Fairytale Christmas on the Island (Scottish Highlands & Island Romance #4)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Skye and Holly hurried inside their house out of the cold after Brodrick dropped them off. He’d already dropped Lyle outside the tea shop. Waving to them and insisting he was used to the snow, Lyle drove off home.

They hung their coats up in the hall and Holly lit the fire.

While Holly added kindling, Skye phoned Innis.

‘We’re home safe,’ Skye told him as promised.

‘Thanks for letting me know. We’ve ensured all the guests are inside the castle. It’s going to be a stormy night, so keep warm,’ Innis advised. ‘This type of snowstorm usually hits during the night and the worst of it is gone by the morning. Everything will be covered in extra snow, but it’ll make the slopes perfect for the sledging.’

‘Still up for the challenge?’ There was teasing in her tone.

‘I am,’ he replied firmly. ‘Unfortunately, I’m going to be extremely busy with the cake shop and helping Finlay and Ean get everything ready for the ball. You probably won’t see much of me until the sledging challenge.’

Skye knew she was going to be crazy busy too. ‘See you on the slopes,’ she said.

After finishing the call Skye flopped down on the sofa.

Holly warmed her hands by the fire. ‘Does Innis know that you turned yourself into a sugar cookie when you were up the hill in the snow?’

‘No, but I nearly blurted it out myself this evening when we were talking up at thistle loch.’

Holly laughed. ‘You’re rubbish at keeping secrets, even your own.’

Skye didn’t disagree. ‘Innis brought up the subject of settling down — and marriage.’

‘He talked to you about getting married?’

‘Well...he skirted around the topic, gauging my reaction, wondering if I was interested in settling down and getting married.’ Skye told her the details.

‘It sounds like Innis is hooked on you. Lyle and I noticed the way he looks at you.’

‘I heard Lyle invite you to go with him to the ball.’ Skye nudged the conversation away from herself.

Holly blushed.

‘You’re blushing,’ Skye teased her.

‘It’s the heat from the fire.’

Skye threw her a look of disbelief.

‘Okay, so I’m going to the ball with Lyle. But you’re changing the subject. Tell me more about what happened with you and Innis at thistle loch.’

‘When he noticed the storm coming, we started to hurry back, but my boots were slowing me down in the deep snow so Innis lifted me up and carried me part of the way.’

‘Oooh! How chivalrous of him.’

Skye laughed. ‘He’s very strong. I’m going to have to try extra skulduggery to beat him on the slopes. Are you challenging Lyle?’

‘No, we’ve agreed to just have fun and leave the mischief–making to you.’

‘Smart move.’ Skye reached for her knitting bag, pulled out the partially finished pink hat and continued to follow the pattern and knit a few rows before they got ready for bed.

‘Are those more pom poms you’ve been making?’ Holly peered into the knitting bag.

‘I had plenty of spare white yarn so...’

‘Why do you need all those pom poms for your woolly hat?’

‘They’re not for my hat. I’ve already made the large pink one for the top.’ Skye held it up like an exhibit. It was large, pink and she’d made it extra fluffy with a teasel brush.

‘What are the white pom poms for then?’ said Holly.

‘They’re fake snowballs. For the challenge,’ Skye told her succinctly. ‘Let’s see Innis dodge these.’

Holly laughed. ‘You’re going to hurl woolly pom poms at him?’

‘Bamboozlement technique.’

‘Lyle was right,’ Holly conceded.

‘About what?’

‘That Innis won’t stand a chance against you on the slippery slopes.’

Skye smiled.

Holly glanced at the snow falling outside the window. She got up and went over to peer out. Skye put her knitting down and joined her.

Snow was sweeping along the coast like a blizzard.

‘I’m glad we got home when we did,’ said Holly.

‘Yes,’ Skye agreed.

‘Oh, I meant to tell you, at the waterfall tonight, Finlay invited us to join them at the castle for the traditional festive meal on Christmas Day.’

‘You and me?’

‘And Lyle. Finlay and Ean will be there with Merrilees and Ailsa. He’s invited Rory and Rowen too. We’re all invited as friends to join them at their private table in the function room where the guests will be having their Christmas dinner.’

Skye was delighted.

‘I said yes. You were away with Innis. But I thought you’d love to spend Christmas Day at the castle.’

‘That would be wonderful. It means that after the ball on Christmas Eve, the celebrations aren’t over.’

‘A fairytale ball and then a fairytale Christmas on the island.’

‘What will we wear on Christmas Day?’ Skye sounded excited.

Holly frowned jokingly. ‘I don’t know. There must be a shop that sells dresses.’

They laughed.

