Escape for Christmas, page 19
‘I think so. Yes, but I’ve never been so terrified in my life.’
‘No wonder. You did amazingly well.’
‘Brody did the hard part, helped by one of the guests who used to be a nurse. We’re so lucky they were both here.’
‘You played a huge role, organising everyone. No wonder you’re in shock at what’s just happened.’
‘I need to make sure everyone’s alright.’
‘You sit down,’ Amber ordered with surprising firmness. ‘We’re going to a look after you, for a change. All of us.’
‘Good idea,’ Suzanne agreed. ‘I’ll help make drinks for everyone. The Mountain Rescue Team have brought some camping stoves for us to use.’
Una and Hugo appeared from the kitchen. ‘We’ve got tea and coffee here, and I hope it’s OK, but we all put our welcome biscuits and treats together.’
‘And we brought our Christmas presents for each other,’ Hugo said sheepishly.
Una gazed up at him. ‘Know we shouldn’t, but we did. Hugo loves a luxury biscuit, don’t you?’
‘I do, and Una can’t resist dark chocolate. I bought a giant box.’
‘You don’t have to give us your Christmas presents,’ Sophie said, touched by their thoughtfulness.
‘I can’t think of a better use for them.’
A short time later the guests were handing around steaming mugs of tea, snacks and hot chocolate for everyone. Never had Sophie seen the house more crowded, but it felt good to be surrounded by people.
She needed some fresh air to collect herself, so she grabbed her coat and went into the garden. Her hands had stopped shaking and it was bitterly cold, but she needed the jolt of fresh air and silence after the chaos that had unfolded. The snow had stopped and the night sky was clear. Torchlight and voices spilled out, along with laughter.
Sophie allowed her breathing to return to normal. Disaster had been averted, thanks to Brody’s help. And what a woman Anna Nowak was … And her guests had rallied together to help.
‘There you are, you star.’
Nico’s voice startled her. He held out a large mug, steaming madly in the crisp air. ‘I brought tea, with lots of sugar. You look like you need it.’
‘Thank you,’ Sophie said, taking it. She sipped and rested it on the stone wall. ‘I’m not a star. Anna is.’
‘Of course,’ agreed Nico. ‘But you organised us. I must admit, when I booked this, I’d no idea I was going to become part of a real-life nativity with a Christmas baby.’
‘Believe me, neither did I. If I’d known this was going to happen, I’d never have organised this weekend.’
Nico laughed and, once again, Sophie couldn’t help but wonder why he was really here, not buying the story he’d told them all earlier.
‘Can I be honest?’ she said, feeling that what they’d been through together had broken down the usual host–guest barriers.
‘Of course. I always think it’s best.’
‘I’ve been wondering why you booked in here at all? I mean, Agatha, Una and Hugo are lovely people but, like a lot of my guests, they are on the more mature side.’
‘OK, I’ll be honest. I couldn’t find anything else at the last minute.’
‘Anything better?’ she said, watching him through the steam from her mug.
‘No, actually. It was the quirkiness of the offer that attracted me. There were a couple of options promising turkey, tinsel and carols, but they appealed about as much as a limp lettuce. Your escape, on the other hand, leapt out at me … For all kinds of reasons,’ he added cryptically and with a touch of sadness, Sophie thought.
She smiled. ‘It’s not turned out quite how I expected.’
‘On the contrary, it’s greatly exceeded my expectations.’
The moon came out. Was that a twinkle in Nico’s eyes?
‘Particularly the hostess,’ he added smoothly. ‘You’re a remarkable woman, Sophie.’
Even in the chilly air, she felt warmth rise to her cheeks at the compliment from this handsome man. Then she reminded herself that, so far, the previous two good-looking and charming men she’d allowed into her life had let her down badly. Of all her ‘escapees’, Nico struck her as the one with the biggest reason for running away and hiding from something.
‘I’m just an ordinary person trying to do my best,’ she replied firmly.
‘Sophie?’ Brody appeared on the terrace, still in shirt sleeves, with damp hair.
