Wish Upon a Star (17 page)

The only physical contact they’d had had been the passionate sex they’d shared the night of the Snow Ball. And that hadn’t counted, she told herself miserably, because he’d been provoked.

Why was he still not touching her?

Alessandro had such a high sex drive that never before in their marriage had she found herself in the position of having to initiate sex, but now she was starting to wonder whether she should go down that route.

But what if he rejected her?

She bit back a hysterical giggle as she prepared the children’s lunch and got ready to take them to her mother’s for an afternoon of Christmas shopping. It must be awful being a man, she decided. They faced rejection every time they went near a woman.

She was just pouring coffee into mugs when Alessandro strode into the room, talking into his phone.

She could tell from his responses that he was talking to Sean about a rescue, and when he snapped the phone shut she looked at him expectantly.

‘Trouble?’

‘A party of teenagers were climbing in the gully and it avalanched.’

Christy winced. She knew how dangerous that climb could be because she’d done it herself plenty of times when she’d been younger.

‘How much do we know?’

Alessandro was already hauling equipment out of the utility room where it had been drying. ‘Two of them were above it and managed to get to the top and raise the alarm. The third is stuck on a ledge.’

‘So we’d do best to approach from the south-east ridge and then we’ll be above him. It’s just the
best
abseil,’ Christy breathed, and Alessandro scowled at her.

‘I always hated you doing that climb.’

She grinned. ‘It was fun.’

‘It was dangerous. And you have two children to think of now.’

Her smile faded. It was true, of course, and she would never take unnecessary risks. But at the same time she wished that sometimes he could think about
her
, rather than the children.

‘So are we the advance party?’

Alessandro nodded. ‘Yes, but it’s going to take a large team to get him down if he’s badly injured.’

Christy glanced out of the window. ‘At least the weather looks pretty good. Should be able to fly a helicopter in this.’

Katy danced into the room. ‘When are we going to Grandma’s?’

‘Right now.’ Alessandro grabbed the rest of the equipment and strode out of the kitchen, with Christy and the children hurrying close behind.

They dropped the children and then Alessandro drove out of town towards the road that would allow them to take the fastest route to the gully.

The sun glistened on the snow and Christy frowned. ‘Not a great day to climb that particular route,’ she murmured, casting her mind back to her own experiences. ‘The snow gets very soft if the sun is out.’

‘They’re fortunate that only one of them is injured,’ Alessandro growled as he swung the car into the lay-by and switched off the engine. Jake and Sean walked towards them.

‘We’ve got four hours before dark,’ Sean said, his expression grim as he stared up the path they needed to take. ‘Let’s shift.’

They walked fast and reached the top of the gully within an hour and half.

Alessandro immediately abseiled down the gully to assess the state of the injured boy, careful not to dislodge rocks as he went.

Below them, at the foot of the gully, Christy could see the deep, tumbled snow that had avalanched off the steep face.

‘They were lucky,’ she said to Jake, who was now beside her and delving into his pack for the ropes he was carrying. ‘They could have been buried under that.’

She watched as Alessandro attached the boy to his rope and saw him reach for his radio. Then he spoke to Sean, passing on details of his injuries.

‘We’re going to need to lower him to the bottom of the gully on a stretcher.’

Jake rolled his eyes and Christy grinned.

It was the most equipment-intensive rescue that they performed and immediately she started to identify safe anchor points that could be used to secure ropes.

While Alessandro gave first aid to the casualty and tried to ward off hypothermia, Christy and Jake set up the lowering belay for the stretcher and handlers.

‘This is going to be fun,’ Jake muttered, as he found another anchor point and then rigged the stretcher for a vertical lower. ‘Which mad fools are going to volunteer to act as barrow boys?’

The stretcher would be held by a static rope at both ends and helped down by two ‘barrow boys’ who were responsible for abseiling down alongside the stretcher to control the descent.

Each rope was secured to the crag by five equalised anchor points, and by the time the team had finished preparing, ropes were criss-crossing the crag.

It took another hour of intensive teamwork to lower the casualty safely to the bottom and move him out of reach of further avalanches.

