Starcross Manor

by Christie Barlow

  As they walked towards the pub Eleni held open the door. ‘And I’ve only got one thing to say.’

  ‘I hope it’s, I’m sorry,’ suggested Julia, ‘as you did very nearly crash my car.’

  ‘More like, let’s get a drink, we have your good news to celebrate.’

  ‘And just so you know, the drinks are on you.’

  ‘Okay boss!’ chirped Eleni, with a salute.

  Chapter Three

  The second they stepped inside the pub Allie waved at Julia and Eleni from behind the bar. As usual Allie was thoroughly at home serving the regulars, leaning against the pumps with all her usual confidence on display. She was invincibly cheerful as ever, but as Julia weaved her way towards the bar with Eleni following close behind, she thought Allie looked tired.

  Even though Allie was a natural behind the bar, she had her work cut out on days like this, and her words came out in a shout. ‘How’s your day going?’

  ‘Apart from this one just tried to kill me.’ Julia rolled her eyes towards Eleni.

  ‘What? Why? How?’ Allie asked confused, straightening the beer mats in front of them.

  ‘Never offer to teach someone to drive.’

  Allie chuckled. ‘It’s going well, then. You’ll be in need of a stiff drink.’

  ‘A bottle of pinot grigio and two glasses. We are celebrating.’

  ‘You’re celebrating she nearly killed you?’ chuckled Allie, reaching for a bottle of wine from the fridge behind her.

  Julia shook her head. ‘Not quite. The planning permission for the B&B has finally been granted!’

  ‘Oh, that’s brilliant news Julia, I’m made up for you.’

  ‘Thank you, me too,’ replied Julia smiling. Everything was planned, Julia had numerous spreadsheets with all the costs estimated and how long each part of the building work should take. She couldn’t wait to call the builder and negotiate a start date.

  ‘Oh, and if you’re hungry, Dad has the BBQ going in the pub garden. You know what he’s like the second the sun comes out; he can’t help himself.’ Allie swiped Julia’s cash card and gave it her back.

  As they ventured outside Julia looked around for a vacant table. The setting was perfect, with a small terrace area filled with wrought-iron tables and chairs and glorious blooms tumbling from the planters in every corner. Fairy lights wrapped around the wooden trestle above them and there were three wooden steps down to the lawn area.

  ‘This is the life,’ said Julia, thankful that all her jobs at the B&B were done for today and she had no intention of venturing back anytime soon.

  They settled on a wooden bench not far from the sizzle of the BBQ. Allie’s dad, Fraser, was in his element and looked the part, wearing his wife Meredith’s apron and poking at the coals vigorously. ‘There’s burgers ready,’ he shouted triumphantly as Allie ferried out a large platter of bread buns and people began to form an orderly queue.

  Julia relaxed and poured herself and Eleni a glass of wine. ‘We can leave the car here, I’ll pick it up in the morning.’

  ‘Suits me,’ replied Eleni, holding her glass up. ‘Here’s to you and new beginnings.’

  They clinked glasses and both took a sip.

  ‘I love days like this,’ murmured Julia, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before the temperature changed. Winter in Heartcross could be absolutely brutal, as everyone had discovered last year when the thawing snow had flooded Heartcross and the fierce storms had brought the bridge crashing down, leaving them all stranded. Julia glanced around the garden and, spotting Alfie, beckoned him over. ‘Guess what I have?’ she said, unable to hide the beam on her face.

  Alfie smiled as he strolled over towards them. ‘I know exactly what you have… planning permission. I get all the inside information, working in the council offices. Congratulations! When does all the chaos begin? Have you lined up your builder?’

  ‘Hopefully as soon as possible, but I need to give Jack a ring – the builder you recommended.’

  Jack Langdon was the eldest of three brothers working for the family business, established in the 90s, based in Glensheil. They’d come highly recommended by Alfie and when Julia checked out their history and reviews, no one had a bad word to say about them. She knew he’d be perfect for the job.

  ‘Jack’s here you know, I spotted him inside earlier. Go and have a chat with him,’ encouraged Alfie, draining his pint and placing the empty glass on the table. ‘I was just on my way home but congratulations again. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon.’

  ‘Will do, thanks Alfie.’