‘Ah, the hero of the evening,’ Nico murmured.
‘Sorry?’ Brody said brusquely. ‘Sophie, the rescue team is preparing to move Anna and the baby to the helicopter. It’s almost here. I wondered if you might like to come to the sports field with me and see them off? They won’t be long, because the biggest danger now is the baby getting cold. The helicopter has the proper equipment to keep them warm.’
‘Oh yes!’ Sophie declared. ‘Would you mind making sure everything’s OK here?’ she asked Nico. ‘Especially Pete and the children, and Agatha. She was amazing, but she needs looking after now. I’ll be back soon, but I feel I want to see Anna and the baby safely onto the helicopter.’
‘Of course, I’ll hold the fort.’ Nico smiled ‘By the way, well done, mate,’ he said to Brody.
Brody grunted something vaguely resembling a ‘Thank you’ before striding off towards the front of the building. Sophie followed, drinking her tea on the move.
By the time she was inside the house, Brody was back in his coat, holding a torch. The mountain-rescue team was carrying Anna and the baby out in a stretcher chair, both swaddled like mummies against the cold. Pete saw her off to the gate. The Nowak children couldn’t all go on the helicopter and Pete didn’t want to leave them, so he had to stay behind.
The doctor comforted him just before they left the house. ‘I promise we’ll let you know how they are as soon as we can. Anna’s got her phone too.’
With that, Pete went back inside. Without the team, it was darker inside Sunnyside and the tea lights and phone batteries wouldn’t last for ever. It was going to be a very long night. Sophie grabbed a torch and hurried out after the team. Even in wellies, it was hard going, the snow coming almost to the top of her boots in places.
Felltop Farm had lights on downstairs, but the rest of the village was mostly in darkness. She and Brody walked past the fallen tree that had allowed a stretcher party, but not a vehicle, to pass.
‘We’ll get that cleared in the morning by one of the local farmers,’ Brody suggested.
‘The snow still has to thaw before anyone can leave, though,’ Sophie said. ‘So it’ll be Boxing Day before we can get out.’ Ironic, she thought, that her guests had come to escape and now they were trapped.
The roar of rotors grew louder as they trudged towards the sports field where the helicopter was waiting. The crew was hurrying towards the stretcher and, within a minute, both Anna and the baby were safely aboard. The mountain-rescue team moved away and the helicopter took off, snow spiralling into the air from the downdraught.
The thought of them soaring high in the sky to safety brought a lump to Sophie’s throat. The rotors died away and she felt herself choking back tears. She found Brody’s hand in the small of her back briefly – before it was hastily withdrawn, as if he’d suddenly remembered the tension between them.
She looked at him, his face uplit by torchlight. He looked completely shell-shocked.
‘They’ll be fine now,’ Brody said. ‘You did incredibly well.’
‘I only watched. Anyone would think you’d done it before.’
‘I was terrified of hurting the baby or Anna. I have never been so happy to see anyone as I was when the rescue doc turned up.’
‘Me too, but not because I didn’t have total faith in you,’ Sophie said, adding quickly, ‘in your abilities.’
‘I’m glad you did. Even though I’ve attended hundreds of animal births, that was something else.’
She stopped and listened. A distant clanging cut through the still night.
‘It’s the church bells up in the village,’ said Brody. ‘It’s Christmas Day.’
‘Christmas Day …’ She thought of all her plans to avoid it, and how they’d paled into insignificance compared to the situation they’d had to deal with. ‘I’d forgotten about that.’
‘Me too, but it’s here, and I have a suggestion for you. I’ll tell you on the way back to Sunnyside. I don’t know about you, but I’m freezing my bits off.’
When Sophie heard his plan, she was dumbfounded. ‘Move everyone into your house until the thaw? We couldn’t possibly do that – apart from Pete and the kids coming to yours. They can be cosy and have a proper bed, in their own room. We can’t all troop over to you, though. We can’t invade your home.’
