Starcross Manor

by Christie Barlow

  As soon as he was out of sight, Eleni swiped Julia’s arm playfully. ‘And the way he looks at you… smitten is what he is, mark my words.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, he’s only just met me again after all these years and our history is not exactly amicable.’

  ‘The feeling I get is he wants to be very amicable.’

  ‘Very funny,’ replied Julia, noticing the huddle of boys in the corner begin to scatter in different directions. ‘Jack’s on the move, I want to grab him before he disappears.’ Julia looked down at her T-shirt which thankfully was nearly dry.

  As Jack walked past, Julia called over to him. ‘Just the man I want.’ She smiled.

  ‘That’s always good to hear, unless I owe you money,’ he replied with a cheeky grin and hovered by the edge of the table. ‘How are you? Enjoying the sunshine?’

  ‘Very much so,’ replied Julia. ‘Let me introduce Eleni, who’s working alongside me at the B&B.’

  Jack held out his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you.’

  Eleni shook his hand. ‘Likewise,’ she replied, with a warm smile.

  ‘The quote you gave me – how are you fixed to start work on the B&B as soon as possible?’ she asked in a hopeful tone. ‘The planning permission came through today.’ Julia couldn’t wait to get started. She was excited about the expansion to her new business and wanted all the rooms rented out by the spring.

  ‘Julia, I’m so sorry, we’re currently working up at Starcross Manor and have a number of other jobs pencilled in after that. It could possibly be Christmas time or just after? But I can definitely book you in for then? Ping me an email and I can add you to the diary.’

  Julia sighed. ‘And there’s no chance starting at mine until before then?’ She felt a tiny bit frustrated. She wanted everything to happen now, straight away.

  ‘I can’t commit, the job at Starcross Manor is already running over, which has a knock-on effect on everyone else waiting.’

  ‘That may not be too bad,’ reassured Eleni. ‘There’s still the possibility you could be up and running for springtime.’

  ‘Yes, you’re right.’ Julia turned back towards Jack. ‘We’ve just been up that neck of the woods. It’s going to be a lovely place to retire to,’ remarked Julia, thinking about the Manor House.

  ‘Retire?’ asked Jack, looking slightly puzzled.

  ‘Starcross Manor… the rumour is it’s being converted into a retirement home.’

  ‘That’s the thing about rumours: they aren’t always true. Starcross Manor isn’t a retirement home.’

  Julia looked towards Eleni, then back towards Jack. ‘What’s it going to be then?’

  ‘A five-star hotel.’

  Those four words hung in the air.

  For the second time today, Julia felt that time had slowed. She squished her eyebrows together and tilted her head to one side. ‘A five-star hotel – it can’t be. Everyone is saying it’s a retirement home.’ She needed clarification that she’d just heard Jack correctly.

  ‘Well everyone is wrong. I should know, I’m the one working up there.’ Jack looked over his shoulder to his friends who were leaving. ‘Ping me that email Julia, and I’ll be in touch,’ he said, heading back over towards his friends.

  ‘Eleni, I feel sick to my stomach,’ declared Julia, as soon as Jack was out of earshot. Her mind was racing. A five-star hotel – surely not. Flynn Carter had just sat in front them asking about her B&B and hadn’t even mentioned that Starcross Manor was going to be a hotel. What the hell was that going to mean for her own little business empire and the community of Heartcross? Why did no one know about this?

  ‘Why?’ asked Eleni, being slow on the uptake.

  Julia could feel her heart pounding faster. ‘What do you mean, why? A five-star hotel in the same village as my little B&B, how am I going to compete with that? I could go out of business in a matter of weeks.’ The worry was etched all over Julia’s face. ‘Just think about it. What comes with a five-star hotel? Swimming pools, spas, restaurants, gyms, beauty treatments… the list is endless. Which would you prefer, a five-star hotel with all the trimmings or a room and a breakfast?’

  ‘I’ve heard the breakfasts are amazing.’ Eleni tried to lighten the situation, but Julia wasn’t for smiling.

  ‘That man has just sat with us and never thought to mention he was the competition.’ Julia was wondering whether he’d purposely kept this from her. Why wouldn’t you mention it? ‘Eleni, think about it. If I go spending money on an extension and my business folds because of Flynn Carter’s new hotel, I will have lost everything.’

