t mentioned anything to me.’
Adam nodded thoughtfully. ‘I only ask because my sister was exactly the same way when she was pregnant with her first child, off her food, certain smells set her off. It’s probably nothing more than stomach flu though.’
Gabe stared at his plate and then back at Adam. ‘It would actually be something of a relief if she was pregnant. At least I wouldn’t be worried about her being sick because she had contracted some awful disease. What a mess though, if she is.’
‘I take it her and Oakley are no longer together?’
‘She broke it off with him. By all accounts the poor boy is heartbroken.’
Adam shook his head. ‘She’s a fool. She’s crazy in love with him. What possible reason would be good enough to end it?’
‘I don’t know. I think she thought he meant more to her than she did to him and wanted to get out before she fell completely in love with him. Although it’s too late for that. I don’t understand it. They were crazy for each other, any fool could see that.’
Adam sighed.
‘I’m glad you’re here,’ Gabe said. ‘She really needs you right now.’
‘I’m glad I’m here too, maybe I can talk some sense into her.’
‘Hopefully you can because lord knows I’ve tried.’
Adam finished his coffee. ‘I’ll do my best.’ He nodded subtly in the direction of Neve as she came back from the toilet. ‘Any problems or issues I need to be aware of in the hotel?’
Gabe shook his head. ‘Everything seems to be going like clockwork.’
Adam nodded and stood up to leave, snagging Neve’s arm on the way out.
Gabe attempted to finish his lunch but couldn’t. If Neve was pregnant that wouldn’t fit in with her grand plan for life. But then children never came to order. He’d never wanted children himself until Wren came along and now he wouldn’t change a single thing. It would be hard for Neve as a single mum but he would support and help her, just like she’d supported him when Wren had arrived. Hell, if she was pregnant, Gabe would phone Oakley and tell him to get his arse on the next plane and come and sort things out with Neve. There was no way Oakley would leave her to raise his kid alone and he had a right to know. Of course all this worrying could be completely unnecessary, but if she was pregnant she would surely have to tell him at some point. Preferably sooner rather than later.
‘Daddy!’
He smiled as his daughter made her presence known, her little feet running across the dining room. He turned and swung her up in his arms and she placed tiny little kisses across his face. ‘Hello Princess, have you had a good morning with Nanny and Pops?’
Wren nodded. ‘I’ve shown them the reindeer and the puppies and they really want to go to the ice palace. Can I go with them, Daddy?’
‘No, I want to take you on Christmas Eve, that’s the day after tomorrow, so you don’t have long to wait.’
Wren pouted a little but seemed to accept it. His mum and dad came to sit with him.
‘How’s your morning been? I hope Wren hasn’t forced you to watch Frozen too many times?’
His dad laughed. ‘We haven’t seen it yet today, but Wren was kind enough to sing us a few of her favourite songs…several times.’
Gabe sat Wren down in the chair next to him and kissed her head. ‘Well, that sounds very nice. What are you going to have for lunch?’
‘Do they have fish fingers today?’
‘I’m not sure but I bet Chef would do them for you if you were to ask him nicely. I’ve got to go and send some emails, but I’ll be back soon.’
Wren’s face fell. ‘Are you not having lunch with me?’
‘No, but I’m spending the rest of the day with you. As soon as you’ve finished your lunch, me, you, Nanny and Pops will spend the rest of the day together.’
‘The whole day?’ Wren grinned.
‘Yes.’
‘And Pip too?’
‘We’ll see Pip tonight, but I think she’ll be busy today.’
Wren frowned. ‘I like spending time with Pip.’
‘I do too. Hopefully she might stay with us a bit longer and we’ll get to spend a lot more time with her.’
‘I want Pip to stay forever.’
‘I want that too, but it might not work out that way. Go and ask Chef if you can have fish fingers and I’ll see you as soon as you’ve finished lunch.’
Wren wriggled down from her chair and ran off to the kitchen door.
‘I’ll see you guys shortly,’ Gabe said to his parents and stood up to leave.
As he was leaving the restaurant, Pip was walking in. She was positively beaming and it filled his heart to see.
‘Have you enjoyed taking photos today?’
‘It’s been brilliant. I think I’ve found my niche in life, this is what I’m supposed to do.’
He smiled, longing to reach out and touch her. But although he was quite happy to kiss her in front of the staff, he knew it would be unprofessional to do so in front of the guests who were starting to filter in for lunch.
‘Do you have five minutes?’
Pip nodded. ‘Yes, just five minutes, though. I need to grab a very quick lunch before a lot of the guests go down to the ice palace this afternoon.’
