‘He’s here, don’t worry, I have him.’ Woody was clinging like a frightened child to another fireman, his coat drowned, his large dopey eyes were sad and his whole body was shaking from fright.
He really was looking sorry for himself but the second he spotted Julia he thumped his tail slowly.
‘He’s okay, he was hiding in the pantry, maybe a little shocked but he’s not hurt,’ said the fireman reassuringly.
Julia took Woody from his arms and was relieved he was safe. She hugged him like her life depended on it, but felt her body quivering with the shock. Everywhere was drenched, the paintings hanging on the walls ruined, the curtains soaked. She stared round at everything in despair, this was going to be a major clean-up operation, each room a mammoth task. She thought about taking a look upstairs but just couldn’t face it.
‘Julia, we need to think fast,’ encouraged Eleni. ‘We have paying guests sitting outside needing a bed for the night.’
Julia knew she needed to pull herself together and gave herself a little shake. ‘We need to telephone the Grapes Hotel over in Glensheil and see if they have any vacancies.’
‘It’s unlikely as it’s peak season, but I’ll try,’ replied Eleni, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
‘If not, try the George Hotel, even though I’m not sure how the hell I’m going to pay for it all,’ added Julia, thinking aloud.
Jack touched Eleni’s arm. ‘I’ll ring one, you ring the other,’ he nodded towards the back door. The pair of them waded through the kitchen and stood out on the patio and began to dial the local hotels.
Julia was surrounded by bedlam. Overcome with emotion she cuddled Woody so tightly and couldn’t hold on to the tears any longer. ‘What the hell am I am going to do, Woods? This is my life and look at this place.’
Eleni and Jack returned back inside, the look on their faces saying it all. ‘I’m so sorry Julia, but there are no vacancies anywhere…’
Julia just couldn’t help it, more tears began to stream down her face.
‘Please don’t cry…’ Eleni sloshed her way over to the box of the tissues on the table and reached inside. ‘Okay, no tissues, they are all just one lump of sogginess.’
Jack stepped towards her. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll sort this. It’s going to be okay,’ he said trying to offer a little bit of reassurance.
After placing Woody on the floor Julia flung her arms open. ‘How is it going to be okay? My guests are stranded outside on the lane with nowhere to stay and I’ve no idea where to start with this lot.’ Julia felt her chest rising and falling, and all she could do was try and catch her breath. ‘I’m sorry Jack, I don’t mean to take it out on you. I need to go and talk to the guests, but I have no clue what the hell I’m going to say.’
‘Don’t shoot me when I say this, but we think you only have one option,’ Eleni looked a little uncomfortable.
‘I’m willing to listen to any options.’
‘Starcross Manor,’ Eleni scrunched up her face as soon as the words were out, waiting for Julia’s reaction.
‘Except that option. Are you kidding me? I don’t need Flynn Carter’s help – not that he’s going to give it to me anyway,’ she muttered, wrapping her arms around herself in a soothing manner. Her mind flashing back to the altercation with Flynn earlier today.
‘I think he’s your only option. There’s a number of bedrooms finished, at least they will be able to have a hot shower and a good night’s sleep.’ Jack’s voice was soft.
Of course, Julia needed to get her guests fixed up with a bed for the night as soon as possible, but there was no way on this earth Flynn was going to help her out. And under the current circumstances she didn’t feel she could even approach him. Surely there must be another solution.
The fireman appeared in the doorway. ‘We’re off now, but I’ll get a report filed in the next forty-eight hours so you can forward it to your insurance company.’
‘Thank you,’ replied Julia, still feeling bewildered. She had no idea if the insurance claim would even pay out, knowing the sprinkler system didn’t meet any current regulations.
‘Oh, and there’s a lady called Rona who wants to speak to you. Apparently, the guests are wanting some answers and becoming a little agitated.’
Julia knew that was going to happen, she just wished she had some good news to tell them all. ‘I’m on my way,’ Julia picked up Woody and began wading back through the water.
Rona was waiting by the gate with a look of concern on her face. ‘What has actually happened here?’ she asked.