  ‘Julia, that’s not going to happen.’

  They both looked at each other.

  ‘We don’t know that for sure. I’m going to need to call a meeting. Just think about it. Starcross Manor is not just going to affect my business, but most of us in the community. The hotel will have a bar and a restaurant, surely that’s going to have an effect on the pub, Bonnie’s teashop and even Foxglove Farm. This could have the same effect on Isla’s camping business too. Eleni, this is an absolute disaster.’

  Julia pushed the glass of wine away from her. ‘There doesn’t seem to be much to celebrate any more. Flynn is a millionaire, he will have a huge marketing team behind him. He’s going to put me out of business the second he opens those doors.’ Julia swallowed down an emotional lump in her throat. She wasn’t prepared to lose everything because Flynn Carter had chosen Heartcross to set up his next business venture. Julia made a promise to herself there and then: if this had any effect on her B&B, she would fight him to the bitter end.

  Chapter Four

  The next morning when Julia awoke, she brought her hand up to her jaw and rubbed her cheek. Bloody toothache again. Thankfully this morning she’d got her check-up at the dentist after breakfast. For the last couple of days Julia had been gargling with salt water to try and ease the pain but she needed to face facts, put on her big girl’s pants and get her tooth properly checked out. Sitting up in bed, she glanced at the clock. Awake before her alarm sounded – absolutely typical when she could still be snuggled down under her duvet for another twenty minutes. Instead she resorted to swigging back a cold cup of tea from last night, to swill down a couple of paracetamols.

  ‘Yuk,’ she murmured to herself, wincing and shaking her head. It took Julia another couple of minutes to declare herself fully awake before swinging her legs out of bed and pulling on her dressing gown. As she padded down the private staircase, followed by Woody, she was amazed to hear movement already in the kitchen.

  ‘You’re here early?’ asked Julia, causing Eleni to jump out of her skin as she spun round.

  ‘Jeez, you shouldn’t creep up on people you know,’ said Eleni, putting a hand to her beating heart. ‘You frightened me to death then.’

  ‘Sorry, sorry,’ said Julia, pouring a fresh cup of tea from the pot made on the table. ‘But you aren’t due for another half an hour at least.’

  ‘Woken up by the dawn chorus, and with the sun shining through the gap in the curtains there was no chance I was drifting off again. So I cycled over, went for a quick run and here I am.’

  Julia’s eyebrows darted up involuntarily. ‘Way too energetic for this time in the morning. I’d have just crawled back under the duvet anyway.’

  ‘It’s a great way to start the day, you should come with me one morning.’

  ‘I’ll think about,’ mused Julia, knowing full well she was never going to think about it. She wasn’t sure she even owned a pair of running trainers and there was no way she was jiggling her wobbly thighs around the village in a pair of tight black leggings, resembling the black puddings hanging up in the butcher’s window… not a chance.

  ‘And you look half dead, kind of yellow-looking too,’ noticed Eleni, turning the sausages over and putting them in the bottom oven of the Aga to keep warm.

  ‘I feel half dead, this toothache is becoming unbearable. But thankfully I’m at the dentist just after breakfast so hopefully
she’ll put me out of my misery.’

  ‘I can’t stand the dentist… Obviously not literally the dentist, she seems a nice enough lady but going to the dentist… eurghh. I wonder what makes you decide you’re going to be a dentist. I couldn’t stand the thought of looking inside people’s mouths all day long. It just doesn’t do it for me.’

  ‘Me neither.’ Julia parked herself in the chair and hugged her mug of tea. Eleni was chatting about something, but Julia couldn’t concentrate, her head was pounding, her toothache throbbing.

  ‘Are you listening to me?’ asked Eleni, knowing that Julia had wandered off into a little world of her own.

  Julia didn’t answer. She was staring into space, now clutching the side of her jaw again.

  Eleni rolled her eyes then, with a slight smile hitched on her face. ‘Anyway boss I want you to know before I tell anyone else. I’m pregnant, the baby is due in six months’ time and I’ll have to go on maternity leave, then if I could do a three-day week on my return that would be grand.’

  At the mention of the word pregnant Julia soon catapulted back to planet Earth. ‘What did you just say – you’re pregnant?’ She did a slow blink and placed her mug down on the table. ‘Part-time?’

