Just at that moment, Meredith appeared at the side of the table balancing a fresh bottle of wine and two new glasses, courtesy of Flynn.
‘Thank you, Meredith,’ said Julia, noticing Flynn was walking over towards them from the corner of her eye.
‘Julia, I’m sorry again,’ he said sounding sincere. ‘Enjoy your drinks.’
He was just about to walk off when Eleni invited him to sit down. ‘Come and join us; you can’t know too many people here.’
He looked towards Julia, who gestured for him to sit down.
‘Not many,’ he admitted, looking pleased they’d invited him to sit with them. ‘Thank you,’ he slipped onto the bench opposite them.
‘Can I get you a drink?’ Meredith asked, still hovering by the table, and then promptly hurried to retrieve Flynn a cold beer.
‘So tell me about Heartcross?’ Flynn looked between Julia and Eleni. ‘It seems such a relaxed place when dogs aren’t pinching sausages off plates or I’m not throwing buckets of cold water over residents.’ He gave Julia a wicked grin.
Julia shook her head in jest. ‘You don’t want to go falling out with the residents of Heartcross, you know. We are a very close community.’
She studied his face when Meredith reappeared with his drink. He seemed relaxed. There was a certain charm about him, and he was always polite. Julia began to question if this was the same man who had dumped Anais. She remembered back to how ugly that day had been, but the man sitting in front of her seemed to have a totally different personality. Maybe he was lulling everyone into a false sense of security?
As soon as Meredith disappeared back inside Julia carried on talking. ‘Life in Heartcross is wonderful, and very busy this time of year.’
‘You own the local B&B,’ he queried. ‘You must be full?’
‘Always full,’ answered Julia proudly. ‘I love my job and as I’m the only accommodation in Heartcross, except for the camping site up at Foxglove Farm, then yes it’s always extremely busy, which is good for me.’
Flynn took a swift look around the beer garden. It was packed full of people enjoying time with their family and friends. ‘And is this the only pub in Heartcross?’ he asked, taking a sip of his beer.
Eleni chipped in, ‘It is, and it’s always heaving, and everyone is great company. The food is amazing, the atmosphere always friendly and this is the place to come when the weather is scorching.’
‘It certainly looks like the place to come,’ agreed Flynn. ‘And the company is definitely great,’ he gave Julia a look that again nervously flipped her stomach.
‘Well, the jury is still out on my part after having a bucket of ice-cold water thrown all over me.’ But if the truth be told Julia felt very comfortable in his company, which surprised her after the past they’d shared.
With a huge beam on his face, Flynn dropped his head to his hands. ‘There was a perfectly reasonable explanation, I didn’t want you to be set on fire.’
Julia brought her hands up to her chest. ‘He saved my life!’ she joked.
Eleni was watching in amusement. ‘You pair should join an amateur dramatics society,’ she rolled her eyes and topped up her glass.
Julia felt as though they’d hit it off straight away. There was a chemistry between them that surely he felt too, but there was still that nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Flynn was a player, who’d jilted his bride on their wedding day. She didn’t want to admit to herself she found him funny, charming, and she certainly wasn’t going to put herself in the firing line to be hurt. She’d already witnessed what he was capable of doing.
‘Anyway, now I’ve saved your life,’ he chugged back his beer, ‘I’ve got some errands to run, so hopefully I can save your life again someday soon.’ He gave Julia a look that once more gave her a little skip in the pit of her stomach. Flynn stood up and popped his empty glass on Allie’s tray as she walked past.
As soon as he was out of sight, Eleni swiped Julia’s arm playfully. ‘And the way he looks at you… smitten is what he is, mark my words.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, he’s only just met me again after all these years and our history is not exactly amicable.’
‘The feeling I get is he wants to be very amicable.’
‘Very funny,’ replied Julia, noticing the huddle of boys in the corner begin to scatter in different directions. ‘Jack’s on the move, I want to grab him before he disappears.’ Julia looked down at her T-shirt which thankfully was nearly dry.
As Jack walked past, Julia called over to him. ‘Just the man I want.’ She smiled.
‘That’s always good to hear, unless I owe you money,’ he replied with a cheeky grin and hovered by the edge of the table. ‘How are you? Enjoying the sunshine?’
‘Very much so,’ replied Julia. ‘Let me introduce Eleni, who’s working alongside me at the B&B.’
Jack held out his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you.’
Eleni shook his hand. ‘Likewise,’ she replied, with a warm smile.
‘The quote you gave me – how are you fixed to start work on the B&B as soon as possible?’ she asked in a hopeful tone. ‘The planning permission came through today.’ Julia couldn’t wait to get started. She was excited about the expansion to her new business and wanted all the rooms rented out by the spring.
‘Julia, I’m so sorry, we’re currently working up at Starcross Manor and have a number of other jobs pencilled in after that. It could possibly be Christmas time or just after? But I can definitely book you in for then? Ping me an email and I can add you to the diary.’
Julia sighed. ‘And there’s no chance starting at mine until before then?’ She felt a tiny bit frustrated. She wanted everything to happen now, straight away.
‘I can’t commit, the job at Starcross Manor is already running over, which has a knock-on effect on everyone else waiting.’
‘That may not be too bad,’ reassured Eleni. ‘There’s still the possibility you could be up and running for springtime.’
‘Yes, you’re right.’ Julia turned back towards Jack. ‘We’ve just been up that neck of the woods. It’s going to be a lovely place to retire to,’ remarked Julia, thinking about the Manor House.
‘Retire?’ asked Jack, looking slightly puzzled.
‘Starcross Manor… the rumour is it’s being converted into a retirement home.’
‘That’s the thing about rumours: they aren’t always true. Starcross Manor isn’t a retirement home.’
Julia looked towards Eleni, then back towards Jack. ‘What’s it going to be then?’
‘A five-star hotel.’
Those four words hung in the air.
For the second time today, Julia felt that time had slowed. She squished her eyebrows together and tilted her head to one side. ‘A five-star hotel – it can’t be. Everyone is saying it’s a retirement home.’ She needed clarification that she’d just heard Jack correctly.
‘Well everyone is wrong. I should know, I’m the one working up there.’ Jack looked over his shoulder to his friends who were leaving. ‘Ping me that email Julia, and I’ll be in touch,’ he said, heading back over towards his friends.