Secrets of the Heart
Read Secrets of the Heart Online
Authors: Jenny Lane
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Women's Fiction, #Contemporary Women, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Contemporary Fiction
© Jenny Lane 2014
Jenny Lane has asserted her rights under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
First published 2007 by Linford as Return to Heathercote Mill.
This edition published 2014 by Endeavour Press Ltd as Secrets of the Heart.
Heathercote Mill was even more imposing than Annis remembered. She stood for a moment surveying the old building. The stone walls of the hotel and conference centre were clad in Virginia creeper, which would glow like rubies in the autumn.
For several years she had been happy working at Heathercote Mill alongside her friend, Sally Barnes. It was Sally who had introduced her to Andrew Freeman. A surge of emotion filled Annis as the memories flooded back - some of them bittersweet. She swallowed hard.
Suddenly the door swung open and Sally Barnes was standing there, her pleasant face wreathed in smiles. The two friends hugged each other wordlessly.
‘I saw you coming up the drive,’ Sally said at last. ‘Come on in – I can’t believe you’re really here!’
The place had certainly changed from when Annis had previously worked there and, she couldn’t help being impressed by the tastefully modernised reception area with its huge reproduction mahogany desk. Her feet sank into the deep pile of the mushroom- coloured carpet. The walls were a burnt orange adorned by bright block prints and photographs of weddings that had taken place at the Mill in recent years.
Sally whisked her into an office gleaming with state of the art equipment.
‘
You have absolutely no idea how relieved I am to see you. It’s been pandemonium here since Zoe left to have her baby. We had a temp, but she just wasn’t suited to the job. Since then, I’ve been working all the hours God made, trying to keep on top of things - and failing dismally.’
Annis laughed. ‘
You always were a dramatist, Sal. I don’t believe a word of it, knowing how efficient you are…Where’s John?’
‘Off on a course – he was pushed into it by Ross. You know what my husband’s like – totally unambitious.’
Annis grinned. ‘And what about Bryn?’
She thought affectionately of Bryn Freeman – one of Heathercote Mill’s owners and cousin to Sally’s mother.
Sally frowned. ‘
Oh, I’m afraid Uncle Bryn’s taken rather a back seat since the fire – he leaves most of it to Ross and Tristan these days.’
`Tristan?'
Annis tried to put a face to the name.
`Tristan
Marsden — Stella's brother. He came to work here soon after Uncle Arnold died and he's been here ever since.'
Sally
looked uncomfortable, suspecting that her friend would react badly to this news. 'I suppose I should have mentioned it,' Sally said quietly.
Annis's
expressive eyes widened. 'Yes, you should have. It could make things very awkward all round.'
Sally
poured out coffee from the bubbling percolator and passed the biscuit tin.
`I
thought you wouldn't come if you knew,' she admitted.
`Well,
I'm here now, so you'd better fill me in with what's been going on.' Annis nibbled on a chocolate digestive.
`Things
aren't right, Annis. I can't quite put my finger on it, but . . .'
`You
mean the business is going downhill?'
Sally
shook her head, brown curls bouncing. 'No, quite the reverse. We're run off our feet. It's just that there have been a number of problems lately. Things happen that shouldn't, and every time, either Ross or Tristan seem to be around to sort things out.'
Annis
frowned, unable to understand what her friend was getting at.
‘B
ut that's good, isn't it? Sally, you're not making sense.'
`That's
because it's difficult to put into words.' Sally sighed. `Annis, I'm positive that it's not my fault that all these mistakes are cropping up. And Ross and Tristan seem to delight in scoring points off one another. One countermands what the other one says and it leads to confusion. On the surface, everything seems to run like clockwork, but it doesn't.'
Annis
tried to get her head round all this. `So, what does John think about it all?'
`Oh,
you know John laid back never sees any wrong in anyone. There are times when I could shake him out of his complacency, but I love him to bits.'
`You're
lucky to have such a lovely husband, Sally.'
