Starcross Manor: Feel-good summer 2020 romantic fiction from the bestselling author of Love Heart Lane (Love Heart Lane Series, Book 4)

by Christie Barlow

  ‘I can add a free overnight at the B&B if that helps?’ said Julia, thinking aloud.

  ‘And I could donate one of my sketches,’ chipped in Eleni.

  ‘Sketches?’ queried Allie.

  ‘You should see Eleni’s sketches, they are amazing! One day this girl will have those sketches in art galleries all around the world – and before you become famous, I best take one off your hands,’ exclaimed Julia, ‘or else!’

  ‘I can’t wait to see them,’ chirped Allie, who looked over towards her mum. ‘I’m needed behind the bar. I best help out before I get sacked,’ she gave a little chuckle. ‘The raffle ticket books are doing the rounds. The draw will take place just after the TV programme,’ informed Allie. ‘I’m coming!’ she shouted towards her mum who was giving her that look to get back behind the bar pronto.

  Julia noticed that people were already parking themselves on the chairs in front of the TV. It was going to be strange watching Rory on the TV and not seeing him in the flesh, every one missed his presence. He was part of this village, a familiar face and once the programme aired alongside the famous Zach Hudson, Rory’s face was no doubt going to be recognised in every house in Scotland. Julia was genuinely happy for him. Rory was as honest as the day is long, a faithful partner, a guy who supported his parents. He deserved it all.

  The four friends chatted as Julia looked around the busy room. Suddenly she spotted Flynn walking into the pub via the back entrance, looking more distressed then he had this morning. He was in search of someone as his eyes flitted madly around the room and the second he caught Julia’s eye he began strolling towards her.

  ‘Julia, there you are, is it possible to have a word?’ He sounded earnest.

  All eyes were on Julia as she stood up and pushed her chair under the table. ‘Of course,’ she said feeling a little nervous. He stretched out his arm and led her to the corner of the room, but before she could ask what this was all about, Flynn began to speak.

  ‘I just want to thank you for listening to me this morning and wondered if you’d managed to find out anything more? Things are going from bad to worse and suppliers have pulled out from the Boathouse too.’ Flynn was clearly very frazzled. ‘I just don’t know what’s happening.’

  This was Julia’s cue to come clean, she could see Flynn was mystified and worried, and she didn’t want to cause anyone stress and upset.

  ‘Flynn, it’s the hotel.’

  Flynn raised an eyebrow. ‘The hotel?’

  ‘We are all worried about how it’s going to fit into Heartcross. It’s going to have an impact on all our businesses… including mine.’

  ‘Julia, I don’t understand. The hotel will bring in more tourists to the area – that will benefit everyone’s business.’

  ‘How’s it going to benefit me when I can’t compete with what you have to offer? I’m simply a B&B, I don’t have spas or swimming pools. How can I even think about building an extension when I don’t even know if I’ll have guests wanting to book…’

  Flynn was listening intently to Julia. ‘Why didn’t you come and talk to me about this?’

  Julia knew now that that would have been the sensible thing to do and she didn’t want to get into a conversation about it, but she was still wary of Flynn, even though since he’d arrived in the village he’d acted with decency.

  ‘It was a shock at first; everyone thought Starcross Manor was going to be converted into retirement flats and then when we discovered it was going to be a hotel… well, everyone has concerns.’

  ‘I didn’t try and hide it from anyone.’

  ‘But the community didn’t know, somehow everyone missed the memo. And I do apologise, I should have come to talk to you sooner.’ Julia knew all she’d done was make life more difficult for him, but it was still her business that could be affected and she might end up with nothing.

  A sudden movement caught Julia’s eye, and she looked over Flynn’s shoulder to witness Hamish striding towards them, his hands flailing in the air, his face reddened. This really didn’t look good.

  ‘The man who wants to take over Heartcross.’ Hamish’s tone was sharp, and Flynn looked at him in surprise. ‘Thought you’d stroll into our village and put us all out of business, did you?’

  Julia was stunned, all the time she’d known Hamish she’d never known him to have a cross word with anyone. He was such a gentle soul and to react like this meant he must be riled, it was so out of character for him.

  ‘I’m not here to put anyone out of business,’ Flynn replied in a calm manner, conscious there were numerous people now looking over in his direction.

