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Chapter 1
Six years away hadn’t i out her carat the cru The roof tiles still sat wonky, the terrace seerass, andit appeared to have taken over the stonework
In other words, it looked like home
The place she’d spent endless childhood suardens The scene of her first kiss Fourteen years old, dressed in Grand on the terrace with one of the local boys He’d sung along to the ainst her ear as they’d hidden in the darkness, looking through theat the wo the terrace, they could sars of theimportant conversations
Just through the front door, Carrie knew, stood the ornate, curving main staircase, the site of her cousin Ruth’s s And somewhere, shoved in the botto the endless parade of secondhand bridesmaid’s dresses Ruth had dressed Carrie in for the occasions
All so, so familiar
She could al down the front steps, if she tried Carrie squinted for a second, before the twinge of guilt that always accoht up with her So instead she turned her attention back to the sound of her boss’s voice coh her hands-free kit Because Grandain, and Carrie had grown up into a professional businesswoinative child
“Well anyway,” Anna Yardley said, obviously co to the end of a conversational ra forward to seeing it If it’s as ical as you described, it could be a real asset to the business”
Carrie winced, looking out again at the faded grey stone building looh Anna’s unsenti Wishes crown, the dream venue of every bride
“It’ll need work, of course,” Carrie said, understating for all she orth A chill settled in her chest Suddenly, her well-thought-out proposal seemed rash Risky But still the only way she could think of to keep both the Avalon and her job
It was all very well, her gran leaving her the inn But the money to fix it up would have been useful, too
“Of course, of course” Anna didn’t sound concerned Probably because she couldn’t see the collapsing terrace, and didn’t know about the color-themed bedrooms with their chintzy curtains and pelmets And Anna wasn’t the one who’d promised to make the inn not just habitable, but luxurious “But such a fantastic location Less than two hours from Manchester”
Personally, Carrie had always thought the Welsh mountains in the distance and the view over the woods from the top bedroo for Anna Yardley, she knew only the practicalities mattered
“It is convenient,” she agreed, staring harder at the inn, willing the
bluefra Behind thenext to the front door, a curtain twitched Carrie frowned Was so her? She’d called ahead to let the, but she’d assuuests, the inn would be quiet But it looked like someone was ready to welcome her home, after all
“And if it’s too far gone to save, you can always sell it and cut your losses,” Anna chattered on, her voice breezy “Invest the money”
Carrie turned her glare onto the phone Only way the Avalon would be sold was over her dead body And even then, she’d leave it to Ruth Her cousin loved the place almost as much as she did
But Anna wouldn’t understand about the Avalon being ho it out loud
“What do I know about investments?” she joked instead
“We-ell,” Anna said, drawing out the words “I knoe talked about you beco a partner in the company in return for the use of the inn, but really, maybe we should talk about so the property could buy you a reasonable share, I iht be nice to share the burden”
Anna sounded quite taken with the idea, so Carrie juet a proper look at the place first, don’t you think? Who knohat Gran did to it in the last six years” She laughed, even though nothing felt very funny “More iht on your own this week? The temp Her name’s Naomi, by the way She’ll be there at nine tohly”
“I’ll be fine” Anna brushed her concern away “I did ’s not until New Year’s Eve”
Carrie didn’t point out that tied in the five years since she’d started as an assistant at Wedding Wishes Once she’d becos, Anna had taken a back seat, dealing with the finances and contracts rather than handling distraught brides and double-checking dates on invitations before they went to the printers
Which was probably why Anna wanted her to becoht To keep herself away fro Too much joyousness tended to annoy her
“There’s the engageh,” Carrie reminded her boss These days, betrothal celebrations were al “I know it’s abefore then, but there’s still things that need doing this week And there’s a couple of s with new clients”
“I’ve got the diary,” Anna reminded her “And your emails And all the files” She sounded insulted now, rather than reassuring Bother “I think I can handle it”
“Yeah Sure Sorry” Carrie tried to sound convinced, and mentally added, Remind Naoagement party to her To Do list
“And I’ll be out there to see your inn a week on Monday,” Anna added, ain
“Looking forward to it,” she lied, staring out at the Avalon and wondering how much she could reasonably expect to achieve in nine days
Probably nowhere near enough to satisfy Anna
“I reckon this could be an opportunity,” Jacob said, straightening his pots and pans where they hung fro Nate wondered hoas his cousin had gotten both the optienes in the farand skills
“How, exactly?” Nate boosted hiical-work counter while his cousin’s back was turned