Page 72 of A Festive Surprise

‘Ah, yes.’ Robyn’s husband. Robyn and Holly were still chatting about business. With her diverted and all the family scenes surrounding him, the shard of loneliness in his soul pricked. He had none of this. Take away Holly and he was just Farid. Single. Alone.

Tables were set around the edge of the dance floor with mini fibre-optic Christmas trees, glowing alternate colours that slowly faded out, then reappeared. Georgia waved to them from a busy table close to the window. ‘We’ve got seats for you here.’

Farid pulled out the chair for Holly to sit first. He nodded at Archie. Another couple sat next to him. There was Autumn from The Boat Shack, cradling her tummy. A tall, dark-haired man stroked her back. Beside him was Blair with his partner, Rebekah. A woman possibly in her late forties was next to her and, on her other side, Mike.

‘Hello, Mike.’

‘Hi, Farid. How are you?’

‘Good, thank you.’

‘This is Vicky, my wife-to-be.’

Farid nodded to her.

‘And my son, Blair, and Rebekah.’

‘We met before. Hi.’

‘Autumn is Vicky’s daughter,’ said Mike. ‘And Richard is her husband.’

‘Hi,’ said the dark-haired man.

‘And this is Farid,’ said Georgia. ‘For those who don’t know. He’s working on the estate with us, and this is Holly, my old uni pal, though just to warn you, none of you need to know details of the stuff we got up to.’

‘Even me?’ said Archie.

‘Especially you.’ Georgia leaned on him and he patted her back. ‘So glad you two could make it.’ Georgia looked between Farid and Holly. ‘And it’s so cute you’re together.’

‘Yes,’ said Holly quietly. ‘I’ll get drinks.’

‘Let me,’ said Archie. ‘I’ll get it. What would you both like?’

‘White wine, please,’ said Holly. ‘And thanks.’

‘Irn Bru for me, please,’ said Farid.

Archie headed for the bar and they chatted among themselves. Georgia and Autumn were talented at telling stories that kept everyone smiling.

‘I actually did fall for Richard on a trip here,’ said Autumn.

‘As in, you tripped and fell down a hill,’ Blair chipped in.

Autumn covered her face and chuckled. ‘Yes.’

‘I still don’t know how you didn’t break your neck,’ said Richard.

Farid’s eyes strayed to Holly. She was resolutely silent, barely even smiling when the others laughed. As soon as she had a drink in hand, she knocked it back.

A microphone crackled into action and a thin woman with spiky white hair tapped it. ‘Thank you for coming, everyone. We have quite a night lined up for you; some of our most talented islanders will entertain you.’

Georgia patted Archie on the knee. Farid didn’t have to wait long to discover why. The woman at the microphone called Archie’s name and he took a seat behind a grand piano in the corner. Soon, beautiful music filled the room. Farid still wasn’t sure of the names of the songs but he could tell they were Christmassy. Georgia beamed at her husband. Holly half-rolled her eyes, her gaze landing on Farid. For a few moments, he stared deep into her pale-blue irises and his heart wept. She had the power of love but chose to withhold it. He’d tried everything to help her unleash it. He had very little left. Only his last resort. He stretched out his hand and lifted hers from her lap. The music swept around the room and Farid caressed her fingers in his, only releasing them to applaud Archie.

He stayed seated at the piano. The woman with the short spiky hair announced, ‘Thank you, Archie. Now, Magnus and Taylor Hansen, if you’ll take the stage, please.’

Per’s eldest son and his smiling young wife climbed the steps onto a small stage area behind two microphones. The onlookers hushed and the duo sang a hauntingly beautiful version of ‘Silent Night’. Farid took Holly’s hand again as the crystal-clear notes echoed around. His chest filled and a lump rose in his throat. Visions of home, family, and Holly flooded his mind. He wiped a tear from under his eye with his palm as the song finished.

After a couple more, Archie and the singers returned to their tables. A band of youngsters got up and struck up some jaunty music, inviting people to dance.

---