  ‘So what does this Jack Langdon look like?’ enquired Eleni, watching the queue finally diminish at the side of Fraser. ‘And I’m feeling a bit peckish, do you fancy a burger?’

  Julia looked astounded. ‘You’re feeling peckish after that slab of cake we devoured before coming out?’

  ‘Always room for more food, and it’ll help to soak up the alcohol.’

  Julia couldn’t believe how much Eleni put away. One of the perks of cooking the Full Scottish breakfast every morning was that Eleni got to make one for herself, and the amount of cake she consumed was astronomical – yet she never put an ounce of weight on. Unlike Julia, who only had to look at anything remotely unhealthy and wham – she automatically put half a stone on.

  ‘There’s Jack.’ Julie nodded towards the huddle of lads glugging lager and laughing heartily a few tables away from them. They watched as the lads lifted their pint glasses high in the air and cheered. ‘It looks like they’re having a good time.’

  Jack Langdon looked like he should be on the front of a surfer magazine, with his mop of curly hair and olive skin. He was deeply tanned and looked like he’d been on holiday for a month.

  ‘How old is he? And he’s going to be our builder? I approve.’ Eleni was watching him closely. ‘He will be a very welcome attraction around the place.’

  ‘He’s around twenty-five at a guess, and if he is going to be our builder, he doesn’t need any distractions until my building work is completed,’ joked Julia with a smile.

  ‘Hmm, I’ll do my best but no promises… Girlfriend?’

  Julia shrugged. ‘How would I know?’

  ‘Because you village-type people know everything about everyone, always into each other’s business.’

  Julia swiped her arm playfully. ‘Don’t you be cheeky.’

  ‘Oh, and don’t look now, but here’s your favourite villager…’ Eleni tipped Julia a wink.

  ‘Huh?’

  Julia’s head angled towards the entrance. In walked Flynn Carter with a confident swagger. He was now clean-shaven, wearing a Fred Perry T-shirt, navy blue shorts and flip flops.

  ‘Nice legs,’ stated Eleni, staring at his tanned legs and muscular calves, but Eleni didn’t need to point them out, Julia had already noticed.

  ‘There’s only a certain type of man who can pull off wearing flip-flops and he’s definitely one of them,’ continued Eleni.

  Julia watched as Flynn disappeared inside the pub and walked out moments later clutching a beer. He parked himself at an empty table not far from the BBQ and began scrolling through his phone.

  ‘He’s probably on Tinder looking to date and dump his next victim,’ joked Eleni.

  ‘It’s not funny,’ insisted Julia but whatever he was looking at on his phone, he was finding it mildly amusing, as his mouth hitched into a smile.

  Julia couldn’t help herself, she simultaneously kept flicking her eyes in his direction. ‘Wait until I tell Anais he’s turned up in the village. Out of all the villages in the country, he turns up here.’

  ‘Did she ever see him after that day?’ questioned Eleni. She too was staring over in his direction.

  ‘No, she never set eyes on him again.’

  Flynn looked up from his phone and caught Julia’s eye, and the moment hung in the air. He acknowledged her with a lopsided grin, and again she felt a tiny flutter inside. Julia shifted in her seat. Damn, she thought, feeling a slight blush to her
cheeks, he knew she was watching him.

  ‘See, he’s friendly, he seems alright to me,’ said Eleni, noticing his smile.

  ‘I’m definitely intrigued,’ replied Julia. ‘He certainly seems not quite the man I remember, from what I’ve seen so far, but I’m certainly keeping my wits about me. I’m nobody’s fool.’

  As the afternoon passed, Julia chatted to Eleni about her plans for the B&B. Everyone was in good spirits, enjoying the sunshine. Fraser patrolled the pub garden, chatting to the customers and making sure everyone was okay, when suddenly there was some sort of commotion. One of the hikers’ dogs had managed to slip its lead and jumped up at a reveller’s plate, swiping a hotdog and swallowing it in nearly one gulp. The hiker scooped up the dog and was apologetic and mortified, however the dog looked very pleased with itself, swinging its tail from side to side. Fraser hurried over with a fresh hotdog.

  ‘There’s a couple of burgers left – any takers… any more?’ Fraser bellowed on his way back to flip the burgers over.