‘I’m not suggesting you all sleep at the farm, only that you come over in the morning. You’ll need to charge your phones and torch batteries. Why don’t you all go back to bed for now, then come over for breakfast and stay until bedtime, so you’re not spending the day with no power.’
Everything he said made perfect sense. It would be so much more comfortable for her guests – and, Sophie had to admit, for her too. However, there was one big problem.
‘What about Tegan?’ she said.
‘She won’t mind.’
‘Have you asked her?’
‘No, it will be fine.’
‘She might not be fine when she finds ten strangers invading her space, when she’d planned a quiet Christmas Day.’
‘We were meant to go to her parents’, not stay at the farm. She’ll cope,’ he said. ‘Plans have had to change and we need to deal with it, same as we did tonight.’
They’d reached Sunnyside, which still looked strange, with its low lights and all the top floor in darkness.
‘I think …’ Sophie said, realising that she would be silly not to accept Brody’s invitation. Her guests came first, and not her pride. ‘You should take Pete and the children back with you, so they can have a proper night’s rest. I’ll tell the guests about the plan for tomorrow.’
They went inside to give everyone the news.
Sophie had to admit Brody was right about one thing: her guests would definitely not mind moving into his house. Tegan, however, might be a very different story.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
In the end Brody returned to the farm alone because the Nowak children were fast asleep on the sofas in the guest lounge. After so much disruption and excitement, Pete decided to leave it until morning to bring them over to Felltop.
In one way Brody was a bit relieved, because it meant he had time to prepare Tegan for the fact that ten extra people would be arriving for lunch that day.
Harold bounded up to him, barking for joy, and licked his face.
‘OK, boy! I haven’t been to the North Pole.’ Brody fussed him, crouching down to stroke the dog in the hall. ‘At least you love me, Harold,’ he joked, soothed by the normality of being back in his own home, with the usual Harold response.
A moment later Brody was reminded of how un-normal his life was, when Tegan walked into the hall from the snug. ‘Brody!’ she called.
He got up.
‘What’s happened?’ she asked.’ Is everyone OK? I heard the helicopter.’
‘Mother and baby are doing well,’ Brody said. ‘Thank goodness.’
She gasped. ‘Oh. My. God. You didn’t have actually have to …’
‘I had no choice. The baby wasn’t going to wait for anyone. I had the emergency services on the phone and a retired nurse and Sophie to help, but really Anna – the mother – obviously did all the hard graft.’
‘B-but you actually delivered a baby?’
‘Well, yes. A little girl. The mountain-rescue medics arrived straight after she was born, and mum and baby are now on their way to hospital to be checked over.’
She flew to him and hugged him tightly. ‘You are a hero. You really are.’
Brody cringed.
‘Come and sit down,’ she said, leading him by the hand to the armchair. ‘I’ll make you a drink and find some food. No wonder you look shell-shocked.’
‘Thanks, but I’m OK, really,’ Brody insisted, desperate to downplay his part in the proceedings. He’d already begged Kev not to mention his name in the incident report they’d be sure to post on the rescue team’s website. The fewer people who knew about it, the better. He just wanted a hot drink, dry clothes and to go to bed. However, he had some news to break to Tegan first and he was pretty sure she wasn’t going to like it.
He sat down heavily in his dad’s chair, soothed by the hollow that both father and son had created. Very softly he murmured, ‘Between us, that was a close one, Dad.’ He seriously needed a shower and longed simply to close his eyes and decompress after the past few tense hours, but he owed Tegan some time first.
She came back in, with a tray of hot drinks and mince pies. Even though it was half-past midnight, Brody was starving and very grateful.
‘Thanks,’ he said, devouring two pies while he answered Tegan’s many questions about what had happened.
‘You’ve earned a break tomorrow. You can sleep in late, and then it’ll be just the two of us together. I’ll cook dinner. It might not be turkey, but I noticed that your fridge and freezer are well stocked.’
‘Thank God for mum’s over-ordering, plus all the leftovers from the party we had the other night,’ he said. A well-stocked freezer was a tradition going back to his parents’ time. They’d had too many times when storms and snow had cut off the house. Now he thanked his lucky stars that his mother had badgered him into topping up the diesel to the generator the other day too.