  Hamish raised his voice as he continued, ‘You would say that though, wouldn’t you? Do you know how long I’ve owned that village shop? And you think you can waltz in here and open up another shop within arm’s reach.’ Hamish was physically shaking with anger. ‘You are not going to put me out of business. Serves you right, now all your contractors are pulling out.’ Hamish’s face was crimson with anger.

  Flynn narrowed his eyes. ‘Do you know something about that, Hamish? Has that got something to do with you?’

  ‘If it wasn’t for Julia calling the village meeting and warning us about how untrustworthy you are, you might have got away with it. But we won’t stand for it. This community sticks together.’

  Julia swallowed. Flynn wasn’t listening to Hamish any more, he was staring open mouthed at her.

  ‘You called a meeting? Untrustworthy?’

  Julia wanted the ground to swallow her up. Shaking his head in disbelief, Flynn was still staring at her in bewilderment. ‘You’re the one who’s caused all this? And there I was, telling you this morning about how the ballroom wouldn’t be completed on time and how someone’s wedding was going to be affected… and all the time you knew… unbelievable.’

  Julia was mortified, the anguish surging through her body. This sounded a lot worse than it actually was. She’d only just discovered that Hamish was behind the cancelled contractors and had taken matters into his own hands. ‘I… I—’

  Flynn put his hand up. ‘Julia just stop there.’ He looked furious. ‘I don’t want to hear any more. I’ll leave you all to enjoy your evening.’ And with that Flynn looked away from Julia and stormed towards the front door of the pub.

  ‘Ashamed is what you should be,’ were the last words Hamish shouted before the door swung shut behind Flynn.

  Julia felt dreadful, Flynn had come to the pub to thank her and now it had ended like this. ‘Hamish, what have you done? This was the wrong way to go about it all. This could make the whole situation worse. Flynn won’t care at all about supporting our businesses if we alienate him. I know you’re worried Hamish but,’ Julia blew out a breath. This wasn’t how she’d expected the evening to pan out. Flynn would be gunning for and her little B&B. Hamish’s hot-headed reaction could have a devastating effect on everyone. ‘I need to go and try and rectify the situation.’

  Looking a little sheepish, Hamish had now calmed down a little. Julia was just about to go after Flynn to try and clear the air when, right on cue, Fraser blew into a microphone that was set up at the side of the TV. ‘Attention everyone.’ Immediately the pub hushed, and Fraser continued. ‘The show is about to be aired in five minutes, please come and take your seats.’ He waved everyone over. ‘Hurry!’

  The timing couldn’t be worse, Julia couldn’t go running after Flynn right at this moment. Rory’s TV show was about to air any second. ‘Hamish, what possessed you?’

  ‘That business is my life and I’m not prepared to go down without a fight.’

  Julia fully understood the way Hamish was feeling, that’s exactly how she felt about her business. ‘But there’s ways to go about it. We need to sort this out,’ she said, wondering what the hell she was going to do now and worried about how Flynn was going to react to it all. Only time would tell.

  Walking back to the table, all eyes were on Julia as she sat back down.

  ‘What the hell just
happened there?’ asked a wide-eyed Eleni, who’d watched the showdown from afar. ‘Flynn didn’t look too happy.’

  ‘He’s far from happy. Flynn asked this morning whether I knew what was going on and at the time I didn’t, but now Hamish has just told Flynn that it was me who organised the meeting and told everyone how untrustworthy I thought he was…’

  ‘Yikes! Who needs enemies,’ chipped in Eleni.

  ‘I’ve probably got a new enemy now,’ replied Julia feeling deflated as Martha and Aggie appeared at the side of the table.

  ‘Good evening ladies, who would like raffle tickets?’

  Everyone delved into their purses for change. Martha ripped off numerous strips of coloured tickets and handed them over whilst Aggie placed all the money in a clear plastic box.

  ‘There’s some great prizes and lots of money already raised, any more for any more?’ asked Aggie shaking the box.

  ‘I think we are done, thank you,’ smiled Isla. ‘Rory’s show should be starting soon. Allie said she’d saved us all the front row, so shall we move over there?’ Isla nodded towards the TV.

  ‘Good plan,’ Felicity said, standing up before turning towards Julia. ‘You’ve gone quiet. Don’t think about it now. Just enjoy the show and we can sort it out later.’