‘There’s that red velvet dress hanging on your currently loved rail in the shop,’ Skye reminded her.

‘And the emerald velvet and satin fifties wrap dress,’ Holly remembered.

‘I’ve never worn the rose tea dress that’s on my rail. Or the vintage pink brocade dress.’

‘Fortunately, it’s snowing or we’d be running down to the shop to try them on.’

Skye peered out the window at the snowstorm and pretended to make light of it. ‘We could tackle the blizzard.’

Holly balked at this idea for a moment and then realised that Skye was winding her up.

‘Come on, it’s getting late, we really should get some sleep.’

Holly agreed. ‘Especially if we’ve more dresses for Christmas at the castle to sort out in the morning.’

‘And scheming and mischief to plan,’ Skye reminded her.

‘We’re going to be busy.’

‘It’ll make the time fly in until it’s the sledging challenge.’ Skye rubbed her hands together with glee.

‘I definitely agree with Lyle,’ Holly reiterated, putting the guard up in front of the fire and turning the lounge lights off. ‘Innis won’t stand a chance against you.’

The time did fly in.

In the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, carol singing, dress selecting and posting out the last minute orders to their customers, Skye and Holly were now getting wrapped up warm in their winter wear to tackle the snowy slopes.

Lyle offered to drive them up to thistle loch and they’d taken him up on this.

Holly sat up front with Lyle while Skye sat in the back and wrestled with the fairy lights she’d entwined in her pink woolly hat. The large, fluffy pom pom hid the little battery pack, and the lights poked through the knitting in a colourful display.

‘Shield your eyes,’ Skye joked. ‘I’m about to turn the fairy lights on to test if they’re working.’

Lyle lowered the visor in front of him. ‘In case of dazzling flashback.’

‘They work!’ Skye yelled. She switched them off to save the battery power.

‘What have you got tucked in your jacket pockets?’ Lyle said to Skye.

‘You noticed?’

‘The last time I saw bulges like that a squirrel was stashing nuts in his cheeks,’ said Lyle.

‘It’s her pom poms,’ Holly explained.

‘Ah, do I even want to know what you’re going to do with them?’ he said.

‘Nooo,’ Skye told him.

Laughter and chatter filled the car on the drive up the forest road and on to thistle loch where the countryside was blanketed in snow.

Lyle parked alongside other cars and stepped out into the fairly deep snow. He was well kitted out in sporty snow gear and boots.

‘Careful when you step out,’ he said, making sure neither of them took a tumble before they’d even started sledging.

The afternoon sunlight was forcing through the vast grey sky that arched over the entire area, from the loch to the hills rising up into the surrounding countryside.

There were practise slopes for total beginners where Skye would’ve started if she hadn’t challenged Innis. Squeals of delight rang clear in the cold, crisp air and there was a stillness that created an atmosphere that was perfect for sledging.

The main slopes, including the most daring one, were covered in snow. After the blizzard, Innis had been right. It had faded by the morning but left its mark in a whiteout over the island. But this ensured that the snow for the sledging was fresh.

There were no trees, rocks or other natural obstacles on the slopes, giving the participants a clear run down the hills.

‘There’s Innis over by the slopes.’ Lyle gestured in the direction. ‘I think he’s seen us arrive.’

‘He’s got our sledges,’ Skye said to Holly. The pink sledge and the turquoise blue one stood out against the whiteout.

Lyle took his sledge out of the boot of his car. He’d used it for the past few years.

‘Shall we head over?’ Lyle pulled his sledge behind him and walked alongside Holly.

Skye lingered a little behind, hoping to hide the fairy lights in her hat and through the woolly scarf she was wearing by keeping her distance.

‘Is Skye okay?’ Innis said to Holly and Lyle.

‘Yes, totally fine,’ Holly assured him.

Innis wasn’t assured in the slightest. ‘What’s she got in her jacket pockets?’ He peered against a beam of sunlight streaming through the cold air.

Holly didn’t have an immediate reply, so Lyle spoke up.

‘Padding,’ Lyle told him in a voice that sounded reasonable. ‘In case she takes a tumble.’

Holly backed Lyle up. ‘Yes, Skye doesn’t have much experience of sledging, so she’s padded up.’

Innis frowned. ‘I thought she didn’t have any experience.’

‘That’s what I mean,’ Holly blustered. ‘Is that our sledges? I assume the pink one is for Skye.’

‘It is. The blue one is for you.’ Innis handed her the cord of the blue sledge.

Holly fussed with her sledge, trying to distract Innis from studying Skye too closely. ‘I’ll take Skye’s over to her. I think she’s adjusting her...eh, padding.’

Hurrying as fast as she could in snow boots, Holly pulled the pink sledge over to Skye, leaving Lyle in charge of the blue one.