Tegan tucked her knees under her on the sofa and pulled a blanket over her. ‘I’ll miss Mum and Dad, but it’s going to be quite cosy here with only the two of us.’
Brody put down his plate to broach the subject.
‘Well, it actually isn’t going to be only us for Christmas Day. The power in the village isn’t likely to be on until Boxing Day, so I invited Sophie and her guests to come here. It seemed wrong to make them stay in a dark house when I’ve got so much space.’
Tegan’s mouth fell open. ‘What? All of them?
‘Yes, plus the rest of the Nowaks – Pete and the two children.
‘B-but so many of them?’ Tegan spluttered. ‘Can’t they go to the pub or something?’
‘It will be closed on Christmas Day. It’ll be a difficult Christmas for all the villagers after this heavy snow has knocked out the power and blocked the roads.’
‘Oh, why don’t you ask the whole village then!’ Tegan said, flopping back against the sofa in a huff.
‘I’m not leaving Sophie and her guests to freeze, when we have power and light. I’d invited the Nowaks to stay with us tonight, but the kids were already asleep, so we decided not to disturb them and bring them out in the cold. They’ll be here in the morning, however,’ Brody said firmly, surprised to see that Tegan was being so selfish about this.
‘Right. Well, I suppose we’ve no choice.’
‘I do have a choice. And I’ve made it.’
It was, he thought, the first time he’d seen her taken aback by something he’d said. Perhaps the first time he’d truly surprised her because he’d not let her have her own way.
Tegan looked very annoyed and he half expected her to flounce off to her room in disgust, but instead her frown melted into a smile.
‘Wow! Is this the new Brody? Decisive, determined, stubborn.’
‘I’m only interested in doing the right thing by people. The practical thing.’
She shook her head and sighed, with another smile. ‘You know your problem, Brody McKenna? You’re too damn nice.’ She pushed off the blanket, came over to his chair and planted a kiss on his cheek. Then she yawned and stretched her arms above her head. ‘I suppose I’d better go and get some sleep if I’m going to have to play hostess.’
Brody watched her go, but her words chimed in his head like the midnight church bells: ‘Too damn nice.’
He didn’t think of himself as ‘nice’, just an ordinary man doing his best. A best that hadn’t been good enough for Tegan, and certainly not for Sophie. While he cared about the children and the guests, he had to admit he’d mainly invited them for Sophie’s sake. He was determined to make amends to her, in any way he could.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sophie woke with a crick in her neck the next morning, a cat kneading her stomach and total disorientation. Why was she in her tracksuit on her sofa under a spare duvet? Why was it already light? She should have been up in the darkness, preparing breakfast … now it was almost 9 a.m.!
Belle licked her toes, which were poking out of the duvet. Slowly the events of last night came back to her, along with snatches of children’s voices from the hallway.
Miaow!
‘OK, OK, I know you want your breakfast too.’
To say she hadn’t had the greatest night’s sleep on the sofa was an understatement. Although Agatha and the Hartley-Brewers had kindly helped to clear up her bedroom, she’d need to give it a deep clean before she felt comfortable being back in there. Memories of what she’d seen in her bed kept coming back to Sophie and making her shudder, even though the outcome had been joyful.
She got up, fed the cats and showered hastily in water that was barely tepid. The other guests would be enduring similar privations and she suspected they might all have left if they hadn’t been cut off by the snow. She certainly wouldn’t have blamed them, after the disaster their stay was turning out to be – a world away from what they’d signed up for.
At least the weather had decided to behave for Christmas morning. Winter sunlight, made dazzling by the snow, shone into the dining room as everyone enjoyed a makeshift breakfast. The boundaries between guests and landlady had long gone, with everyone lending a hand and making the best of things. Nico had brewed up coffee on the camping stove, while Una put the croissants in the oven, which was still slightly warm. Agatha and the Hartley-Brewers had laid the tables in the dining room.
