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

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СКАЧАТЬ house. Her tyres crunched on the gravel and dust clouded up behind us as we entered a large square car park, already half-full of cars shimmering in the heat.

      ‘I know. I mean, I’ve seen pictures, obviously, but they didn’t prepare me for this.’ Gathering up my handbag, I climbed out of Elena’s car and gazed up at Willow Hall. The air was full of birdsong and butterflies. It was hard to imagine why Anthony hated this house so much when it was so lovely.

      ‘Imagine getting married somewhere like this,’ Elena said wistfully as she locked the car. ‘It would be a perfect venue. Just imagine sweeping up the drive towards this big house. Daniel and I could never have afforded anything like this, though.’

      We took the path leading around the front of the house, following the signs directing us to the wedding fair at the back. I was very aware of the crunch of my footsteps on the gravel path and the volume of Elena’s voice as we passed by the ground-floor windows of the house. I had a sudden urge to tiptoe and, as we walked past the front entrance, I realised I was holding my breath.

      What if Anthony was here? What if he was just behind that door or window, and just happened to look out as we passed by? My heart thumped at the thought and I gave myself a mental shake. There was no way he would be here. And even if he was, so what? I didn’t have to speak to him. From the number of cars in the car park, it looked like there were loads of people here. Avoiding him would be easy.

      Elena tucked her arm through mine as we rounded the side of the house, taking a path bordered by pink, flowering rhododendrons. Music and laughter floated on the spring breeze, and we found a large white marquee standing in the middle of a green-striped lawn. People were standing around, sipping champagne and laughing, while besuited waiters circulated with trays of champagne and orange juice.

      ‘Ooh, this is lovely!’ Elena said enthusiastically as we walked towards the entrance of the marquee. I gave a tight smile, my heart bungee jumping to my toes and back up again as I spotted Anthony’s brother, Julian, talking to a group of people to the side of the marquee. Why was he here? Surely he still lived in Scotland? Readjusting my sunglasses, I turned my face away and hoped he wouldn’t notice me.

      ‘Are you okay?’ Elena asked as we accepted a glass of orange juice from a passing waiter.

      ‘Yes, of course.’ I smiled brightly and did my best to blend in with the groups of people sipping champagne around us. Everyone seemed to be dressed in pastel shades. Even Elena was wearing a pale-blue maxi dress instead of her habitual black jeans. What was I thinking, wearing red? I stood out like a sore thumb!

      Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and attempted to pull myself together. It wouldn’t be so bad if Julian saw me. He’d always been lovely and I had every right to be here. I wasn’t snooping. Not really. No, not at all.

      There were lots of dewy young brides-to-be, eyes bright with love and excitement, holding hands with their fiancés or else with their mothers or friends. But there was also a contingent of tweedy local types who’d obviously just come for some free booze and a nosy.

      ‘They’ll never make a go of this,’ I heard a severe-looking lady say to her friend. Her iron-grey hair was tightly curled and she had a bristling border terrier on the end of a long leash that kept yapping loudly at passersby. Pausing next to her, I pretended to check the heel of my shoe so I could listen to what she was saying.

      ‘Oh, I don’t know. It all looks very professional,’ her friend replied, obviously impressed by the large marquee and decent number of visitors.

      ‘Hmph! They’ll sell it before the year’s out,’ she said, darkly. ‘Those no-good sons of Cath’s will be off before she knows it. They never could stick around.’

      Sons? As in plural? Did that mean Anthony was here too? Good God, no! I glanced at Elena to see if she’d heard, but she’d walked on ahead and was disappearing inside the marquee. Not wanting to be left alone, I darted after her to catch her up.

      Inside, the ceiling of the marquee was swathed in twinkling fairy lights and the round tables were laid out with beautiful wedding products and services. Pretty wedding cakes of all different designs towered on the table next to the entrance, while a photographer displayed artistic black-and-white wedding shots on the stall next door. Everywhere I looked there was wedding stationery, bridal flowers, balloon arches, chocolate fountains, rose-petal confetti and photos of wedding cars and horse-drawn carriages. I wanted to tell Elena what I’d overheard, but she was deep in conversation with one of the stallholders. As I gazed around at the beautiful stalls, I realised this would be Anthony’s idea of hell and there was no way he’d be making an appearance here. If he was at Willow Hall, he’d be skulking inside the house, keeping well away from all this wedding nonsense.

      Taking a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, I forced myself to relax and enjoy the happy atmosphere. Everyone was so friendly and Elena and I wandered from stall to stall, discussing ideas.

      ‘Ooh! Let’s check out that dress stall,’ Elena took my arm and towed me towards the back of the marquee. ‘They might have a bridesmaid dress for you.’

      ‘I doubt it. It all looks rather bridal,’ I said, allowing Elena to lead me towards the racks of dresses.

      ‘Hi!’ Elena greeted the sales assistant cheerfully. ‘Do you have any vintage-style bridesmaid dresses? Preferably tea-length. It’s for Rachel here. She’s my bridesmaid and, as you can see, likes a vintage look.’ She indicated my fifties-style sundress with a sweep of her hand. The sales assistant smiled at me but shook her head.

      ‘We have a tea-length bridal gown but no bridesmaid dresses here with us today. Would you like to try the bridal gown on to see if you like the style?’

      Elena’s face lit up. ‘Oh, could we? That would be wonderful. Thank you.’

      I started to protest, but Elena just grinned and shooed me on to follow the assistant, who was at another rack searching through the plastic-covered dresses. ‘It’s here,’ she said, pulling out an ivory silk dress. My heart skipped a beat as I looked at the lace bodice and full tulle skirt. ‘Come this way.’

      She led me towards a makeshift dressing room behind the racks of dresses. I felt a bit of a fraud as I stepped into the ivory silk gown and allowed the woman to do me up at the back. It felt wrong to be trying on a wedding dress when I didn’t even have a boyfriend, let alone a fiancé. But as the zip went up and the lace bodice moulded to my body, I realised I loved it.

      ‘Ooh, that looks beautiful!’ the assistant murmured, standing back to look at me. ‘Fits you like it was made for you. Hold on, stay there.’ She ducked out of the little room for a moment, reappearing a moment later with a tiny silver tiara. ‘Here, pop this on,’ she said, placing it on my red hair. ‘Your hair looks lovely up like that. Here, let’s pull a few tendrils down around your face and you’re good to go. In fact, you could get married like that right now and everyone would be blown away. You look amazing!’ She put her hands to her face, visibly moved, while I blinked at her in disbelief. If this was a sales pitch, it was wasted on me. I loved the dress but there was no point in buying it when I didn’t have a man. ‘Now, go and show your friend. Come on!’

      ‘Oh! Can’t she come to me?’ I said, quailing at the thought of parading the dress in front of everybody in the marquee.

      ‘No, you don’t! You don’t get away that easily!’ She laughed. ‘You’re the perfect model for this dress and there’s a roomful of brides-to-be out there, so come on. You can be my model.’

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