Chapter Eleven
‘Everywhere is booked – urghhh, absolutely everywhere.’ Looking at her phone in despair Julia felt exasperated. She’d telephoned what seemed like every hotel in Glensheil with no luck whatsoever, not one of them had a spare room.
‘Julia, I think you’ve only got one option.’ Eleni gave her a knowing look.
‘I agree,’ urged Jack. ‘Flynn is actually up at Starcross Manor now shooting a video for a wedding advert.’
‘Flynn is not going to help me out and I’m not sure I’m willing to give him the satisfaction of turning me down,’ replied Julia stubbornly.
‘What’s the alternative?’ urged Eleni. ‘Because I can’t think of anything.’
Silence.
Julia threw her hands up in the air. ‘Okay, okay, it doesn’t look like I’ve got much choice.’
‘Flynn is not going to let you down. Do you want me to come with you?’ offered Jack.
Julia shook her head. ‘No, it’s okay, this is something I need to do on my own. Would you both head over to the teashop in case Rona and Felicity need backup? And can you take Woody? I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.’
‘Of course.’ Eleni gave Julia a quick hug. ‘It’ll be okay, you’ll see.’
Unconvinced, Julia rummaged inside her bag for the keys and then got inside the stifling hot car that had been sat in the sun all day. With a sick, sinking feeling in her stomach Julia fired up the engine and immediately switched on the air con, thankful for the cool air blasting out. Nervously she began to drive the short journey towards Starcross Manor.
It only took a matter of minutes before Julia was travelling up the long driveway towards the manor house. She was thankful for the line of green foliage that provided that little bit of shade which shielded her eyes from the blinding sun that bounced off the windscreen. The ducks had the right idea, swimming in the lake and nestling under the cascades of branches at the water’s edge to keep cool.
On the drive she’d played out in her mind what she was going to say to Flynn, but now, parking the car, she was struggling to remember the conversation she had rehearsed so many times in her head on the way here. Nervous didn’t even cover it as Julia grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and risked a tentative look in the mirror. Her skin was glistening with the heat, the nape of her neck felt damp, and her mouth was dry. She took a swig from a bottle of warm water that had been in the cup holder for goodness-knew-how-long and tried to calm her beating heart.
It was now or never. Plucking up courage, Julia stepped out of the car and looked around. There were approximately a dozen cars parked in the bays, which must be down to the filming that Jack had mentioned. The warm evening air hit her once more as she headed towards the grand entrance of the manor house. She was surprised to see a red carpet trailing the stone steps leading to an open doorway, but again that must have something to do with the wedding video.
Inside the grand foyer there wasn’t a soul in sight, and the only sound Julia could hear was her shoes tapping on the slate floor as she began to walk towards the double doors in front of her, which took her down a hallway into another awe-inspiring room – the extravagance of the place took her breath away. She hovered by a table that was littered with books of different colours of materials and quickly flicked through them. Flynn must be choosing his soft furnishings, she thought, walking through to another room that was filled with round tables decorated with pristine white linen cloths, each with a silver candelabra standing proudly in the centre. There was a bar at the back of the room with rows of champagne flutes lined up, and on the stage an array of musical instruments. This place looked like it was about to host the wedding of the century thought Julia, wandering over to the three gigantic windows that ran from ceiling to floor overlooking the freshly-mown lawns.
Outside there was an intimate gathering on the lawn with everyone dressed up to the nines, the women in long floating dresses holding sun parasols, the men dressed in kilts. Four rows of chairs were laid out on each side of an aisle, with a beautiful wooden archway dressed with gorgeous pink rose foliage. Watching from a distance, Julia heard music through the open window, followed by a man with a camera shouting ‘Action’ – and that was when she saw him. Flynn was standing at the bottom of the aisle, actually taking part in the video. Dressed in a kilt, accompanied by a dirk and sporran, his three-button waistcoat, white shirt and black bow tie left Julia thinking how handsome he actually looked.
More out of curiosity, Julia was rooted to the spot and continued to watch. Trailed by a camera man and photographer, a beautiful woman floated onto the lawn wearing the most exquisite wedding dress Julia had ever set eyes on and carrying the most simple but stunning bouquet of white roses. Everyone was up on their feet as the actress began to walk down the aisle leaving Julia’s view obscured.
Hearing her phone ping, Julia jumped out of her skin. It was a text from Eleni. ‘Any luck? Has Flynn agreed? It’s 7pm we really need to know what’s happening. The guests are beginning to get restless.’
Julia stared at the text and didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t gatecrash the pretend wedding, and Flynn was surrounded by actors and the rest of the film crew. Hearing a voice shouting ‘It’s a wrap’, she glanced once more towards the lawn to see Flynn shaking everyone’s hand. He must have sensed someone was watching him, and he turned and locked eyes with Julia. Her heart thumped as he held her gaze and then began walking towards the manor house. Flynn never took his eyes off her except for a couple of moments when he disappeared through the door. With his footsteps now echoing down the hallway, Julia’s heart pounded faster, before the door into the room swung open. The look on Flynn’s face made it obvious that he wasn’t happy to see her – and who could blame him?
There was no welcoming smile. ‘Well, you turn up in the most unexpected places. What are you doing here?’ asked Flynn in a stern tone.
Julia felt her cheeks colour fast. She gulped. He continued to stare at her. Feeling uneasy, she knew now that this hadn’t been a good idea. The tension between them could be cut with a knife. He stood watching, waiting for Julia to muster up the courage to speak. Knowing this wasn’t going to be easy, she swallowed. She had to do something, all her guests were stranded and needed a bed for the night. Taking the plunge, she hoped her voice didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. ‘There’s been an incident at the B&B, the old sprinkler system was activated, the firemen think it’s possibly due to the weather conditions… anyway the B&B is submerged in water, everywhere is soaked, and I’ve got stranded guests with nowhere to sleep. I’ve telephoned every hotel in Glensheil and they are all fully booked, so I was wondering…’
Flynn raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.
Julia had started so she may as well finish. ‘I was wondering whether there was any possibility you could help me out.’ There, she’d said it now, as the words hung in the air, there was no going back. Julia had swallowed her pride and had asked Flynn to help, but judging by the look on his face this wasn’t going to be an immediate yes, if even a yes at all.
He gave a short strangled laugh. ‘For a second there, I could have sworn you were asking for my help.’ He stared straight at her.