While all three teenagers were protected in a bivvy tent, Alessandro did a more detailed survey of the injured boy and Sean communicated with the helicopter.

Fifteen minutes later they heard the familiar clack-clack and the helicopter came up the valley towards them. The helicopter dropped an orange smoke bomb to give an indication
of wind speed and direction and everyone made sure that everything was securely anchored down.

First Alessandro was winched into the helicopter, ready to receive the patient. Then the winch man was lifted with the stretcher across his waist, a high line preventing the stretcher from spinning round in the wind. Christy watched from the ground as the stretcher drew level with the open door and the winch operator helped ease the stretcher into the helicopter.

Then they jettisoned the high line and soared down the valley towards the hospital.

‘Which leaves us to get ourselves off this hill in darkness and freezing cold,’ Jake muttered. ‘Why does Alessandro always manage to hitch a lift?’

‘Because he’s a brilliant A and E doctor,’ Christy said as she started collecting equipment and preparing for their descent.

Jake looked at her. ‘Hero-worship?’

She gave a wry smile as she pushed a rope into her rucksack. ‘Possibly. But I think it’s love, unfortunately.’

‘Why unfortunately?’

‘I don’t know.’ Christy heaved her pack onto her back. ‘I suppose because I still don’t really know where I stand with him.’

‘Have you tried blunt conversation?’

She looked at him. ‘I suppose I’m afraid to do that,’ she said honestly. ‘Afraid I might push him into saying something I don’t want to hear.’

Like ‘I don’t really love you any more but I’m willing to make an effort because of the children’.

Jake glanced up at the lethal gully. ‘You just went up there without batting an eyelid and now you’re expecting
me to believe that you’re afraid of having a conversation with your husband?’

‘That’s me.’ Christy scuffed at the snow with the toe of her boot. ‘Miss Coward.’

‘Hardly.’ Jake waited as the team picked up the last of the equipment and then they all started their descent into the valley.

CHAPTER NINE

C
HRISTY
collected the children from her mother’s and they were sparkly eyed, thoroughly over-excited and weighed down with various bags and rolls of wrapping paper.

‘When Santa came down the chim
ney
,’ Ben sang loudly, and Katy grimaced.

‘Don’t
sing. I’ll give you all my pocket money if you stop singing. It’s gross. If Father Christmas hears you he’ll take a detour because the noise is so terrible.’

Christy glanced in her rear view mirror. ‘Did you guys buy anything with Grandma?’

‘Loads,’ Katy said happily, and Ben beamed.

‘We bought you a—’

‘Shut up!’ Katy glared at him furiously. ‘You don’t tell people what their presents are, stupid.’

Christy sighed as she took the turning that led to the barn. ‘Don’t say “shut up”, Katy, it isn’t nice, and don’t call your brother stupid.’

‘Well, having all your secrets blown by your baby brother isn’t nice, and he is stupid,’ Katy muttered. Christy parked the car and switched off the engine. She wondered what
time Alessandro would be back. Hopefully not too late. She wanted to spend the evening with him.
And the night.

Maybe it was time for her to take the initiative, she thought to herself as she undid her seat belt and turned off the headlights.

After all, she’d been the one to stalk away after their passionate encounter in the maze at the Snow Ball. She could hardly blame him for keeping his distance.

‘Tomorrow is Christmas Eve,’ Ben announced as he wriggled out of his seat belt and opened the car door. ‘We can hang up our stockings. Do you think he’s set off yet?’

‘Who?’ Christy dragged her mind back to the practicalities of life, rescued her wet gear from the boot and trudged towards the barn.

‘Father Christmas, of course.’ Ben frowned up at her, his sweet face innocent and puzzled. ‘I don’t see how he can get round the whole world in one night, do you? If he doesn’t set off until tomorrow, he’s never going to make it. You say there’s no such thing as magic, so what will he do?’

‘I… er…’ Christy struggled for a suitable reply as she found her keys and opened the front door. ‘Well, we can’t understand everything that happens in the world,’ she hedged, ‘and I think Father Christmas leaves the exact amount of time he needs to do his job,’ she said finally. Katy rolled her eyes.

