Starcross Manor

by Christie Barlow

  Starcross Manor

  Christie Barlow

  One More Chapter

  a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

  1 London Bridge Street

  London SE1 9GF

  www.harpercollins.co.uk

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  First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2020

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  Copyright © Christie Barlow 2020

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  Cover design by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020

  Cover images © Shutterstock.com

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  Christie Barlow asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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  A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

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  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

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  Source ISBN: 9780008362737

  Ebook Edition © August 2020 ISBN: 9780008362713

  Version: 2020-07-17

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  A Letter from Christie

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you for reading…

  You will also love…

  About the Author

  Also by Christie Barlow

  One more chapter...

  About the Publisher

  For Emily, Jack, Ruby and Tilly.

  My awesome gang.

  Prologue

  Walking back through the town, Julia Coleman swung a paper bag of pastries while swigging a takeaway coffee from a polystyrene cup. It was a beautiful morning, with only a few sporadic clouds floating along in the cobalt sky. Early afternoon the temperatures were predicted to hit a whopping twenty-five degrees, and even though it was every girl’s dream that the weather was perfect on their wedding day, the bride was already beginning to panic that she would be sweltering inside her wedding dress. Julia had caught sight of the dress just moments before she’d headed out and it was, quite simply, a gown fit for a princess. Layers of ruffles that floated all the way to the ground, a bateau neckline and floral beaded bodice. The only two words to describe it were simply stunning. It all seemed set to be the perfect day. Except for the fact that Julia’s good friend, Anais, was marrying a man who Julia didn’t like particularly much – Flynn Carter.

  Julia paused for a few minutes on the bank of the River Cree. Sitting down on a rickety old bench, she tilted her face up towards the sun. This was a place she’d spent many a Sunday alongside her grandfather fishing for salmon. The town of Newton Stewart, southwest Scotland, held such wonderful memories for her. Julia had grown up in the town but moved away to Fort William to study tourism and hospitality at the college there. It was only when her grandfather had passed away that Flynn Carter, a property developer, had appeared in Julia’s life.

  Her grandfather had worked hard all his life but had no wealth to speak of, except the house he lived in. At the time of his death the property market had crashed, no one was buying or selling, and his house had been left standing empty for nearly two years. This was when Flynn Carter had made Julia a ridiculous offer for the house, which was built on a decent plot of prime land. Flynn was ruthless, had offered cash, thousands below the asking price. According to Flynn the deal could be done and dusted as soon as possible. He was mechanical with his negotiation, showed no compassion or room for manoeuvre, and to add insult to injury made the offer available for only forty-eight hours.

  Julia had been torn. The money from her grandfather’s house would be the only way she could follow her own dreams to begin her own hospitality business, but Flynn Carter had made it crystal-clear that her grandfather’s house would be demolished if the sale went ahead. Those forty-eight hours had been the worst of Julia’s life. She’d barely ate or slept weighing up all the scenarios, trying to figure out what was the best thing to do. This was her grandfather’s home, a place she’d felt safe and happy as a child, a place full of such happy memories. Julia had prayed another buyer would miraculously appear, but they hadn’t, and time was ticking. In the end, Julia felt that accepting Flynn Carter’s offer was her only choice, but she hadn’t enjoyed being railroaded into making a decision in such a short space of time. Flynn Carter preyed on the vulnerable, snapping up houses at next-to-nothing prices to further his property empire. But for Julia, any money was better than nothing, to give her that chance of starting her own business. As she signed the legal papers at the solicitor’s she felt nothing but anger towards Flynn Carter. She knew the property was worth more and so did he, but it would be too much of a gamble for Julia to keep hold of it just in case the housing market miraculously recovered anytime soon.

  Julia remembered standing on the other side of the road, watching the bulldozers smash her grandfather’s house to smithereens, the tears rolling down her cheeks. A house where she’d spent a happy childhood now a huge pile of rubble. It completely broke her heart; and as much as she longed to get her own business up and running, it still hadn’t made the decision any easier.

  Once the property was sold Julia had invested the money in a small bed and breakfast business and settled into the small town of Heartcross in the Scottish Highlands. The last time she’d seen Flynn Carter had been the day in the solicitor’s office, but today he was marrying her oldest school friend, Anais Brown.

  Anais had always been the popular girl at school, the one with the perfect clear skin and russet hair that bounced just above her shoulders. Her figure a perfect size ten, her waist tiny and eyelashes to die for. Not only did Anais have the beauty but also the brains, her grades always top of the class.

