Meet Me at Willow Hall: A perfectly charming romance for 2019!. Carla Burgess

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       Chapter One

      One year later

      ‘Make Willow Hall the stage for your love story!’ I made my voice dramatic as we bounced along the narrow country lane towards the hall in Elena’s little car. Turning slightly in my seat to face her, I cleared my throat and adjusted the glossy brochure in my hands. ‘Set in the green, rolling hills of the Shropshire countryside, and with a past steeped in history and romance, Willow Hall is the perfect venue for your wedding … Oh, please!’ I broke off. ‘Steeped in romance! Honestly, what a load of rubbish! You can tell Anthony’s had nothing to do with this!’ I laughed and looked again at the photograph of the Georgian manor house on the front cover. I couldn’t deny it was a beautiful house and would make an ideal wedding venue, but the fact that it belonged to my ex-boyfriend’s family made me ultra-critical. It was unbelievable that Anthony’s family home was going to be hosting weddings when he was so against any sort of commitment himself. ‘I bet he’s horrified by it all. He hates weddings.’

      Elena gave me a sidelong glance, pushing her long dark hair behind her ear. ‘Are you sure you want to do this? What if Anthony’s there? What will you do?’

      ‘He’s not going to be there,’ I stuffed the brochure into the glove compartment and slammed it shut, feeling jittery all of a sudden. ‘He hates Willow Hall. He never once visited his mum there when we were together. She always came to us. He didn’t even want to tell me about it.’

      ‘I know, but things might have changed since the accident.’

      I stared silently out of the window for a moment, watching a buzzard hover over a field. ‘He won’t be there,’ I repeated, with more assurance than I felt. This morning I’d been positive this would be the case, but as we drew closer to Willow Hall, doubt curdled my stomach and I was suddenly nervous. I wiped my clammy palms down my bright-red, halter-neck sundress, suddenly wishing I’d worn something a little less conspicuous. Usually I was happy to stand out in a crowd, but I’d rather keep a low profile today.

       What if he was there? What would I say?

      A surge of nerves set my heart racing and I swallowed hard. Lifting my sunglasses, I examined my winged eyeliner in the tiny sun-visor mirror, relieved to see it hadn’t smudged in the heat. A few tendrils of my red hair had escaped from my bun, but it still looked okay. Sitting back, I reopened the glove box and pulled out the brochure for Willow Hall once more. It was a wedding fair, for goodness’ sake! Everyone was welcome. We had every right to be there, and with Elena getting married in a few months’ time we had the perfect excuse. Nobody needed to know Elena had almost everything organised already and that we were just going to be nosy.

      I couldn’t believe it when I’d seen the advertisement for Willow Hall in one of Elena’s wedding magazines. I thought there must be a mistake, or perhaps another country house of the same name. But after a bit of sleuthing on the Internet, I found it was the same house and still seemingly owned by the Bascombe family. It seemed ironic it was now being used as a wedding venue when Anthony had been so against marriage and commitment of any kind.

      Still, like Elena said, maybe things had changed. A year had passed since I’d last seen him. He could have had a whole attitude change since then. He could have met someone who’d changed his mind about commitment. He might even be married himself by now.

      I drew in a sharp breath as pain sliced through me. My mind shied away from the thought of him being with someone else. I couldn’t deal with it. A year might have passed, but my feelings for Anthony Bascombe were still very much in existence. His letter telling me it was over had come as a massive shock, as had visiting him at the hospital and being turned away by the nurses. His lovely mother, Cath, had kept me updated on his progress for a few weeks afterwards, but then contact had dried up and I’d seen and heard nothing of him since. I’d sent him one letter, wishing him well, but had received nothing in return.

      So, I’d let him go. And I’d been hurting ever since.

      The lane widened out and we entered a chocolate-box-pretty village, with stone cottages lining each side of the street. Daffodils waved cheerfully from the grass verges and pink and white blossom decorated the trees. The village seemed quiet. A dog tied up outside the post office, and an old man sitting on a bench outside the quaint-looking pub, were the only signs of life. A large church stood at the end of the high street, its spire reaching up towards the clear blue sky and its neatly tended churchyard filled with daisies and cowslips.

      ‘Wow, this is pretty!’ Elena leaned forward over her steering wheel to peer through the windscreen.

      ‘Mmm, it is,’ I agreed. ‘Quiet, though! I hope we’ve got the right day. I thought there would be more people around than this. Willow Hall should be on the left, just before the church, according to the brochure.’

      Elena shrugged. ‘We’ve definitely got the right date. Maybe everyone’s up at the hall.’ She flicked her indicator as we passed the last of the stone cottages and a gated entrance appeared signposted Willow Hall. A rhododendron framed the green sign, its bright-red flowers bobbing in the breeze. Willow Hall was printed in large gold lettering, with ‘Civil Ceremonies, Wedding Receptions and Events’ in smaller white print underneath.

      ‘The sign looks very new,’ Elena said as she drove in through the tall, wrought-iron gates. A stone lion stood on each gatepost and trees rose up on either side of the driveway, forming a green, leafy archway through which the hot, midday sun glinted, bathing the inside of the car with dappled green light. ‘I wonder if they’ve done any weddings yet.’

      ‘I don’t think so. Their website didn’t have any wedding photographs on it, so I think they must be just starting out.’

      The drive snaked through the trees until the woodland gave way to gently sloping sheep-grazed meadowland. Ahead of us, the wide Georgian façade of Willow Hall appeared, its soft red brick glowing warm pink in the hot midday sun.

      ‘Wow!’ Elena said in surprise.

      It took me a moment to speak. I gazed open-mouthed at the huge house with its neatly manicured gardens and parkland. ‘I didn’t expect it to be quite so big!’ I said, stupidly.

      ‘Well, you knew it was a mansion.’

      ‘Yes, I know but… it’s a huge stately home.’ I blinked in disbelief. I didn’t know what I’d been expecting really. Certainly nothing as beautiful and grand as this. Built over two storeys, it had eleven bays on each floor and an arched entrance with wide stone steps leading up to it. The photographs were pretty impressive, but Anthony’s hatred of the place had made me think it couldn’t be quite as grand as they’d made it look. He’d seemed embarrassed by it, in fact, like it was some kind of guilty secret. I’d only found out about it by accident, through something his mum had said when she came up to visit, and that had been towards the end of our relationship. When I’d asked to see it, he’d refused to bring me, saying he hated the place and never went there willingly. He’d led me to believe it was some kind of rundown relic, but this was beautiful.

      ‘I СКАЧАТЬ