  Eleni giggled. ‘Oh, she’s back on planet Earth,’ teased Eleni, pulling a face. ‘Of course I’m not pregnant, I just needed your attention… how many breakfasts do we need?’ she stood waving the fish slice in the air.

  ‘Phew! Even though that makes me sound like I’m not happy for you, it’s just you brighten up this place… and aim for twelve cooked breakfasts this morning.’

  ‘There’s a compliment in there somewhere,’ Eleni narrowed her eyes at Julia. ‘And don’t take this the wrong way and I know you have toothache, but you don’t look very bright this morning. Did you get much sleep?’

  Julia knew, apart from the toothache, the worry of Flynn Carter’s brand-new hotel had kept her awake. Last night after Julia had climbed into bed, she’d logged on her laptop and spent nearly an hour trawling through internet posts about Flynn Carter. It seemed his business empire had expanded rapidly after his split with Anais.

  ‘I’m just worried; how can I commit to extending this place knowing I could be throwing away my money? Once I’ve sorted out this toothache, I’m going to call a village meeting. Everyone needs to know that Starcross Manor is going to be a hotel. I just can’t believe he showed us around the grounds of the manor and never told us it was going to be a hotel. Why the secrecy?’ Julia felt confused. Sitting in the pub garden she’d felt a connection between her and Flynn. Why wouldn’t he mention it when he asked her about the B&B? She just didn’t understand.

  Eleni posed the question to Julia that also had crossed her mind during the night. ‘So this jilted friend of yours, Anais. Have you told her that Flynn’s turned up in the village yet?’

  Julia shook her head. ‘I’ve been thinking about that but what’s the point? She’s moved on with her life. I’m not sure what she will even think about it. I know it’s a few years ago but I really don’t want to be upsetting her.’

  Eleni nodded her agreement. ‘You may be right.’

  After the serving of breakfast was finished and everything was cleared away Julia took the short drive to the dentist in Glensheil. After registering her arrival with the receptionist, she sat down in the bland-looking waiting room, where everything was white except the TV screen attached to the wall, which was flicking through adverts from local businesses.

  The receptionist popped her head around the door. ‘Sorry, we are running approximately ten minutes behind,’ she said, looking straight at Julia.

  ‘No problem,’ replied Julia politely, but wishing they would hurry up. The toothache was driving her insane and the painkillers were wearing off. She really wasn’t a fan of the dentist and knowing that more than likely she needed a tooth extraction, the queasy feeling in her stomach began to escalate. Leaning forward and picking up a pile of well-thumbed magazines from the table, she tried to block out the ache in her mouth by flicking through the first celebrity gossip mag. ‘Who are these people?’ she muttered under her breath, not recognising anyone from the photos staring back at her. Julia glanced at the date. ‘Two years old,’ she mumbled again before tossing the magazine back on the table.

  Next in the pile was the magazine Scottish Life. ‘This is more like it,’ she thought, noticing it was actually a recent issue. Julia began to turn the pages in awe of the dream kitchens, oldey worldey living rooms with soft furnishings to die for. In the past she’d used this magazine to help her style her own B&B. Julia loved interior design; she had a flair for style and soft furnishings and everyone who stayed at the B&B always complimented her on her bespoke furniture and luxury designs.

  As she turned the page Julia stared. She couldn’t believe it, there he was again – Flynn Carter, staring back at her. The headline: ‘Business Tycoon Creates The Perfect Wedding Venue After Being Jilted’.

  Julia felt her heart racing as her eyes quickly scanned the article. Wearing an expression of scepticism, she read and re-read the article, shaking her head in disbelief. Flynn Carter was telling the world that being jilted on his wedding day had given him the drive to focus on his business empire and create the picture-perfect five-star hotel to host the perfect wedding, so people could have their happy ever after, after he’d missed out. Julia’s jaw dropped somewhere below her knees. This wasn’t what had happened. The article described how Flynn Carter, the up and coming Scottish business tycoon, had been left heartbroken on his wedding day after being jilted by the love of his life, five years previously. He described how his weight had plummeted, how he had lain in bed for days after, with no motivation to get up, and how he’d isolated himself from his friends and family.

