Meet Me at Willow Hall by Carla Burgess

Author:Carla Burgess [Burgess, Carla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008271565
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2018-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

‘Two rules,’ I said when I opened the door to Anthony the following evening.

‘Which are?’ He leaned on the doorframe and looked down at me, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

‘We don’t talk about the past. And we don’t talk about the future.’

‘Oh! Okay.’ He looked surprised but he smiled.

‘Yes, I thought you’d like that.’ I laughed as I closed the door behind me. ‘Tonight is about enjoying ourselves. You look nice.’ I passed an appreciative eye over his dark-grey shirt and blue-black jeans. ‘But then you always do.’

‘Thank you. You look beautiful. But then you always do, too.’

I smiled at him and then stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. ‘Guess what?’

‘What?’ He took my hand as we walked down the path.

‘I got tickets for the Moonlight Flicks in the Roman Gardens.’

‘The what?’ he laughed.

‘The open-air cinema. It’s in the Roman Gardens and you sit on deckchairs and wear headphones. I went last summer with Bobbi. It’s great.’

‘Are you joking?’ He looked up at the grey sky. ‘It’s going to rain.’

‘It’s okay. I’ve got my big golf umbrella and a blanket each.’ I showed him the straw beach basket I was carrying on my shoulder.

‘Can we get something to eat? I’m starving.’

‘We could get a pizza and take it in with us.’

‘Okay. Anything. I just need to be fed.’ It started to spit with rain and Anthony took the umbrella out of my hand and put it up over our heads. I waited for him to put his arm around me, but he kept a disappointingly polite distance between us. Cars rumbled past as we crossed the bridge over the river to get into the city centre, and we walked up past The Birdcage. Anthony paused as we passed by, putting his nose up to the window. ‘It’s a shame you have to lose it.’

‘I know.’ I pulled a sad face. ‘Bobbi’s gutted but I told her about the Brew House today and that’s cheered her up. She’s excited to see Willow Hall too.’

‘Oh, good. Do she and Jayjay want to get married there?’ Anthony said mildly.

I laughed. ‘Nice try but I don’t think so. Not yet, anyway.’

‘Shame. We could do with another one this summer.’ He sighed heavily and I glanced up at him, concerned.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Oh, nothing. I just feel the weight of everything sometimes, that’s all. The hall’s such a huge responsibility. My mother can’t understand what my problem is, but being responsible for such a huge building terrifies me. It’s not even the amount of land that comes with it. Most of that’s rented and managed by farmers anyway. But the house itself is protected and so many people love it and care about it. It’s hugely expensive and everything needs to be carefully restored. I’m just glad Julian’s onboard. He’s so enthusiastic about it all and is really excited about the wedding business. Has he shown you the house he and Liz are doing up?’

I shook my head.

‘It’s going to be amazing. I don’t expect

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