Prologue
Flynn Carter was sitting at his office desk, perplexed. As Monday mornings went, this one was full of the unexpected.
Staring out through the window over the grounds of Starcross Manor he took in the wintry scene typical of a November day in the Scottish Highlands. He watched the hypnotic flurry of snowflakes falling to the ground, which was already covered with a light dusting, before staring back at the letter in his hand. It just didn’t make sense to him. He placed it back on the desk and checked his watch, willing Julia to hurry. He needed to talk to her.
Finally Julia opened the door and breezed into his office. ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!’ she trilled.
‘It’s November,’ replied Flynn, smiling indulgently. He knew how much his fiancée loved Christmas.
‘Which means it’s nearly Christmas! It’s a beautiful winter wonderland out there. I just love this time of year. Have you heard the news this morning? Trains are delayed and the gritters are out. You’d think we’d be used to this kind of weather by now; it’s so predictable.’
The weather in the past week had been on the chilly side and looking at the grey sky through the window Flynn knew the snow was only going to get heavier. Julia unravelled her scarf as she walked over to him and playfully touched his cheek with her cold hand.
‘Get off me,’ he said, good-humouredly. ‘You’re freezing.’
‘You love it. Now, what’s up with you? You’ve picked the worst time to have a crisis – right in the middle of breakfast.’ Julia owned the local B&B and had received the distress call from Flynn just after she’d finished cooking forty full Scottish breakfasts for her guests. ‘I’ve left Eleni in charge but I can’t stay away long as it’s a big changeover day and the bedrooms need cleaning. Coffee?’ she asked, pointing at the coffee machine in the far corner of the office.
Flynn nodded. ‘A strong one.’
‘You have me intrigued,’ she replied, glancing back over her shoulder.
‘We need to talk weddings. One wedding in particular.’
Julia paused, clearly noticing the grave look on Flynn’s face.
‘Okay,’ she replied, sitting down on the chair opposite him and sliding a mug of coffee towards him. ‘I know you’ve been under a lot of strain lately, but this wasn’t quite the romantic conversation I’ve been anticipating.’
Even though the two of them had been engaged for the last twelve months they’d still been unable to pin down a date for their wedding. With all their business commitments, and the fact they wanted to go on honeymoon straight after, not to mention Heartcross becoming ever more popular with tourists year-round, it was proving increasingly difficult.
Flynn’s face softened. ‘I’m not talking about us. I’d like nothing more than to marry you right now but with business being so busy—’
Julia opened her arms wide and interrupted. ‘My dream is a whimsical winter wedding.’ She laid her hands on her heart. ‘I can perfectly picture my outfit, which obviously I can’t tell you about except to say that it will be complemented by a faux-fur jacket and bold berry lipstick, all festive glam.’ She glanced towards the window as she continued. ‘There will be a sprinkling of snow on the ground, snowflakes in our hair, and we’d be surrounded by the silvery mountainous landscape, the icy waters of the lake, a magnificent manor house…’
‘You sound like you’re writing a feature for a wedding magazine! It all seems wonderful to me and I can’t wait to make you my wife. There’s nothing I want more.’
‘I know, I know, but finding a time in the schedule to organise it all, and then to take time off work to go on honeymoon… Thank goodness you have your wedding planner now. That must make things a little easier? Surely we can take the pressure off us and hand everything over to her? It’s not as though we don’t have a lovely venue to get married in and the best chefs to cater for us—and our friends can walk here.’
‘Correction: Ihada wedding planner. That’s part of the reason I called you.’ Flynn pushed the letter he’d been re-reading over the desk towards Julia.
‘What’s this?’ she asked, picking it up and glancing over it.
‘Jenny has resigned, leaving the competition winners without a wedding planner.’
Starcross Manor had just launched a national competition, the winners receiving the wedding of their dreams this coming Christmas Eve with no expense spared.
‘It’s an absolute disaster.’ Flynn exhaled. ‘The competition winners have just been announced and are due in at the end of the week to meet the now non-existent wedding planner. What am I going to do now?’
‘Let’s not panic; it’s going to be okay,’ Julia reassured him soothingly. ‘Jenny’s resignation letter doesn’t give much away, does it? But I do know her mother was poorly. Maybe she’s taking time to care for her.’
‘Maybe,’ replied Flynn. ‘But why wouldn’t she just come and talk to me and ask for compassionate leave? I have tried to telephone her but it just goes straight to answerphone, and now I’m stuck with a real dilemma. I don’t suppose—’
‘Absolutely not,’ cut in Julia, knowing exactly what Flynn was about to suggest. ‘As much as I love you and would love to help you out on this occasion, my B&B is going to be just as busy as Starcross Manor in the run-up to Christmas. I have no time to be organising weddings.’
‘You can’t blame a man for trying.’ With a look of despair on his face, Flynn raked his hand through his hair and leaned back in his chair.
‘Is there a possibility you could explain to the winning couple that there’s been a change in staffing and unfortunately the wedding needs to be postponed?’ enquired Julia.
Sitting up, Flynn turned the computer screen towards her and tapped on an email. It was from the winning bride and it oozed excitement. She couldn’t thank Flynn enough for making their dreams come true. ‘Would you like to have that conversation?’