‘Come up to my office.’
Pip frowned in confusion but followed him up to his office anyway. He stepped inside, leaned round her to close the door, then kissed her hard. She let out a gasp of shock for a second before she kissed him back.
There was something so wonderful about just kissing her, her taste, her smell, her warmth, the fact that she obviously enjoyed it as much he did. Her kisses were so sweet and innocent and her obvious affection for him completely disarmed him.
He groaned as he pulled away, leaning his forehead against hers and holding her close.
‘Did you just bring me up to your office so you could kiss me?’
‘I’m not even going to deny it. I couldn’t kiss you downstairs in front of all the guests, certainly not in the way I wanted to kiss you and I couldn’t not kiss you. You’ve been gone for just a few hours and I missed you already.’
He cringed inwardly at how pathetic he sounded. He was trying to play it cool with her, to not let on how he was feeling, trying to hold back from falling in love with her, but he was failing miserably. He didn’t want to scare her off either with being too full on. But weirdly she didn’t seem bothered by his need for her.
‘I missed you too. So we have the fireworks and carnival after dinner, but maybe, after we’ve put Wren to bed, you can show me just how much you miss me then.’
He grinned. ‘I look forward to it.’
‘I better go. I’ll see you at dinner?’
He nodded, kissed her again briefly this time and then watched her leave. He sat down at his desk and opened up his email account. He quickly fired off one email and had just opened up a new one when Neve walked in.
‘Hey, how are you feeling?’ Gabe asked.
‘I’m fine. Please stop worrying about me. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t send Adam to sniff around me as well.’
‘He’s worried too.’
‘There’s no need. I’m fine.’ She sat down in the chair opposite his desk and his eyes immediately found her stomach. Was it any bigger? It still looked flat to him.
‘Can you remember which holiday company Pip said she worked for?’ Neve said, snagging his attention away from what could possibly be his niece or nephew.
‘I can’t remember. Was it Ocean View?’
‘That’s what I thought she said.’
‘Why do you ask?’ Gabe asked.
‘Because I’ve just been in touch with Ocean View about their new brochures and our prices and I told them their photographer was here. I asked them for which brochure they were considering using the photos she’s taking and they didn’t know anything about her. They said they didn’t have any photographers out at the moment and they didn’t know any photographers under her name.’
‘Well that’s weird. Maybe it was Ocean Wave not View.’
‘Oh maybe,’ Neve said.
‘Or Seaview? There’s a holiday company called Seaview, isn’t there?’ Gabe suggested. ‘Maybe we got them confused. Or Pip got confused. She’s freelance and she said she works for lots of different companies. If she was working for Ocean View last week and this week she’s working for Ocean Wave she might have given us the wrong name by mistake.’
‘Maybe. Though that doesn’t explain how Ocean View hadn’t even heard of her.’
‘Well it does, if they hire her through an agency. They might not actually have any dealings direct with her.’
‘That’s true,’ Neve said.
‘I’ll ask her tonight.’
‘OK. I just want to make sure that whoever she is with has the most current information. Especially if she intends to quit her job. I want to make sure they have all the photos and information before she leaves.’
‘Is she quitting her job?’
‘Well, it sounded like she was. When we talked about her being our photographer this morning, it sounded like it was a permanent thing for her.’
‘She says she wants to stay but…’ Gabe trailed off.
‘You don’t believe she will?’
‘I’m just not sure it will be enough for her. The island, life as a step-mum, me. I don’t want her to regret giving up that glamorous life of travelling the world for me. Every time she speaks about her job, she is filled with so much excitement and happiness about her travels and I’m just not sure she will feel the same way about staying here.’
‘If she loves you, she’d never regret it.’
‘I suppose that’s the trouble, I don’t know whether she does.’
‘Giving up that life to stay here is a big change for her. If she is already putting the wheels in motion to make that change happen after just a few days, I’d say the chances of her already falling in love with you are pretty high. Give her a chance. I know I was against the two of you getting together at the start, but she wants this to work as much as you do.’
Gabe nodded. He knew she was right.
Neve stood up. ‘Find out who she works for because with talent like hers, whoever she walks away from is going to be pretty pissed off at losing her. If they know they are losing her to us, they might be even more annoyed. I’d like to pre-empt that if I can.’
‘She’s freelance, I wouldn’t think they’d be that bothered. Sure, she has a ton of talent, but there must be hundreds of freelance photographers out there that can step into her shoes.’
Neve opened her mouth to protest and, not wanting to cause her any more stress, he held up his hand to stop her. ‘I’ll find out.’
‘Thank you.’