  Julia nodded, knowing her mood had slumped. She felt awful about the situation. With a nauseous feeling in her stomach she followed the others to the chairs in front of the TV. ‘And there will be no bar service until the interval because we would like to watch our future son-in-law on TV too,’ added Fraser.

  Stuart and Alana took pride of place next to Allie. They were so proud of their son, and Rory rang them numerous times throughout the week to update them on his African adventure. As everyone took their seats Fraser switched on the TV. The second Rory’s face flashed across the screen Allie gave out a little squeal causing everyone to laugh. ‘OMG, and there’s me,’ she said pointing, then covered her face up. ‘Do I really sound like that?’ she exclaimed, feeling embarrassed.

  The TV show was entertaining and hilarious in places, especially the times Stuart had interrupted the filming, but the producer had not edited those parts out, leaving everyone in stitches. He was simply hilarious. No one moved from their seat for the whole half an hour and as soon as the credits rolled, the whole pub let out a rapturous applause.

  For a short time, the show had taken Julia’s mind off Flynn. ‘That was brilliant, so entertaining,’ she exclaimed, tapping Allie on the shoulder. ‘Rory the supervet, and you are a natural on screen. I can’t wait for the next episode.’

  ‘Mmm, I’m not sure about me being a natural but it was definitely fun to film, and I have to admit it seemed strange seeing Rory, it was like he was in the room. He was brilliant, wasn’t he?’ Allie was beaming and the room let out another cheer. She made her way over to the TV screen and picked up the microphone. ‘Thank you all for coming! How brilliant was that? I think it’s safe to say that was very entertaining and I’m very proud of Rory.’ Allie flapped a hand in her face and took a breath. ‘I’ve come over all emotional. Rory will be chuffed to know we are all out in force tonight supporting him while he’s off saving the lions.’ Allie laid the microphone down on the table and began clapping alongside everyone else. Fraser and Meredith joined their daughter at the front of the room and hugged Allie.

  After a few seconds Fraser picked up the microphone. ‘I think tonight we are all a little emotional.’ He was looking towards his daughter with such admiration. ‘Not only do we all miss Rory, in fact it’s safe to say since he left for Africa our profits have dropped.’

  Allie gave a small chuckle.

  Fraser continued, ‘And tonight we are all gathered here with all our friends to say goodbye to Allie too. Even though she is leaving us short-staffed and I have to do the early morning shifts, we wish her all the best and will miss her.’

  Tears began streaming down Allie’s face and Julia quickly delved into her bag and passed her a pack of tissues.

  ‘We wish you so much luck in your new job and we are proud of you and Rory,’ echoed Meredith, taking the microphone from Fraser. ‘Not only is Allie off to work for the newspaper, tonight she’s fund-raising to open the James Kerr Centre for Disadvantaged Children. The centre will be based in the grounds at Clover Cottage and will look to open spring next year.’ Meredith looked over the sea of people and waved towards Martha and Aggie, who were sitting at the bar folding the last of the raffle tickets and throwing them into a bucket. ‘Aggie… Martha… are we ready to do the draw?’

  Martha gave Meredith a nod of the head and made her way over towards Meredith, carrying the bucket. ‘Get your tickets ready, there are some fantastic prizes to be won.’

  A ripple of excitement filled the room whilst everyone clutched what they hoped was one of the winning tickets. Julia couldn’t help but think what an inspiration Allie was. She’d dabbled in photography since her school days and here she was now, off to Glasgow to work on a national paper.

  Fraser took the microphone and hushed everyone while Meredith shook the bucket of tickets with both hands. ‘Allie, will you do us the honour of pulling out the first ticket,’ she asked, holding the bucket up high whilst Allie delved in. She pulled out the first ticket and handed it over to her dad.

  ‘It’s a pink ticket,’ bellowed Fraser down the microphone causing it to whistle loudly. ‘Sorry!’ he apologised moving it away from his mouth.

  There were lots of ooohs and aaahs filtering around the room from all the people that were clutching their pink tickets.

  ‘The first prize is a month’s supply of eggs donated by the wonderful Drew and Isla of Foxglove Farm, and the winning ticket is pink… 242.’

  There was a rustle of tickets and a murmur of voices.

  ‘No way! Allie draw again,’ hollered Drew. ‘I don’t need to win my own eggs,’ he said, rolling his eyes. ‘I never win anything then I win my own prize… typical.’