  Mystified, Julia knew that wasn’t the truth, so why had Flynn twisted the story? Was it to gain popularity, take advantage of the situation? Was he simply misleading everyone to entice more people to book his hotels for their weddings, increasing his profits? Julia was confused, she didn’t know what to think. Taking her phone out of her bag, she was about to take a screenshot to send to Anais but then took a slow, steady breath. Even though she wanted to understand what was going on here, what was that going to achieve? Anais was happy now with her new family, and Julia would only be opening up old wounds. She remembered the beautiful wedding dress cut to shreds and how, alongside Mia, they had cancelled the whole wedding. He’d smashed Anais’s heart into tiny pieces and walked away. And here he was, telling a totally different story in the magazine.

  ‘This just doesn’t ring true,’ muttered Julia to the empty waiting room.

  ‘Sorry, did you say something?’ asked the receptionist now standing in the doorway, causing Julia to jump.

  ‘I was just talking to myself, sorry,’ replied Julia, feeling a little embarrassed.

  The receptionist held the door open. ‘We are ready for you now.’

  Julia was still clutching the magazine as she stood up, then stuffed it safely into her bag. Still in disbelief at the article, she followed the receptionist down the corridor towards the room at the far end.

  ‘How are things with you?’ asked Charlotte the dentist, giving Julia a wide smile showing the most perfect set of pearly-white teeth.

  ‘All good,’ Julia answered, knowing that wasn’t strictly true.

  ‘Any problems?’ asked Charlotte, ushering Julia towards the large chair in the middle of the room.

  Julia brought her hand up to her jaw. ‘Immense toothache. It comes and goes but at the minute it’s back with a vengeance.’

  ‘Let me take a look,’ said Charlotte, passing Julia a pair of plastic glasses before lowering the chair. She pulled the overhead light towards Julia, who reluctantly opened her mouth as wide as she could.

  Charlotte took a minute to poke and prod Julia’s teeth and gums. ‘You have an abscess, but there’s good and bad news.’

  ‘And the abscess isn’t bad news?’

 
; Charlotte shook her head. ‘Afraid not.’

  ‘Go on then, hit me with the bad news first.’

  ‘You need a tooth extraction.’

  Julia wasn’t in the least bit surprised. ‘And there’s good news after that?’

  ‘There is. Luckily for you my next patient has cancelled, so I can fit you in now instead of coming back, and I’ll prescribe antibiotics for the infection.’

  ‘Lucky me,’ replied Julia, lacking enthusiasm. ‘I suppose at least I don’t need to come back.’

  ‘Just relax, I’m going to numb your mouth and you won’t feel a thing.’

  Julia spent over thirty minutes in the dentist’s chair with the bright light shining straight in her eyes. As she lay there her mind was fixed on Flynn and the article. If it was true that Starcross Manor was going to be a hotel, this was going to have an effect on all their livelihoods, and all the villagers needed to know. As soon as she got home, the first thing on her agenda would be to arrange a village meeting to share the information.

  ‘Okay, you’re all done,’ came Charlotte’s words at last. ‘It’ll take a few hours for the anaesthetic to wear off, so be careful, don’t go chewing the inside of your cheek or your lips. Here’s your antibiotics too.’ Charlotte handed over a small white package. ‘The instructions are on the label. Come back and see me in ten days.’

  Julia nodded and headed towards the reception to pay, paid, then stepped outside. She rubbed her numb jaw and took a deep breath, gulping in the fresh country air. The weather was changing and dark clouds were beginning to gather in the sky, a far cry from the beautiful sunshine yesterday. As huge drops of water began to fall, Julia pulled out the umbrella from her bag and hurried towards the car. Feeling sorry for herself, all she wanted to do was to go home, curl up with a blanket and dribble in peace.

  By the time she’d driven across the bridge into Heartcross, the rain had worsened. The radio was playing one of her favourite tunes but was drowned out by the frantic swish of the wipers. She flicked the indicator to turn left and saw a flurry of villagers racing along the High Street with their coats over their heads towards the pub, trying to keep the drenching to a minimum. Julia slowed the car down and swerved around the puddle at the edge of the kerb, then glanced to the right. That’s when she spotted Flynn sheltering under the jutted-out roof of Hamish’s shop doorway. He waved at her and she waved back – it was the polite thing to do.