‘He’s a keeper,’ Julia interrupted.
‘And off the record, he’s been chatting to Flynn about the hotel situation and can see where he’s coming from.’
‘In what way?’ asked Julia, not quite understanding.
‘He thinks that Starcross Manor will bring in more tourists and that can only be a good thing for Heartcross. Everyone has their own budget, think of it like a car…’
‘A car? You’ve lost me.’
‘Some people can afford Lamborghinis whilst others can only afford second-hand cars…’
‘Great! Now you are telling me Starcross Manor is the Lamborghini and my B&B is the rust bucket that will hardly start in the morning!’ Julia chuckled. ‘But I know what you are saying.’
‘And then there’s Foxglove Camping and Isla’s campervans. Some people enjoy the great outdoors, they prefer to wake up to the smell of cow dung and cook their breakfast on a BBQ. We are all different.’
When Eleni put it like that maybe she had got it all wrong and Starcross Manor wasn’t such a threat to business. But there was still a niggly feeling in the pit of her stomach.
‘And I’m intrigued to know what you are going to do with your raffle prize, Jack was telling me that the Boathouse is opening in a couple of weeks’ time.’
‘I don’t even want to think about that at the minute,’ Julia said. Spending time alone with Flynn sounded like her worst nightmare.
The waiter came back and took their food orders, and their conversation turned towards Julia’s upcoming fortieth birthday. Julia had agreed to leave it in everyone’s hands apart from her own, which she was beginning to regret a little now.
‘It’s all in hand,’ grinned Eleni, taking a piece of seeded bread from the wicker basket on the table and dipping it into the oil.
‘I dread to think! I spoke to Callie a couple of days ago and as far as I know she’s coming,’ said Julia, moving her knife and fork to one side as the waiter placed down a creamy courgette and bacon pasta in front of her, which looked amazing.
‘There’s just a few little things to tweak but it’s going to be fun.’
‘I honestly don’t mind just going down to the Grouse and Haggis…’
‘Nonsense! We can do that anytime of the week,’ remarked Eleni, tucking into her plate of lasagne. ‘Oh my, this is delicious. Just what I needed.’
‘This place is packed to the rafters, it’s so popular,’ Julia glanced around at the diners and spotted Jack’s van travelling up the road towards them. ‘Is that Jack?’ she asked looking at her watch. ‘What time did you ask him to collect us?’
Eleni looked towards the road, her fork poised in mid-air. She narrowed her eyes and focused on the number plate. ‘It’s definitely Jack,’ said Eleni confused, ‘but he’s way too early.’
A continuous frantic beep of the van horn caught every diner’s attention. All heads turned towards Jack’s van as it screeched to a halt on the edge of the pavement outside the bistro.
‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this,’ exclaimed Eleni, placing her knife and fork down on the table.
They watched Jack jump out of the van. ‘Julia, you need to come with me.’ He looked stricken.
Julia’s heart was suddenly pounding fast. ‘What is it?’
‘I’m honestly not quite sure. I was driving past the B&B and all your guests are outside on the grass verge, and there’s a fire engine parked outside.’
‘There’s a fire?’
‘I couldn’t see any flames, I just don’t know. Felicity and Rona are there rallying around the guests.’
Eleni flagged the waiter down and paid for their meal before they both climbed into the van.
‘Surely it can’t be a fire?’ She swallowed down a lump in her throat. ‘I can’t see what would catch on fire.’
Eleni looked across at Julia, all the colour had drained from her cheeks. Julia’s head was swirling. What about the guests, were any of them hurt, and where the hell were they going to sleep? She couldn’t think straight. They travelled back in silence.
As Jack turned into the road and slowed down, Julia couldn’t believe the sight before her. All her guests were sitting on the grass verge clutching their belongings. Jack had been right, there was a fire engine parked at the gates of the B&B, but she couldn’t see any flames and couldn’t smell burning. Uncertainty gripped her stomach and she clambered out of the van. All she could hear was the continuous alarm ringing out from the B&B. A distressed Julia was mystified as she glanced towards her guests, who all looked wet – in fact they were drenched to the core. What the hell had happened here? She’d only been gone for under an hour.
She ran towards the B&B followed by Jack, whilst Eleni hurried over towards Felicity and Rona who were currently handing out towels and cups of tea.
As Julia reached the gate the alarm finally stopped ringing.
‘Excuse me, Ma’am, you can’t go in there. It’s not been declared a safe zone yet.’
Julia met the eyes of a burly fireman. ‘But I’m the owner,’ said Julia, feeling herself crumbling. She just needed to get inside.
‘Julia… Julia Coleman?’ he asked.
‘That’s me. Please can someone tell me what is going on?’
‘It seems your sprinkler system has been activated… somehow.’
‘The sprinkler system?’ Julia wasn’t expecting that. ‘You’re joking me, right?’
‘I’m afraid not, the fire service are working to shut it down.’
‘But that means everywhere will be swimming with water.’ An uncontrollable shudder swept Julia’s entire body. ‘That system activates in every room. Everything will be ruined.’ The tears began to freefall down Julia’s face as Eleni appeared at her side and slipped a comforting arm around her shoulder.
‘I’m so sorry, Julia.’
‘What about my guests? Is anyone hurt?’ Julia spun round to see the guests looking forlorn with towels draped over their shoulders, feeling completely helpless. ‘They are soaked through to the bone,’ she noticed.
‘Everyone is out safely, maybe a little wet, but all unharmed,’ the fireman confirmed.
Julia felt paralysed to the spot. All the guests abandoned on the side of the lane, all their possessions saturated and most probably destroyed by the water. ‘Where the hell are they going to sleep tonight?’ Julia couldn’t think straight, the uncertainty of it all gripping her stomach. ‘All the bedding and mattresses will be soaked, the curtains, the sofas.’ Julia felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her eyes were glued to the B&B.
Eleni put on her best encouraging smile. ‘We’ll think of something. Won’t we Jack?’
Jack raised an eyebrow. ‘Of course, we’ll come up with a plan.’
‘I need to go inside.’ Julia’s voice was urgent.
‘I appreciate that Julia, but I’m just waiting for confirmation that we’ve managed to disconnect the gas supply, electricity – and thankfully we’ve just managed to turn the water off at the mains supply.’
Julia was at a loss. ‘How has this happened? Why would the sprinkler system be activated if there was no fire? I just don’t understand.’