Julia explained about the dated sprinkler system and the extreme heat. Her bottom lip began to quiver, and she felt that her legs were going to buckle underneath her. ‘I need to sit down.’
‘Sit on the wall,’ suggested Eleni, taking Woody from her while Rona wrapped him up in a towel and gave him a quick rub. ‘It’ll be the shock.’
‘This is all my fault.’ Julia exhaled. When she’d bought the B&B the survey had flagged up the outdated system, and that whilst it wasn’t unsafe, they had recommended that she change it to a more updated version. But the cost had been huge and Julia’s main priority had been to get the business up and running. She had been planning to update the system when the building work started on the new extension, but now it was too late.
She pulled herself back to the moment. ‘I don’t even want to go back in there,’ she said, anxiously. ‘I don’t even know where to start and those poor people. I’ve wrecked their holidays.’
‘It’s just an accident, one of those things,’ Rona tried to soothe the way, but Julia was feeling distraught.
‘Rona, can we move everyone up to the teashop whilst I work out what to do?’ asked Julia, thinking aloud.
‘Of course, it’s already in hand. Drew and Fergus are on their way with the trailer to transport the guests and their luggage, but everyone is wanting to speak to you. They are asking questions that I don’t know the answers to.’
‘I’m not sure I know the answers either,’ admitted Julia, taking a look over at the bedraggled guests who were looking in her direction, but she knew she needed to go and talk to them.
‘We are right behind you,’ stated Eleni with warmth. ‘You aren’t on your own.’
A small thread of relief ran through her. ‘Thank you, that is a weight off my mind,’ she said, ruffling the top of Woody’s head who was sitting patiently at her feet.
‘In fact, here’s Drew and Fergus now,’ Jack nodded towards the tractor chugging up the lane pulling the trailer behind. ‘And I still think your only option is talk to Flynn.’
Now it was Rona’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
‘I might not have a choice,’ Julia had thought about nothing else in the last five minutes, ‘especially if there’s no vacancies anywhere in Glensheil.’
‘Any vans free up at Foxglove Farm?’ prompted Rona.
Julia shook her head. ‘No, they are completely full.’
‘I think Jack is right, you know,’ Eleni touched Julia’s arm. ‘You may just need to swallow some pride on this occasion. We can’t leave them sitting outside for much longer, some of those families have children.’
Julia knew she needed to make a decision, but asking Flynn for help would be so humiliating and she would hazard a guess that he wouldn’t be jumping at the chance to help her. But her guests couldn’t sleep out on the street, they needed relocating and fast. Taking a deep breath Julia began to walk towards the guests.
After gathering everyone around, Julia took a swift glance back towards the B&B. It was going to take a lot of hard work to get that place back into any sort of order and she had no idea how long it would take. She was going to lose revenue from the imminent guests arriving in the next couple of weeks and she needed to come up with an alternative plan for their forthcoming holiday bookings, and fast. Julia felt sick to her stomach; maybe Eleni was right, maybe she was going to have to go and speak to Flynn about striking a deal.
As Julia approached, almost im
mediately, she heard an undercurrent of disgruntled mumblings, but she could absolutely sympathise with them.
‘How long are you going to leave us out here?’ bellowed one guest.
‘Are we setting up camp on the grass verge?’ another shouted.
Julia realised that tempers were beginning to fray and she needed to act fast.
‘And where the hell are we sleeping tonight?’
Julia raised her arms then lowered them to gain everyone’s attention, and thankfully everyone hushed.
‘Hi, firstly, thank you all for being patient,’ said Julia warmly, trying to calm the situation. ‘It certainly hasn’t been the easiest of evenings. Secondly, everyone is out and safe. According to the Fire Service, it’s more than likely the sprinkler system was set off due to the extreme weather conditions, which was beyond our control, a freak accident.’
‘Never mind that, all we want to know is where are we sleeping tonight?’ shouted Mr Cullen who was juggling a small child. ‘Some of us are already in need of their bed.’