  Julia was bridesmaid at the wedding alongside their old friend Mia; all three of them had been as thick as thieves through school and sixth form. And last night had been a hoot, too. It was safe to say that when Julia had turned up outside Anais’s cottage, the familiarity of their friendship had instantly fallen back into place and the laugher and conversation had flowed all night.

  All the stops had been pulled out for this wedding, with no expense spared. Even though Julia wasn’t fond of the groom, it was still going to be a magnificent day, starting with the horse-drawn carriage to take them all to the church. Anais was a single child, which made it all the more special that her two oldest school friends were there to share her special day.

  Carrying on down the bank of the river Julia took a quick detour over the wooden bridge towards a cobbled courtyard. But as she turned the corner, she felt her heart beat faster. A couple of years ago this was where her grandfather’s house had stood, but now the place was completely unrecognisable. At first, happy memories flooded her mind, she pictured herself skipping up the street, playing
ball against the front of the house and her grandparents shouting her in for lemonade and fruit gums. But then a wave of sadness hit Julia. Because now, in its place, stood an extravagant hotel with magnificent stone lions on guard at the impressive entrance.

  ‘The Carter Hotel,’ she read, a five-star rating engraved proudly under the name followed by the name of the proprietor. Flynn Carter.

  The man who had provided her with the chance to make something of her life, but who had done it by taking advantage of her. He’d got her grandfather’s house at a steal due to the economic climate, but he’d known he was forcing her hand. Judging by this place he was most definitely a successful businessman and Anais was about to embark on an amazing life with him – clearly, she’d want for nothing.

  Anais, who worked at the local estate agents, had met Flynn at work. At the time Julia had been shocked to say the least when Anais had telephoned to tell her she’d met the love of her life, especially when she revealed her new fiancé was Flynn Carter. Anais had been the one who’d held Julia’s hand through her grandfather’s death and she knew how heartbroken Julia had been when Flynn had bulldozed the house. But Anais had fallen madly in love and had gone from being in a relationship on Facebook, to being engaged in what seemed overnight. But as Anais had pointed out, ‘he was the one’, despite Julia’s reservations and surprise at the quickness of it all, and she could only be happy for her friend.

  Feeling her tummy rumble and in need of a couple of paracetamols after drinking way too much alcohol last night, Julia began to walk back towards Anais’s cottage when her phone began to ring. Julia rummaged inside her bag and pressed the phone to her ear. Anais could barely get her words out through the tears and gulps of air. The only thing Julia could understand was that Anais was saying that the wedding was off. But how could the wedding be off? Julia’s throat was suddenly dry, and her lungs felt squashed as she broke into a sprint. What the hell had happened in the last twenty minutes whilst she’d been out to grab coffee? When she’d left the cottage everything had been absolutely hunky dory, Mia had been just about to take a shower whilst Anais was packing her suitcase ready for the honeymoon ahead. It didn’t make any sense at all.

  Pushing her legs to go faster, Julia felt hot and sweaty and even though her heart was beating rapidly against her chest there was no way she was slowing down until she got to Anais. She arrived back at Tollgate Cottage at a super-speed and flung open the garden gate to the honey-coloured stone terrace.

  Hoping for Anais’s sake that this was all just down to last-minute nerves – even though there wasn’t any time for wobbles, they were all due at the hairdressers in just under an hour and the church in four hours’ time – Julia burst through the front door. ‘Where are you?’ she bellowed, kicking off her trainers and hurrying up the hallway towards the living room.

  Catching her breath, with her hands on her hips, her eyes widened and her jaw fell open. Julia was rendered momentarily speechless. There lying on the floor was Anais’s wedding dress cut to shreds, now barely recognisable. Anais was curled up in a ball on the floor, hugging her knees, the tears sliding like a tsunami down her cheeks. Mia was sitting next to her, clutching a box of tissues.

  After saying ‘Christ on a bike!’ (twice), Julia dropped to her knees. Anais looked so dejected and Julia grabbed her hands and forced her to look at her.

  ‘What the hell has happened here?’ asked Julia, not beating around the bush. She wanted answers. ‘Mia?’

  Mia shrugged. ‘I was in the shower and came down to this,’ her eyes swept around the room.

  Anais’s swollen eyes bulged, and she swallowed. ‘He’s gone. It’s over,’ Anais blurted, taking gulps of air as she tried to catch her breath.

  Julia heard the words but didn’t understand. ‘What? Why? How? I’ve only been gone twenty minutes or so.’

  ‘And that’s all it took. He swanned in here and right back out again after delivering his news.’

  ‘And the news is…’

  ‘He’s seeing someone else.’