  ‘Those burgers have our names on them. Come on,’ said Eleni standing up. ‘We best grab them before that dog goes in for seconds.’

  Julia looked over towards Flynn, who wasn’t sitting far from the BBQ. It would be rude not to pass the time of day with him.

  ‘Maybe we should do the neighbourly thing and invite him over to join us, he won’t know many people in the village yet,’ suggested Eleni. ‘And you can get to know him a little better.’

  ‘Let’s get those burgers,’ said Julia, not rising to the bait and ignoring Eleni’s suggestion even though she wanted to find out why Flynn was here in Heartcross.

  ‘As my old granny said, life twists and turns in mysterious ways. People come into your life for a reason. There must be a reason he’s turned back up in yours.’

  ‘He hasn’t turned up in my life, he’s turned up in the village where I live. That’s nothing to do with me.’ But as they walked over towards Fraser, Julia’s gaze once more drifted over towards Flynn. She noticed he’d taken another phone call and was chatting away once more.

  ‘A burger, is it ladies?’ asked Fraser, grabbing a serviette and opening up a bun. ‘Onions?’

  They nodded.

  Just at that moment, the pesky dog escaped its owner again, and with its impeccable timing it tripped up Allie, who was carrying a tray full of drinks. Julia watched in slow motion as the drinks were hurled into the air, before spilling over the burning-hot coals of the BBQ.

  Whoosh… Flames hurled high and out of control.

  Fraser was waving his arms frantically. ‘Water, we need water, a damp towel… anything.’

  Out of the corner of her eye Julia was aware of a sudden movement. Eleni stepped back, and Julia squealed as a tidal wave of ice-cold water was thrown all over the BBQ… and her.

  ‘What the hell do you think you are doing?’ raged Julia, flinging her arms open wide as the water dripped from her face.

  Flynn’s face registered his alarm as he held the empty bucket. ‘Putting the fire out.’

  ‘Urghh,’ Julia grumbled, swiping the water from her bare arms.

  Eleni was doing her very best to stifle her laughter. She bent down and helped Allie pick up the glasses that had been thrown into the air; thankfully most of them had bounced along the grass and not shattered into thousands of pieces.

  ‘I’m so sorry Dad, I tripped,’ Allie looked genuinely shocked. ‘That dog came from nowhere. I didn’t see it. Is everyone okay?’ She looked around for the dog who had caused the commotion, but he was now sitting down quietly next to his owner like it was nothing to do with him.

  After checking Julia was okay Fraser looked down at the two soggy burgers left on the BBQ. ‘I don’t suppose…’ he said turning towards Eleni and Julia. ‘No, of course not. Too soggy and kind of cremated… if you are still hungry, it won’t take too long to get the BBQ up and running again.’

  Eleni looked towards Julia then towards Fraser. ‘Why not, it’ll give Julia time to dry out in the sun.’

  ‘Are you alright?’ asked Flynn, his voice soft and full of concern. ‘I’m so sorry, I just heard a scream, saw flames and reacted.’

  ‘Am I alright? You’ve just chucked a bucket of ice water over me.’ Julia’s eyebrows shot up. Feeling embarrassed. ‘Look at the state of me,’ said Julia, fully aware that everyone in the pub garden was staring in her direction. She exhaled and straightened her back.

  Flynn took a cautious step back and looked at her.

  Julia gave a brief headshake and was mortified: her old sodden T-shirt was drenched and clinging to her breasts.

  ‘Stop looking at me,’ she said with a twinge of irritation.

  ‘But you just told me to look, and if it’s any consolation you look pretty good to me,’ he said, with a slight smile. But Julia was far from smiling. She huffed and was trying not to focus on his words, but couldn’t help wondering if he was actually flirting with her.

  Meredith hurried out then, holding a large towel that she draped over Julia’s shoulders. ‘Here, take this, at least you’ll dry off quickly in this weather.’

  ‘Thanks Meredith,’ said Julia gratefully, clutching the towel tightly.

  ‘Let me get you some drinks, it’s the least I can do,’ offered Flynn, this time looking hopefully over towards Eleni.

  ‘Perfect,’ she replied just in case Julia refused.

  Fraser outstretched his hand. ‘And thank you for thinking fast on your feet, those flames could have taken off my eyebrows.’

