‘Secrecy? What secrecy? I’ve not hidden the fact from anyone! There’s been planning applications stuck to lampposts and in the local newspaper. I’ve been upfront about everything I’ve been doing, Julia.’ Flynn was direct.
‘Except you haven’t come directly to any of us because you must have known you wouldn’t get the village’s blessing. We have long-standing businesses in Heartcross and you just come along with an agenda to make more money. Where do we fit in with all of this?’
Flynn raised an eyebrow, but Julia didn’t let him answer.
‘A hotel with a swanky spa, swimming pool, gym, restaurants and shops will put this place out of business. Who would want to book a room here when they could have all that less than a mile up the road?’
Julia had to admit Flynn looked a little stunned, his colour paled.
She continued, ‘And why do you think Hamish is so upset? His shop is his life, and now you are opening up another one within your hotel. People will have bought their newspapers before they’ve even wandered into the village.’
‘It’s not my intention to put anyone out of business…’ interjected Flynn.
‘I suppose you are going to tell us all now that a little bit of healthy competition never hurt anyone,’ chipped in Julia, hearing her own voice rise a little.
‘There will be room in the village for all of us, the hotel will bring in more tourists…’
‘And they will be spending all their money within your hotel complex and the Boathouse. It’s a win–win for you isn’t it, Flynn? But what about everyone else?’ Julia finished in a rush.
Flynn looked exasperated, his mouth open. ‘Julia, what is going on here? You seem quite hostile towards me all of a sudden, when I’ve only ever been friendly towards you. All I know is that my contractors cancelled because of you, your actions led to Hamish interfering in my business matters. What am I missing? Why are you telling everyone I’m untrustworthy and trying to tarnish my good reputation?’ Flynn was direct, standing his ground. He wanted answers.
‘Tarnish your good reputation,’ scoffed Julia. ‘That’s questionable. What was good about your reputation when you offered me thousands less for my grandfather’s house due to the economic climate or…?’ Julia walked over to the table and grabbed the magazine, she opened it up to the page of the article and slapped it against Flynn’s chest. ‘Or this, which is all lies.’ Her own outburst took Julia by surprise, but these were issues that needed to be addressed. She was so confused by this new Flynn, when she knew, in the past, he had been a very different man.
She felt the tension between them growing as Flynn took the magazine and glanced at the article, with a puzzled look on his face. ‘Why are you angry over this?’
Julia shook her head in disbelief, her eyes firmly fixed on Flynn. She pointed at the article. ‘Why am I angry over this? Because it’s not the truth, is it, Flynn? Was it a ploy to entice people into believing your story to secure bookings for your hotel, increasing your profits?’ She bit down on her lip, the knots in her stomach twisting. ‘Because I know this isn’t what happened. Flynn Carter wasn’t jilted, it was you who did the jilting!’
Flynn’s jaw fell open. ‘Julia, what the hell are you talking about?’
Julia was shaking her head in disbelief, but she felt a sudden stab of unease. Flynn looked dumbstruck by her accusation. ‘You know exactly what I’m talking about,’ she said, but her words had lost a bit of their strength.
‘I really don’t.’ Flynn was shaking his head. ‘I’ve no idea what you are going on about,’ exclaimed Flynn, blowing out at breath.
‘Of course you do! Why pretend? You were the one who jilted Anais, leaving her devastated ON HER WEDDING DAY,’ Julia’s voice rose a notch. ‘I’d only nipped out for some pastries and when I returned her beautiful dress was cut to shreds and you’d run off with a woman you were having an affair with, and now you’re pretending you know nothing about it.’
Flynn’s eyes flickered as he ran his hand through his hair. He exhaled. ‘I’m not pretending anything. But your version of events is not the truth. You know what…’ Flynn stared into space for a second then placed the magazine back on the table. ‘You’ve painted this picture of me that simply isn’t true. Julia, everyone in this village thinks I’m not trustworthy, thanks to you,’ he took a breath. ‘You’ve tarnished my reputation and the lies you are spreading about me are damning. I’ve no intention of causing anyone’s business to fold. But now I will do whatever I have to do to get that hotel up and running ready for its opening. No thanks to you… you should have just come and spoken to me first. There was no need for any of this. And as far as Anais is concerned, you are SO far off the mark…’
‘I know the truth,’ remarked Julia, but she suddenly felt decidedly sick.
‘And so do I,’ Flynn replied calmly.
‘So there’s nothing more to say.’ Feeling mentally exhausted Julia walked to the door and opened it, gesturing for Flynn to leave.
‘Agreed.’ He hovered in the doorway and turned back towards Julia. ‘You really have got it all wrong,’ Flynn said softly.
As the door swung shut behind him Julia took a deep breath. With the emotion pouring through her body, she blinked back frustrated tears. Julia didn’t like confrontation of any sort – but how could he stand in front of her and blatantly lie? Unless he had got it wrong?
With a soft rap on the door, Eleni peered around it. ‘You okay? Can I come in?’
Julia nodded, ‘How much of that conversation did you hear?’
‘Most of it,’ admitted Eleni, giving Julia a hug. ‘You’re shaking.’
‘I’m so frustrated and fuming… that man… Urghhh. He stands in front of me with his barefaced lies.’
Eleni pulled out a chair. ‘Sit down and I’ll get you a drink.’
Julia did as she was told, pushing the magazine to the other side of the table.
‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but Flynn sounded very convincing to me and Jack thinks he’s wonderful…’ Eleni stared at Julia who looked like she was about to combust. ‘It’s just… to stand there and lie like that takes some bottle, and why would he need to? It was years ago with Anais and maybe he isn’t out to ruin all local businesses?’
‘Oh Eleni, I feel like I’m going mad. I just don’t know what to think about him any more. You’re right, he seemed so convincing that I’d got it wrong about him and Anais, but I was there… In fact, I’m going to FaceTime Anais right now and get to the bottom of this.’ Julia reached for her phone, desperate to get answers to the muddled thoughts racing through her head.
‘Are you sure about this?’ Eleni didn’t sound convinced. ‘Does she really need to know that Flynn has turned up in Heartcross?’
‘Absolutely sure, then at least you can hear it straight from the horse’s mouth that I’m not going mad.’
The phone only rang out a couple of times before it connected and Julia was met with Anais’s smiley face. She was lounging on a sunbed with a cocktail in hand at the side of the pool.