Meet Me at Willow Hall: A perfectly charming romance for 2019!

‘She has but she hasn’t been able to convince Daniel, I’m afraid.’

‘Oh, really? That is disappointing.’ He walked slowly across the shop towards me, his boots clicking on the stone quarry tiles. He was more casually dressed today. Dark jeans and a navy rugby shirt, white T-shirt showing beneath. ‘Any idea why?’

‘They just think it would be too much effort to rearrange.’ I smoothed my trembling hands over the flat sheets of wrapping paper on the counter and drew in a deep, calming breath.

Anthony frowned. ‘But they’d get a really good deal.’

‘I know they would. Elena knows that too. But it’s only four months until their wedding and the invitations have gone out already.’

‘So what? It’s just a venue change. No big deal.’

‘Well, they obviously think it is.’

‘Can’t you convince them otherwise?’

‘Me? It’s nothing to do with me. I’m just the bridesmaid. Besides, you saw for yourself how much she loved Willow Hall. If she can’t convince Daniel, no one can.’

‘Will he not come to the hall for a look himself?’

‘I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Daniel, not me. I can give you his number if you like?’

‘Yes, please.’ Anthony nodded and then turned to gaze around at the shop as I nipped into the back room for my mobile phone. My heart was beating in my throat and I felt short of breath as I opened my contacts to find Daniel’s number. I scrolled past his name three times before finally focusing enough to remember who I was searching for. My head was spinning so much I felt dizzy. I couldn’t believe Anthony was here in the shop when I’d been telling myself I’d never see him again. ‘Do you want me to give you my number and you can just send it through to me?’ Anthony called.

‘Erm, it’s okay. I’ll just write it down.’

‘It’d probably be easier. No chance of mistakes.’ His voice got louder suddenly and he appeared in the archway to the back room. Producing his phone from the back pocket of his jeans, he proceeded to read out his phone number. Flustered, I fumbled with my phone and managed to input his number. I could only hope he didn’t notice how shaky I was. ‘There, you can forward the contact to me now.’

‘Okay.’ It was a straightforward task, but my mind went blank as I gazed at my phone, trying to work out how to forward the number to him. The only thing in my head was the fact I now had Anthony’s number in my phone, and how was I going to stop myself from calling him in the middle of the night? The business card Julian had given me was sitting on my kitchen windowsill at home, proudly propped up against an orchid. I’d been proud of myself for not inputting it into my phone straight away, but now Anthony had scuppered that.

‘It hasn’t changed in here, has it?’ Anthony said, looking around him.

‘No, nothing’s changed,’ I said, a slightly bitter edge to my voice.

‘It’s like stepping back in time.’ He smiled and I felt a little glow of happiness. I was glad he had good memories of this place, even if he had ultimately dumped me. ‘Who’s living upstairs now?’

‘Erm, a family.’ I glanced up at him. I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about when we lived together in the apartment above the shop. Everything was broken and wrong now. It made me feel sad to think about it. ‘My parents no longer own the flat. They sold it last year.’

‘Oh, really? That’s a shame.’

‘Hmm… it was getting too much for them. Dad decided he didn’t want the stress of dealing with tenants.’

‘Were we such bad tenants?’ he joked. A wide smile spread across his face and his eyes sparkled mischievously. I wondered what he was playing at, coming here and joking about our relationship when it was still so painful to me. But then, I suppose he didn’t know that. Most normal women would have moved on and been over him by now.

‘The worst,’ I replied. At last my brain slotted into gear and I managed to send Daniel’s number to Anthony. His phone gave a beep and he glanced down at it in his hand.

‘You’re still on the same number?’ He seemed surprised.

I shrugged. ‘There was no reason to change it. I still have the same phone.’

There was an awkward pause and he hovered in the archway between the shop and the back room as though he was about to leave. I was caught in a kind of panicky limbo where I couldn’t tell if I wanted him to go so I could calm my nerves and have a good cry, or stay so I could be with him for longer.

He seemed undecided himself for a moment, but then he leaned back against the wall, seemingly in no hurry to leave. ‘Where’s Bobbi?’

‘On her lunch.’ It was on the tip of my tongue to mention she was out with her boyfriend, until I remembered I was supposed to be engaged to Jayjay myself. Bobbi had been hugely amused when I’d told her what had happened at Willow Hall and hadn’t seemed to mind me hijacking her boyfriend’s name.

‘Is she well?’

‘She’s good, thank you. Her mum’s a lot better and back at work so Bobbi’s not shouldering all of the responsibility any more.’ Bobbi was only nineteen and had had a tough time last year, struggling to support her family on her wages after her mother fell ill. Anthony had been particularly kind and supportive towards her.

‘That’s good to hear.’

‘Yep.’

Another pause.

‘And how are your parents?’

‘They’re fine, thank you. Dad’s slowing down a bit, which is why he sold the apartment. He’s seventy this year.’

‘Really?’

I nodded. My goodness, this was painful. Without the subject of Willow Hall or Elena’s wedding, we were just trying to make small talk, with neither of us mentioning his accident or the fact that he’d dumped me and banned me from the hospital. What I really wanted to ask was why? What had I done that was so wrong? Why had he pushed me away at such a crucial time? I’d been so upset by him being injured. I’d been desperate to know how he was, and yet he’d shut me out. Cath had kept me updated for a while, but I felt guilty phoning her when she had so much to deal with herself.

‘What about the shop? He’s not selling that I take it?’

‘Oh, err…’ I had to wrench my head back from reliving the moment I’d shown up at the hospital only to be told he didn’t want to see me. ‘No, well, not right now, anyway.’

‘But they might in the future?’

I swallowed. ‘Perhaps.’

His brow furrowed and he gave me a searching look. ‘So what will that mean for you?’

‘I don’t know right now. We haven’t really talked about it.’

‘But surely as their only daughter you stand to inherit this place?’

‘Yes, but it… it depends if it’s profitable.’ I sighed. I really didn’t want to be discussing this with Anthony of all people. Besides, this was business I’d been putting off thinking about for months now. There had been a vague suggestion around the time they’d sold the flat that they might look into selling the shop if it didn’t make a profit this year, but we were doing pretty well so I wasn’t too worried. ‘And I think it is profitable, so it will be all right.’

‘Are you still doing wedding flowers?’

‘Of course.’

‘Would you like for us to put you forward as one of our recommended florists? You could come and exhibit at our next open day.’

‘Oh! Really?’ I frowned slightly, confused by the offer. ‘Aren’t I a bit too far away?’

Anthony shrugged. ‘It’s only an hour’s drive.’