Her view on Starcross Manor had shifted a little bit after thinking about what Eleni had said about people’s requirements and budgets. Maybe there was space for all of them? And Julia did have an idea brewing, but not one she wanted to share yet, until she’d fully thought it through.
‘Just trust me on this,’ urged Julia. ‘I’ve been working on an idea that I think is going to benefit us all. I just need to get it straight in my own mind first.’
‘I second Isla, I wasn’t expecting that,’ admitted Aggie, completely taken by surprise. ‘But if you’re saying trust you, we can do that. All I’m saying is we need to keep our wits about us too.’
‘Agreed,’ murmured everyone.
Julia felt guilty for putting her own needs first, but what she had in mind could work to everyone’s advantage.
‘I’m thinking he’s hypnotised you with his good looks,’ teased Eleni.
‘There is that, I suppose. Anyway, are we ready to begin?’ said Julia, rolling her eyes.
With her friends by her side, Julia set to work. They made their way to the top of the house where the sprinkler system was first activated. Julia could kick herself that she’d never replaced the old system but thankfully no one had been hurt, and all the furnishings could be cleaned or replaced. They flung open each window as they went, the blast of fresh air a welcome breeze.
‘Okay what’s the plan?’ asked Felicity, looking around the very first bedroom.
Julia swiped her hand over the excess water sitting on the bedside table. ‘How about you and Isla start mopping up the water, and Eleni and I can strip the beds and take the curtains down.’
They all set to work, and within a couple of hours the top floor was complete. Everyone started to move downstairs, except Julia who pushed open the landing window a little wider. She took a moment to admire the blue sky above and found that her thoughts turned suddenly to her mother. Their relationship had been one full of love. Her mum had guided and supported her no matter what, and she’d always been the calming influence in Julia’s life, someone she would always turn to first for advice. The one value her mum had always championed had been forgiveness. She had been a strong, fair woman, who had always owned up to her mistakes, apologised when she was in the wrong and always encouraged forgiveness. Julia knew her mum would be proud of her for accepting Flynn’s apology, but Julia also knew she’d helped to fuel the fire against Flynn and Starcross Manor, and that she needed to apologise to Flynn too.
Flynn had really come through for her last night and she had to believe and trust everything was going to be okay. Last night the guests had arrived up at Starcross Manor to a buffet of food and hot drinks prepared by Andrew. Not only that, but Flynn had placed laundry bags in each of their rooms and offered to have all their sodden clothes freshly laundered before the guests woke for breakfast. Once more Flynn had gone above and beyond.
Julia was just about to catch up with the others when she threw a bucket of dirty water out of the window.
‘Oi! Watch what you’re doing!’ came a shout from below.
Quickly Julia leaned out of the window and gasped. ‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry!’
Jack was standing in the flower bed alongside a couple of builders staring up at the window. Luckily, they’d moved swiftly and managed to dodge the bucket of water that had splashed on the path next to them.
‘Better luck next time,’ shouted Julia cheekily.
‘We are only here to help move some mattresses, not for a shower,’ bellowed Jack.
Throughout the clean-up operation her friends kept her spirits up, they laughed, joked and danced along to the radio as they stripped the beds and mopped up the excess water. All mattresses were lifted outside alongside the plush fabric chairs, sofas and anything and everything that could dry out in the sun. The front of the B&B looked like a garage sale with everything sprawled on the front lawn. All the food in the freezers had defrosted and everything had to be chucked away but overall, the damage seemed to be mainly cosmetic – and at least they had the weather on their side.
Flynn was true to his word, and just after 1pm Martha appeared with bags of sandwiches, cakes and drinks. Once again Flynn had taken off the added pressure; no one had to think about preparing food or nipping to pick anything up. He’d thought of everything.
Whilst everyone took a break and refuelled, Julia took a walk to the bottom of the garden and perched on the bench by the side of the stream. This was her first opportunity to dial the insurance company and she immediately felt frustrated by the automated service. Finally, thirty minutes later, she’d managed to log the insurance claim – and although Julia didn’t hold out much hope of a pay-out, until she’d completed the forms there was no point second guessing whether they would or not. Julia walked into her tiny brick office that was detached from the main house, and which thankfully had no sprinkler system installed. She looked around the office and sighed, she really did need a clean out in there. Every drawer of the filing cabinet was stuffed to the brim with invoices and bills that went back years and most probably could be destroyed. After the morning she’d had, she had the bug for cleaning up and getting rid; maybe this flood was giving her the motivation she needed.
‘You okay?’ asked Eleni, popping her head around the office door. ‘Here, have one of these.’ Eleni handed her a cup of tea. ‘Martha brought flasks of the stuff from the teashop. Come and eat your sandwich, everyone is taking a breather and is sitting on the lawn.’
This morning Julia couldn’t have asked for more. All of her friends had pulled together in a time of need. Jack and the other builders had made various trips to Starcross Manor ferrying all the bedding, soft furnishings and cushions that could be laundered. Everyone had worked so hard.
‘Look at this place, this office is on my to-do list at some point but there’s always something better to do.’ Julia knew she’d let the office stuff get out of hand.
Suddenly Eleni swiped Julia’s arm. ‘Is that your laptop?’
Julia nodded. ‘Yes, why?’
‘I was going to ask where it was, but I just assumed it was in the house and water damaged.’
‘No, I was working out here last week.’
Julia watched as Eleni hot footed it over to the desk and flung open the lid of the laptop. ‘Forty-five percent battery left, which is good as I can’t plug it in.’ Eleni tapped away. ‘Bingo! We have the bookings on this system that are arriving in the next couple of days, it’s all linked.’
Julia blew out a breath. ‘You are a life-saver.’
‘Are you talking about me again?’ Flynn appeared from nowhere and was standing in the doorway grinning. Julia noticed the sunlight hitting his slightly tanned face, causing his features to stand out.
‘Eleni has just discovered the booking system is linked to my laptop, so at least we can contact the people that are about to arrive. Even though I’ll have to deliver the bad news that we’ll need to cancel. I don’t even want to think about the income I’ll lose.’ Julia’s voice trailed off.
Flynn turned towards Eleni. ‘Is it possible to have a word with Julia?’
Eleni looked towards Julia for confirmation, who nodded, and then stepped outside the office. ‘Let me help you,’ offered Flynn.