‘Yes, I fully understand that and I’m working hard to try and sort that as soon as possible, but for now we are going to transport you over to Bonnie’s teashop.’
‘And how long are we going to be there?’ Mr Cullen shouted again.
‘Please bear with me Mr Cullen, I will endeavour to get this situation sorted as soon as possible, but first let’s get you all shifted off the street.’
‘And who is going to pay for any new accommodation, I’m assuming that’s not coming out of our pocket?’ added Mr Cullen once more.
These were all questions that needed answering, but at this very moment Julia didn’t have the answers. She felt as stranded as them. For a brief moment Julia closed her eyes and tried to keep her panic at a manageable level. This was hard enough as it was without the constant interruption and negativity.
‘I promise you I’m going to do my best to get this sorted as soon as possible, and the sooner we transport you over to the teashop the sooner I can get on with arranging alternative accommodation.’ Julia looked over her shoulder and thankfully Fergus and Drew were standing behind her ready to load up the trailer with the guests and their possessions.
‘If you would like to head over to the trailer Fergus ad Drew will help you with your belongings.’
‘Are you having a laugh, you expect us to travel by that thing?’
Julia knew that Mr Cullen was far from happy, but she really wished he could see the bigger picture. ‘Think of it as an adventure Mr Cullen, I’m sure the children will love it.’ Julia gestured over towards the hay bales on the back of the trailer.
All of the stranded guests began to walk towards the trailer and handed their bags over to Drew and Fergus, who stacked them up safely. Rona and Felicity quickly began collecting up the empty cups then jumped on the back of the trailer alongside them all.
Drew made sure everyone was sitting comfortably. ‘It may be a little bumpy, but I won’t go too fast… hold on tight!’ He winked at the children before climbing into the cab of the tractor next to Fergus. As soon as the engine started, he beeped his horn and waved his hand out of the window at Julia. She watched the trailer trundle down the road thinking it reminded her of a scene from the war, when all the evacuees were loaded onto carts and shipped away with their possessions. As soon as it disappeared around the corner, she let out a huge sigh – what the hell was she going to do now? Time was ticking.
Chapter Eleven
‘Everywhere is booked – urghhh, absolutely everywhere.’ Looking at her phone in despair Julia felt exasperated. She’d telephoned what seemed like every hotel in Glensheil with no luck whatsoever, not one of them had a spare room.
‘Julia, I think you’ve only got one option.’ Eleni gave her a knowing look.
‘I agree,’ urged Jack. ‘Flynn is actually up at Starcross Manor now shooting a video for a wedding advert.’
‘Flynn is not going to help me out and I’m not sure I’m willing to give him the satisfaction of turning me down,’ replied Julia stubbornly.
‘What’s the alternative?’ urged Eleni. ‘Because I can’t think of anything.’
Silence.
Julia threw her hands up in the air. ‘Okay, okay, it doesn’t look like I’ve got much choice.’
‘Flynn is not going to let you down. Do you want me to come with you?’ offered Jack.
Julia shook her head. ‘No, it’s okay, this is something I need to do on my own. Would you both head over to the teashop in case Rona and Felicity need backup? And can you take Woody? I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.’
‘Of course.’ Eleni gave Julia a quick hug. ‘It’ll be okay, you’ll see.’
Unconvinced, Julia rummaged inside her bag for the keys and then got inside the stifling hot car that had been sat in the sun all day. With a sick, sinking feeling in her stomach Julia fired up the engine and immediately switched on the air con, thankful for the cool air blasting out. Nervously she began to drive the short journey towards Starcross Manor.
It only took a matter of minutes before Julia was travelling up the long driveway towards the manor house. She was thankful for the line of green foliage that provided that little bit of shade which shielded her eyes from the blinding sun that bounced off the windscreen. The ducks had the right idea, swimming in the lake and nestling under the cascades of branches at the water’s edge to keep cool.