Lyle kept Innis talking. ‘So, what do you suggest are the fun and fastest runs?’

Innis switched into information mode, happy to extol the benefits of the various slopes. ‘The fun slopes are those three over there.’

‘Those look busy,’ Lyle commented. ‘But Holly and I are here for the fun, not to race. Though I believe you and Skye are about to go head to head on the slopes.’

Put like that, it made Innis feel like he shouldn’t have encouraged their challenge and should’ve opted for fun like Lyle and Holly. ‘Perhaps I should cancel the challenge.’

‘No, don’t do that,’ Lyle insisted. ‘Skye’s been looking forward to it. She’ll be disappointed if you back out now.’

Innis felt like there was trouble to the right of him and chaos to the left. He’d got himself into a double–pincer trap of his own making.

Holly came trudging back over to Lyle and Innis. ‘Skye says we should head up to the hills. She’ll join us in a few minutes. She’s taking a phone call from one of our suppliers.’

‘Right,’ Innis sounded thwarted. ‘Let’s head up to the fast slopes.’

Keeping Innis’ thoughts occupied while Skye trudged from a slightly different direction towards the slopes, Holly told Innis that they were all happy to have Christmas dinner at the castle.

‘You’ll all be welcome,’ said Innis, glancing back to see where Skye had gone.

‘Is this one of the sledges from the castle that the guests use?’ Holly said to distract Innis.

‘It is. The guests enjoy getting out into the snow.’

Skye sat on her sledge, adjusted her lights, and armed herself with two pom poms in her feisty fist ready to throw them at Innis as they set off. Her plan was to knock him off his sledging stride from the get–go.

‘It looks like Skye is ready to take you on right now, Innis,’ Holly told him, sounding chirpy, hoping to encourage him to get in his sledge and take on the challenge.

And he did.

Seeing Skye all set to slide down the fastest, longest and highest slope that was there, he jumped into his sledge without hesitation.

That was his first mistake.

Hurling two pom poms at him, the first one jolted his senses. She’d fooled him into thinking it was a real snowball. The weakener in, the second pom pom bounced off his nose.

Skye cheered. A direct hit. She couldn’t have done better if she’d practised, which she hadn’t. Luck and mischief were on her side.

Realising he’d been fooled by Skye the minx, Innis tried to catch up with her.

That was his second mistake.

As Innis got closer, as he was faster and more capable on the slopes than she was, she turned on the fairy lights. Her hat and scarf lit up and now she was glowing like a Christmas tree.

Was he seeing things? He blinked. No, Skye was all aglow.

Innis burst out laughing.

That was his third and worst mistake.

While Skye continued to whiz down the slope, Innis laughed his way into a snowdrift.

Skye glanced back to see Innis and his sledge skid and falter. He was out of the game.

Shame on her, she thought, for then cheering and pressing the second button on her fairy lights that made them flash on and off.

Coming to a smooth and triumphant stop at the bottom of the slope, she looked up to see Innis dust the snow from himself and pull his sledge towards her.

Her heart thundered with excitement. She’d won! Bedazzling him with the fairy lights had been the winning hand.

‘Congratulations, Skye.’ He smiled the cheeriest she’d ever seen him.

She smiled back at him and turned the flashing mode off. ‘Thank you,’ she said, still aglow.

‘And here’s your prize.’ He dug into his jacket pocket.

‘I get a trophy?’ she squealed.

‘No, it’s a gift, an early Christmas present from me. I wanted you to have it before the ball.’

He handed her the pretty gift bag.

She peered inside it and pulled out the pink sequin evening bag. ‘Oh, this is lovely. It’ll match my ball gown. I love it.’ Forgetting for a moment, she jumped up and hugged him.

He welcomed the gesture and hugged her close to him, or as close as he could with her pockets stuffed with pom poms.

‘Sorry,’ she said, unravelling herself from him.

‘No, don’t be.’ He wanted her to feel free to hug him whenever she wanted.

Skye blushed and took the attention away from her burning cheeks by showing him the pom poms in her pockets.

‘You came well–knitted out.’

She laughed. He’d made a quip. She liked this playful side of him.

‘I hope it’s not the best of three races because I’ve used up all my tricks on the first run,’ she said.

‘Nope. Once. You won.’ He looked at the sequin bag, wishing she’d peek inside it. Never give someone a purse or a bag without popping a little something inside it for luck. He’d heard this over the years, and so he’d added something special for her.

‘Are you okay?’ She wondered why his expression had changed. And why he kept glancing at the bag. Her reaction surely showed that she loved it.

Several others had been watching Skye’s antics and came hurrying over to see what was happening.