‘He won’t need long for you, anyway,’ she told her brother loftily. ‘You haven’t been that good this year.’

Ben’s face crumpled. ‘That’s
not
true.’

‘You’ve both been good,’ said Christy, keen to hurry them inside and avoid a row. ‘Who fancies some mince pies? I made them earlier.’

‘Me!’ both children shrieked simultaneously and they
piled into the kitchen, dropping bags, hats and gloves onto the table and dragging chairs across the floor.

‘Grandma was telling us about her nativity play,’ Katy said, biting into a mince pie. ‘Mary had nits and the two halves of the donkey started fighting halfway through.’

Christy smiled as she reached into the cupboard for a large casserole pot. ‘Your grandma always has good stories at Christmas.’

Her mother taught the reception class at the local primary school and the highlight of the year was the nativity play.

‘Then the innkeeper said, “We’re totally empty, how many rooms would you like?”’ Katy continued, curling her leg under her as she helped herself to another mince pie. ‘And Joseph and Mary were so confused they completely forgot their lines and then one of the shepherds tripped and fell on the baby Jesus and—listen to this because it’s the best one—one of the three kings said, “I bring Frankenstein.”’

Christy laughed and Ben frowned. ‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘Because the King brings frankincense. Franken
stein
was a monster.’ Katy yawned. ‘A bit like you, really.’ She reached an arm across the table and Christy removed the plate quickly.

‘Enough, or you’ll be too full to eat your tea. Go and play a game while I get supper ready.’

‘Let’s play squash the present.’ Katy slipped off the chair and grabbed Ben’s hand. ‘We’ll squeeze and prod and shake and see if we can guess what’s in the parcels. Then we’ll see if we’re right on Christmas Day.’

‘If you haven’t broken it,’ Christy pointed out dryly, dropping onion into melted butter and frying it gently. She was wondering if she had time to take a shower before Alessandro arrived home.

Quickly she browned meat, added stock, wine and herbs and slid the casserole dish into the oven.

The children were sprawled on the living-room rug, bickering over a game of Monopoly that they’d started the day before.

Christy smiled as she watched them. They argued but there was no denying the love between them. Her children were gorgeous, she thought to herself.

Deciding that she could safely take a shower without war breaking out, she sped upstairs, stripped off quickly and padded into the bathroom.

She showered quickly, washed her hair and then padded into the bedroom and stared into her wardrobe, hoping for inspiration.

What was she going to wear? Something that would ensure that Alessandro would notice her.

But nothing too obvious or she’d look ridiculous.

Katy wandered into the room, wearing jeans, a baggy jumper and stripy socks. ‘Are you going to dress up for Dad?’

Christy felt the colour rush into her cheeks. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because you’ve got a funny look on your face and you’re staring into your wardrobe instead of grabbing a pair of jeans.’

Was that what she usually did? Christy frowned. She wore a uniform for work and it was true that when she arrived home she often just pulled on the nearest thing, which was invariably jeans and a jumper.

‘Wear red,’ Katy advised, springing onto the bed and sitting cross-legged. ‘Dad always looks at you in a funny way when you wear red.’

Wondering just when her daughter had become so observant,
Christy reached into her wardrobe and pulled out the red dress. It was made of the softest jersey fabric and skimmed over her curves. She’d always loved it but she hardly had occasion to wear it any more.

She’d been wearing it the night of their anniversary. The night he hadn’t turned up. The night she’d decided to leave in order to shake him up.

What exactly was happening to their relationship now?

Certainly things between them had improved dramatically. They were working together and in many ways their relationship felt the way it had before they’d had children.

But did he really care for her or was he making an effort because he valued the institution of the family so much?

She wriggled into the dress, slipped her feet into a pair of high-heeled shoes that she loved and frowned at her hair.

Should she try and straighten it?

It tumbled in crazy, dizzying waves down her back, gold and russet mingling with rich copper. Occasionally she had it blow-dried straight, but left to its own devices it curled and twisted.

Wild, passionate hair, Alessandro had always called it.