  Julia exhaled. ‘No! Flynn seeing someone else? But he’s devoted to you. You told us he was devoted to you. He was the one, you were the one.’

  ‘Well, not any more he isn’t.’

  ‘And he thought the only time to tell you would be today, on your wedding day?’ Julia was perplexed. What an absolute rat. Julia knew that the man was ruthless and not to be trusted. Look at the way he’d conducted business with her, and now this. Maybe, just maybe, Anais had had a lucky escape, even though it really wasn’t the right time to be pointing this out to her.

  Through her tears, all Anais could manage was a nod.

  ‘Who… how long?’ Julia had lots of questions spinning around her head.

  Mia held the box of tissues towards Anais who grabbed a handful, blew her nose and shrugged. ‘Some girl and I’ve no idea.’

  ‘What – you didn’t ask him?’ continued Julia, probing gently.

  ‘He didn’t give me a chance, he told me the facts then left.’

  ‘Did you not try to stop him?’ Julia looked towards Mia.

  ‘I never clapped eyes on him, he was in and out before I’d even finished my shower.’

  Julia was shaking her head in disbelief. ‘Ring him, we need to find out the answers.’

  ‘No,’ insisted Anais. ‘What’s the point? He’s cheated on me… He’s seeing someone else. I wouldn’t have him back now anyway, or give him the satisfaction of thinking I’m bothered.’

  Even though Julia hadn’t favoured Anais’s marriage to Flynn she still felt distraught for her friend. She knew in a few hours’ time there was going to be a church full of people waiting to celebrate their marriage. Anais’s mum was already at the hairdressers and her dad was currently on the way to the florist to pick up the bouquets and buttonholes… this wedding had cost a fortune and Flynn was walking away, leaving Anais to cancel everything and deal with the aftermath. What type of person was he?

  ‘What about all the guests? What do you want me to do?’ Julia’s voice was soft.

  Once more Anais broke down and began to wail.

  ‘Sorry… sorry,’ said Julia apologetically, focussing back on Anais. ‘I didn’t mean to make it worse.’

  ‘How could he do this to me? How am I ever going to be able to show my face again?’ Anais wept.

  Julia slid her arm around Anais’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. ‘Shame on him. He’s let a good thing go and one day he’ll regret it. You will find someone who worships the ground you walk on… someone that deserves you.’

  ‘Believe me, at this moment in time, I’m in no rush,’ sniffled Anais, giving a strangled sob before dabbing her eyes and reaching for the bottle of champagne on the table. ‘I need a drink,’ she said, her voice cracking as she passed the bottle to Mia who popped the cork then poured the liquid into the leftover cups that were still on the table from last night.

  All of them took a very large gulp and sat in silence for a moment before Julia spoke. ‘Okay,’ she said, with authority, taking control, ‘we need to inform the guests, have you got a list? We can start ringing around.’

  With a pained expression Anais nodded to the seating plan on the coffee table. ‘All the names are on there, but I wouldn’t have everyone’s phone number. Maybe the easiest thing to do would be to post in the Facebook event. The news will spread like wildfire… it gets it over and done with in one click.’

  Julia felt just terrible for her friend and could see Anais’s heart was breaking. Julia thought this type of stuff only happened in the movies, she never thought it would happen in real life, especially not to someone she knew. Who the hell did Flynn Carter think he was? He might be a ruthless businessman, but this was another level. He’d humiliated Anais, kicked her to the kerb. It was unacceptable to treat anyone this way, especially on their wedding day. Julia didn’t know how she would cope if something like this ever happened to her – it was a girl’s worst nightmare.

  The second J
ulia posted that the wedding was cancelled in the Facebook Group, Anais’s phone began pinging out of control with notifications. Once more, Julia took control and switched off the phone before topping up the tumblers of champagne.

  Flynn Carter would get his comeuppance one day. Julia believed in karma.

  Chapter One

  Five years later

  Julia breathed in a lungful of the late summer air as she arrived back at the bed and breakfast and sat on the wrought iron chair outside the back door. Closing her eyes, she felt the sun beating down on her face. The last person she’d expected to see in the pub in her little village of Heartcross that very morning was Flynn Carter. She’d frozen momentarily, in complete shock and had to look twice to make sure she wasn’t imagining things. She really wished she’d been hallucinating but he was very real, and he had been standing just a few metres away from her. Flynn was a face from the past she’d never expected to see again. He hadn’t acknowledged her even though Julia had recognised him the minute she’d set eyes on him. The man that had demolished her grandfather’s home and jilted her friend on her wedding day was now renting a cottage on Love Heart Lane for the next twelve months. What the hell was he doing in Heartcross?