‘Fairy lights!’ Rory exclaimed. ‘Do I even want to know where you’re hiding your batteries?’

Skye tapped her woolly hat. ‘In my pom pom.’

Finlay smiled. ‘When Innis said you were challenging each other, I never expected this.’

‘I’ve got it on my phone,’ Lyle announced. ‘I’ll send you all copies.’

‘I’m going to put my gift in the car,’ said Skye. ‘Then we can all have fun on the slopes. No more challenges.’

Everyone had plenty of fun.

Finlay and Merrilees whizzed down the slopes, and Ean gently pushed Ailsa on her sledge giving her a start on one of the long hills. Skye and Innis waved across to Brodrick and Elspeth as they whizzed by each other, while Holly shared a slide down the slopes with Lyle. Rowen squealed as Rory took a daring dive into his sledge and slid front down all the way to the bottom of one of the fun slopes.

A mellow golden glow shaded over the day as the afternoon wore on, but by then everyone was tuckered out and ready to head home for their dinner after a great day.

Lyle drove Holly and Skye back home, along with Ailsa. Rory took Rowen with him to have dinner at his house. Finlay walked Merrilees to the nearby stargazer cottage and then headed back to the castle with Innis and Ean.

The three brothers had a lot of last minute things to attend to for the ball the following night, but everyone was looking forward to a fairytale Christmas Eve dancing the night away.

Skye and Holly changed into their cosy pyjamas and slippers, and Skye lit the fire while Holly made an easy dinner for them.

‘I enjoyed the sledging,’ Holly called through from the kitchen, popping a savoury vegetable pie topped with mashed potatoes from the freezer into the oven. ‘Lyle has invited me to go again after Christmas.’

‘I’m definitely having another run at the slopes.’ Skye watched the fire spark into life and then picked up the pink sequin bag Innis had given her. The sequins glittered in the firelight. ‘This bag will be a great match for my ball gown.’

‘Now we know what Innis bought from Ailsa.’ Holly rattled around in the kitchen, putting out the plates, cutting thick slices of bread, buttering it with butter she’d made herself from Lyle’s recipe, and filling the kettle for tea.

Skye admired the shimmering sequins and then opened the bag to take a peek inside at the pink silk lining. And gasped!

‘Something wrong?’ Holly called to her.

‘You should see what Innis has put inside my bag!’ Skye’s voice had notched up into a beyond excited zone.

Holly wiped her hands from buttering the bread and hurried through.

Skye held up a diamond bracelet that outshone the glittering evening bag.

‘Wow!’ Holly gasped too.

‘I’ll have to call Innis and thank him.’ Skye scrambled to find where she’d put her phone. Finding it, she called him, her heart racing wildly as she fastened the bracelet on her wrist and watched the diamonds scintillate in the gold setting.

Innis was helping Finlay, Ean and Murdo organise the function room for the ball. Dinner for guests was being served in another room so that the makeshift ballroom could be decorated in Christmas grandeur.

Up a ladder, draping twinkle lights over the buffet area, assisted by Finlay, Innis took the call while balancing on the top rung.

‘Skye, is everything okay?’

‘A diamond bracelet!’ The words were out before she could form them into a coherent sentence to thank him properly.

‘Ah, you’ve peeked inside the bag.’ He smiled, hearing the effect his gift had on her. Clearly it was the right choice.

Skye now understood why he’d been glancing at the bag when they were on the slopes. ‘I didn’t know you’d put another gift inside the bag,’ she explained.

He told her about not giving a bag without putting something in it.

‘Yes, but...wow! Just wow!’

‘I wanted you to have it before the ball. When I saw it, I thought it was fit for a fairytale princess.’

She thought her heart would burst with joy. ‘Lucky for you that you’re at the castle because I’d squeeze the breath from you.’

‘Can I have a token for that to be collected when I see you at the ball?’

‘Oh, yes.’ She took a steadying breath and thanked him again for the bracelet. ‘But it’s sooo much, Innis. Not that I don’t love it. And I’m keeping it, and wearing it to the ball, just so you know.’

He laughed at her excited chatter.

‘What are you up to?’ she said, trying to calm down. ‘I hear a bit of chaos in the background.’

‘Standing on top of a high ladder adding more fairy lights to the decor for the ball.’

‘You can never have too much Christmas razzle–dazzle,’ she reminded him chirpily.

He mirrored her question. ‘What are you up to?’

‘I’m dazzled by diamonds and about to have dinner by the fire.’

‘Sounds cosy.’

‘It is. And very, very sparkly.’

On a happy note they ended the call so Innis could get on with lighting up the function room ready for the ball.