  Fraser shook his head in jest and Allie dived into the bucket again pulling out another ticket.

  ‘Here goes, this time it’s blue… it’s blue… 329,’ announced Fraser. Whilst he shouted into the microphone, Allie waved the ticket in the air. ‘Anyone got blue 329?’ he repeated.

  Felicity thrust her arm in the air. ‘It’s me! It’s me!’ she shouted excitedly.

  ‘That’ll will come in handy for the teashop,’ chipped in Rona, giving Felicity a nod of approval.

  ‘The next ticket is to win…’ Fraser looked over towards Allie who quickly checked the list on the clipboard next to her.

  ‘It’s a free newspaper of your choice for a month courtesy of our favourite shopkeeper, Hamish,’ shouted out Allie while Hamish stood up and took a bow. He caught Julia’s eye as he sat down and looked regretful.

  ‘Winning ticket is pink 173,’ Fraser looked over the sea of people who were frantically scanning their tickets.

  ‘It’s me, it’s me!’ bellowed Martha. ‘Does it come with free delivery too?’ she teased, handing over the ticket to Allie.

  ‘Only because it’s you,’ shouted out Hamish.

  Even though the mood was jovial, all Julia could think about was Flynn. Even though she owned the fact she’d told the villagers that she thought he was untrustworthy, she hadn’t called the meeting to hang him out to dry. All she could do was try and put the situation right as soon as she could. For the next five minutes more prizes were drawn, Eleni had won a free walk-an-alpaca day up at Foxglove Farm, Aggie had won one of Eleni’s sketches, and Fergus was over the moon to win a free beer every time he came into the pub for the next month.

  ‘The next prize has been donated by Flynn Carter,’ announced Fraser. ‘This prize is to take a trip on the very first boat that is launched from the Boathouse, which is due to open up in a couple of weeks, followed by an afternoon of water sports.’

  Under normal circumstances this prize would have been amazing, however because of the meeting a number of people got up from their c
hairs and began to filter back towards the bar whilst others just started chatting. Thankfully Flynn wasn’t there to witness the undercurrent of unrest. Julia watched Allie swirl her hand inside the bucket.

  Eleni leaned in and whispered to Julia, ‘You could cut the atmosphere with a knife.’

  ‘Thanks to Hamish,’ whispered back Julia.

  ‘It’s blue again!’ hollered Fraser taking the ticket from Allie. Julia blinked slowly and laid her one blue ticket on her knee.

  ‘It’s got to be someone who bought their tickets just after Felicity, the number is 256.’

  The room fell deadly silent waiting for the winner to reveal themselves.

  Julia swallowed and stared down at the ticket in her hand. She couldn’t believe her luck, lying on her knee was a blue ticket, the number 256 staring straight back at her.

  Shit.

  The adrenalin was pumping through her veins and her hands were beginning to sweat. Her eyes widened – what the hell was she going to do now? The last thing Flynn Carter would want was to take her on a boat trip after what he’d discovered in the last half hour.

  ‘It’s you,’ hissed Eleni. ‘It’s you.’

  But Julia couldn’t answer, she felt paralysed.

  ‘Anyone?’ prompted Fraser. ‘We are still looking for blue 256.’

  Eleni yanked Julia’s hand in the air. ‘Here!’ she shouted towards Fraser. ‘It’s Julia!’

  Julia tried to compose herself quickly and forced a smile, she could feel everyone’s eyes on her. Out of all the tickets in that bucket, why did it have to be hers?

  Five minutes later the raffle was over, Fraser and Meredith stood proudly next to Allie, who was close to tears again.

  ‘Firstly,’ said Fraser, ‘on behalf of Allie, Meredith and myself, we would like to thank everyone who has donated a prize and bought a ticket. Tonight, thanks to you guys, Martha and Aggie have counted the money and would you believe we raised just over one thousand pounds? It’s outstanding!’

  The whole room burst into applause.

  ‘The money will be spent on equipment for the new centre that will be opening up at Clover Cottage in the very near future… watch this space.’ Fraser took a breath and turned towards Allie. ‘That only leaves me to wish our beautiful, clever daughter a happy six months in the big smoke working on the national paper.’ Fraser leant over to the table at the side of him and picked up his glass. ‘Here’s to Allie.’