On the drive she’d played out in her mind what she was going to say to Flynn, but now, parking the car, she was struggling to remember the conversation she had rehearsed so many times in her head on the way here. Nervous didn’t even cover it as Julia grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and risked a tentative look in the mirror. Her skin was glistening with the heat, the nape of her neck felt damp, and her mouth was dry. She took a swig from a bottle of warm water that had been in the cup holder for goodness-knew-how-long and tried to calm her beating heart.
It was now or never. Plucking up courage, Julia stepped out of the car and looked around. There were approximately a dozen cars parked in the bays, which must be down to the filming that Jack had mentioned. The warm evening air hit her once more as she headed towards the grand entrance of the manor house. She was surprised to see a red carpet trailing the stone steps leading to an open doorway, but again that must have something to do with the wedding video.
Inside the grand foyer there wasn’t a soul in sight, and the only sound Julia could hear was her shoes tapping on the slate floor as she began to walk towards the double doors in front of her, which took her down a hallway into another awe-inspiring room – the extravagance of the place took her breath away. She hovered by a table that was littered with books of different colours of materials and quickly flicked through them. Flynn must be choosing his soft furnishings, she thought, walking through to another room that was filled with round tables decorated with pristine white linen cloths, each with a silver candelabra standing proudly in the centre. There was a bar at the back of the room with rows of champagne flutes lined up, and on the stage an array of musical instruments. This place looked like it was about to host the wedding of the century thought Julia, wandering over to the three gigantic windows that ran from ceiling to floor overlooking the freshly-mown lawns.
Outside there was an intimate gathering on the lawn with everyone dressed up to the nines, the women in long floating dresses holding sun parasols, the men dressed in kilts. Four rows of chairs were laid out on each side of an aisle, with a beautiful wooden archway dressed with gorgeous pink rose foliage. Watching from a distance, Julia heard music through the open window, followed by a man with a camera shouting ‘Action’ – and that was when she saw him. Flynn was standing at the bottom of the aisle, actually taking part in the video. Dressed in a kilt, accompanied by a dirk and sporran, his three-button waistcoat, white shirt and black bow tie left Julia thinking how handsome he actually looked.
More out of curiosity, Julia was rooted to the spot and continued to watch. Trailed by
a camera man and photographer, a beautiful woman floated onto the lawn wearing the most exquisite wedding dress Julia had ever set eyes on and carrying the most simple but stunning bouquet of white roses. Everyone was up on their feet as the actress began to walk down the aisle leaving Julia’s view obscured.
Hearing her phone ping, Julia jumped out of her skin. It was a text from Eleni. ‘Any luck? Has Flynn agreed? It’s 7pm we really need to know what’s happening. The guests are beginning to get restless.’
Julia stared at the text and didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t gatecrash the pretend wedding, and Flynn was surrounded by actors and the rest of the film crew. Hearing a voice shouting ‘It’s a wrap’, she glanced once more towards the lawn to see Flynn shaking everyone’s hand. He must have sensed someone was watching him, and he turned and locked eyes with Julia. Her heart thumped as he held her gaze and then began walking towards the manor house. Flynn never took his eyes off her except for a couple of moments when he disappeared through the door. With his footsteps now echoing down the hallway, Julia’s heart pounded faster, before the door into the room swung open. The look on Flynn’s face made it obvious that he wasn’t happy to see her – and who could blame him?
There was no welcoming smile. ‘Well, you turn up in the most unexpected places. What are you doing here?’ asked Flynn in a stern tone.
Julia felt her cheeks colour fast. She gulped. He continued to stare at her. Feeling uneasy, she knew now that this hadn’t been a good idea. The tension between them could be cut with a knife. He stood watching, waiting for Julia to muster up the courage to speak. Knowing this wasn’t going to be easy, she swallowed. She had to do something, all her guests were stranded and needed a bed for the night. Taking the plunge, she hoped her voice didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. ‘There’s been an incident at the B&B, the old sprinkler system was activated, the firemen think it’s possibly due to the weather conditions… anyway the B&B is submerged in water, everywhere is soaked, and I’ve got stranded guests with nowhere to sleep. I’ve telephoned every hotel in Glensheil and they are all fully booked, so I was wondering…’
Starcross Manor Page 13