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

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СКАЧАТЬ twelve months ago. It was so strange to feel that same connection. How could I still be in love with him after all this time? What kind of masochist was I?

      Of course, he was still as handsome as ever. The high cheekbones and square jaw. The sparkling blue eyes and neatly cropped fair hair. But it wasn’t just about his looks. It was more than that. If it had been only that, his brother would have had the same effect on me – they looked so alike. As soon as I saw him, the good memories had come flooding back, overpowering the words in his letter.

      They were serving afternoon tea from the terrace at the back of the house. Elena went up to join the queue while I stayed at the table, trying to regain some control over my emotions. I wasn’t even hungry. My stomach had lurched so violently when I’d seen Anthony that it felt sore and bruised.

      ‘Rachel? Is that really you?’ Julian, Anthony’s brother, appeared next to our table, looking down at me in disbelief. ‘How wonderful to see you again. I just saw Anthony and he said he’d just seen you, and I had to come and find you and say hello. How are you?’

      ‘I’m fine. Thank you, Julian. How are you?’ Standing up, I kissed him on both cheeks. His broad, happy grin was so infectious that I found myself smiling back at him. He looked so happy to see me that I felt truly touched. He was such a lovely man.

      ‘Very well, thank you! Wow! This is wonderful! And you’re getting married, I believe? Congratulations! Do you have a date set yet?’

      Blinking rapidly, I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn’t getting married, just trying out the style of dress, but at that moment Elena arrived back at the table, abandoning her place in the queue.

      ‘You haven’t set a date yet, have you, Rachel? Hi, I’m Elena by the way.’ She reached out to shake Julian’s hand. ‘I’m getting married at the end of August, though.’

      ‘This coming August?’ Julian’s eyes lit up.

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Do you have everything booked already?’

      ‘Yes, pretty much. All sorted really.’

      ‘Oh, lovely. Whereabouts are you getting married? Forgive me if that seems like a nosy question.’ He pressed the palm of his hand to his chest, looking embarrassed. ‘It’s just that this is our first foray into being a wedding venue, and I’m interested in hearing why people choose the places they do.’

      ‘Oh, well, it came down to cost in the end. We’ve been renovating a house so most of our money has gone on that. It made sense to get married at the local golf club to keep costs down.’

      ‘Oh, okay. Fair enough. What about you, Rachel? What will you be looking for when you choose your wedding venue?’

      My mouth dropped open. ‘Oh, I don’t know yet, really. Willow Hall is so beautiful, though.’

      ‘It certainly is. An ideal venue, I’d say. And Liz and I got married here, so I know it’s perfect. How about I give you the guided tour and we’ll see if I can tempt you into booking your wedding with us? After all, what better revenge than to get married at your ex-boyfriend’s family home?’ He winked at me and I laughed.

      ‘True.’ I felt my cheeks flush. What had I got myself into now? I wasn’t sure I could keep up the pretence of being engaged. I opened my mouth to tell him we really ought to be going home now, but Elena jumped in before I could get my words out.

      ‘We’d love to look round,’ she said eagerly, her eyes lighting up.

      ‘Great!’ Julian looked delighted. ‘Are you ready now?’

      ‘Yes!’ Elena said, before I could back out.

      ‘Great! Well, as you can see, we have the pavilion here laid out on the lawn,’ he said, gesturing to the marquee. ‘We call it the pavilion rather than the marquee because it’s a semi-permanent structure, with its own toilets and electricity supply. We can cater for up to one hundred and eighty guests in there, with space for a dance floor and a stage for a band or DJ. You’ve been in there already, haven’t you? What did you think?’

      ‘It was beautiful,’ Elena said. ‘Especially with all the lights on the ceiling.’

      ‘Yes, that’s our starry-night theme. Perfect for creating a romantic ambience. We’re really pleased with it.’

      ‘Do you conduct the civil ceremonies in there?’

      ‘No, we’re planning on holding them in the orangery or the library. Although only the orangery is ready at the moment. If you’d like to follow me, I’ll show you now.’ He led us to the end of the house where the orangery jutted out, surrounded by flowering shrubs. Crocuses flowered in the lawn, blue and yellow flowers poking up from the green grass. ‘It’s quite shady down here,’ he said, gesturing to the large oak tree nearby, ‘so it doesn’t get too hot in the midday sun. Ideal on a boiling hot summer’s day. Will you be having a civil ceremony or a church service, Elena?’

      ‘Church.’

      ‘And you, Rachel?’

      ‘Err, haven’t decided yet.’

      ‘Oh!’ Julian shot me a surprised glance. ‘You really are in the early stages of planning, aren’t you?’

      I laughed nervously. ‘What about you, Julian? Did you and Liz get married in here?’

      ‘No, we were married in the parish church, which is just down the road. You’ll have seen it when you turned into the drive. It’s a lovely church and we’ve had a word with the vicar, who seems quite open to marrying couples from out of the parish, so that’s also an option if you choose to book with us. So, what’s your fiancé’s name, Rachel?’

      I gulped, my mind immediately emptying of all possible names.

      ‘Jayjay,’ Elena said helpfully.

      ‘Jayjay?’ Julian turned to look at me, eyebrows raised. ‘Where did you meet?’

      ‘In my flower shop, The Birdcage,’ I said truthfully. I had met Jayjay in the shop, but only because he was Bobbi’s boyfriend. Bobbi worked in The Birdcage with me and had been seeing Jayjay for a couple of months now. They made a lovely couple, and Jayjay was cute but certainly not my type.

      ‘Lovely.’ Julian opened the door to the orangery and let us inside. It had been laid out as though ready for a wedding, with rows of beribboned chairs and an aisle left for the bride to walk down. ‘This can seat sixty guests, so obviously, if you wanted more guests, it would be best to choose to have the wedding in one of our other rooms, such as the library or the Great Hall when it’s finished.’

      ‘Great Hall? That sounds very grand.’

      Julian grimaced and then laughed self-consciously. ‘Well, it’s possibly not quite as grand as it sounds. We’re still in the process of restoring it. We’re nearly there, though, so by the time anyone books a wedding we’ll have it all back to its former glory.’

      ‘How many weddings have you booked so far?’

      ‘One today, so far that is. But that’s for next year and we were rather hoping we’d get someone booking for this year. СКАЧАТЬ