  ‘It was nothing, and I am sorry about your soggy burgers.’

  Fraser seemed to be chuckling away with Flynn as Julia traipsed back towards the table. She sat down and took a sip of her wine then immediately topped up her glass.

  ‘It’s a good job Flynn has offered to pay for more drinks, the rate you’re throwing them back,’ observed Eleni.

  ‘Just look at the state of me. First I trip up not once but twice in front of him, and now he’s flung a cold bucket of ice water over me.’ Julia held Eleni’s gaze and they both burst out laughing. ‘You couldn’t write it, could you?’ Julia was shaking her head in disbelief.

  ‘You shouldn’t be allowed out without a government health warning stamped on you,’ teased Eleni.

  Just at that moment, Meredith appeared at the side of the table balancing a fresh bottle of wine and two new glasses, courtesy of Flynn.

  ‘Thank you, Meredith,’ said Julia, noticing Flynn was walking over towards them from the corner of her eye.

  ‘Julia, I’m sorry again,’ he said sounding sincere. ‘Enjoy your drinks.’

  He was just about to walk off when Eleni invited him to sit down. ‘Come and join us; you can’t know too many people here.’

  He looked towards Julia, who gestured for him to sit down.

  ‘Not many,’ he admitted, looking pleased they’d invited him to sit with them. ‘Thank you,’ he slipped onto the bench opposite them.

  ‘Can I get you a drink?’ Meredith asked, still hovering by the table, and then promptly hurried to retrieve Flynn a cold beer.

  ‘So tell me about Heartcross?’ Flynn looked between Julia and Eleni. ‘It seems such a relaxed place when dogs aren’t pinching sausages off plates or I’m not throwing buckets of cold water over residents.’ He gave Julia a wicked grin.

  Julia shook her head in jest. ‘You don’t want to go falling out with the residents of Heartcross, you know. We are a very close community.’

  She studied his face when Meredith reappeared with his drink. He seemed relaxed. There was a certain charm about him, and he was always polite. Julia began to question if this was the same man who had dumped Anais. She remembered back to how ugly that day had been, but the man sitting in front of her seemed to have a totally different personality. Maybe he was lulling everyone into a false sense of security?

  As soon as Meredith disappeared back inside Julia carried on talking. ‘Life in Heartcross is wonderful, and very busy this time of year.’

>   ‘You own the local B&B,’ he queried. ‘You must be full?’

  ‘Always full,’ answered Julia proudly. ‘I love my job and as I’m the only accommodation in Heartcross, except for the camping site up at Foxglove Farm, then yes it’s always extremely busy, which is good for me.’

  Flynn took a swift look around the beer garden. It was packed full of people enjoying time with their family and friends. ‘And is this the only pub in Heartcross?’ he asked, taking a sip of his beer.

  Eleni chipped in, ‘It is, and it’s always heaving, and everyone is great company. The food is amazing, the atmosphere always friendly and this is the place to come when the weather is scorching.’

  ‘It certainly looks like the place to come,’ agreed Flynn. ‘And the company is definitely great,’ he gave Julia a look that again nervously flipped her stomach.

  ‘Well, the jury is still out on my part after having a bucket of ice-cold water thrown all over me.’ But if the truth be told Julia felt very comfortable in his company, which surprised her after the past they’d shared.

  With a huge beam on his face, Flynn dropped his head to his hands. ‘There was a perfectly reasonable explanation, I didn’t want you to be set on fire.’

  Julia brought her hands up to her chest. ‘He saved my life!’ she joked.

  Eleni was watching in amusement. ‘You pair should join an amateur dramatics society,’ she rolled her eyes and topped up her glass.

  Julia felt as though they’d hit it off straight away. There was a chemistry between them that surely he felt too, but there was still that nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Flynn was a player, who’d jilted his bride on their wedding day. She didn’t want to admit to herself she found him funny, charming, and she certainly wasn’t going to put herself in the firing line to be hurt. She’d already witnessed what he was capable of doing.

  ‘Anyway, now I’ve saved your life,’ he chugged back his beer, ‘I’ve got some errands to run, so hopefully I can save your life again someday soon.’ He gave Julia a look that once more gave her a little skip in the pit of her stomach. Flynn stood up and popped his empty glass on Allie’s tray as she walked past.