`I
know that, Annis, and I realise I ought to count my blessings when I think what happened to you . . . ' Sally felt a surge of sympathy for her friend.
At
that moment the door opened and a man came into the room, tall and of medium build with thick, wavy, chestnut-brown hair and lean, good-looking features. Annis took one look at him and shot to her feet, her heart beating wildly.
`Andrew!'
But, of course, it wasn't Andrew.
How
could it be Andrew was dead!
Annis
gave a gasp and felt her legs crumple beneath her. She would have fallen to the floor but for a pair of strong arms that caught her and helped her back to her chair.
After
a few moments she sat up shakily and smoothed back her hair. What a fool she'd made of herself. She took the glass of water that was held out to her.
`I'm
so sorry — just for a moment, I thought . . . I thought . . .'
`I
know what you thought,' said a harsh voice. 'Let me introduce myself. I'm Ross Hadley Andrew's cousin. And I've no need to ask who you are. You're Annis Fuller, aren't you? What do you think you're doing here?'
`I
asked her to come,' Sally interjected. 'In case you hadn't noticed, I'm on my own in this office.'
Ross
glared at Sally, dark eyes blazing. 'Then find another temp or get one of the other girls to cover — we employ enough of them. There must be someone to suit your requirements.' He turned back to Annis. 'I'm going to order some tea for you and then, when you're feeling better, I'd like you to leave.'
Annis
gaped at him, shaken by his hostility towards her. ‘But I've only just got here. Anyway, I'd like to see Bryn.'
There
was a determined set to Ross's jaw.
`And
that's precisely why I don't want you around. Mr Freeman isn't at all well these days. His shock at seeing you might be even greater than the one you've just received. You'll bring back too many memories for him. Sally, my office — now, please!'
From
her perch on the rather hard chair, Annis could hear the drone of their two voices coming from the adjacent room, though she couldn't make out what they were saying. Her mind was in turmoil. Just for a fleeting moment, she'd thought that Ross Hadley was Andrew Freeman — her Andrew, who had been so cruelly killed in a fire at the Mill almost four years ago.
No,
not
her
Andrew, she reminded herself. For, although Annis and Andrew were to have been married, only six weeks before the wedding he had called it off, saying that he had met someone else and had fallen in love with her.
The
woman he had met was Stella Marsden- the granddaughter of Bryn Freeman's business partner, Arnold Marsden. Stella had, at that time, only recently returned to England from Canada and had been invited to come as a surprise guest to Arnold's seventy-fifth birthday party. Due to a bitter family dispute, Stella hadn't seen her grandfather for a number of years, but now the old gentleman was ill and he was desperate to make his peace before he died.
Within
the space of three months, Andrew and Stella were married, and then shortly after the wedding, Arnold Marsden had died.
* * *
Annis's thoughts were interrupted when, after a brief knock, a pretty, smiling girl in an overall came into the room carrying a covered tray. She set it out before Annis, gave her a shy smile and departed. Besides the tea, there was a tempting array of sandwiches, fruit and pastries, and in spite of herself Annis set to with an appetite, for she had missed lunch.
A
few moments later, Sally returned. She gave Annis a big hug.
`Sorry
about that, Annis. Are you feeling better now?'
Annis
nodded. 'It was silly of me, but Ross looks so like Andrew at first glance.'
`I
know, but he's not a bit like him, really. It's my fault that you got such a fright — I forgot you two hadn't met, even though you knew about each other from Andrew and myself. In fact,
everything's
all my fault. I can't seem to get anything right, lately.' Sally sighed. `I've just been hauled over the coals for not consulting Ross before asking you to come down here. He says it's not viable for you to stay to help me out. I argued that we were a superb team before, and that although the Mill has expanded and we have more staff and equipment, the basic work is still very much the same.'
‘But
your argument fell on deaf ears?' Annis passed the cake, remembering Sally's sweet tooth.
Sally
helped herself absently, and at Annis's invitation found a mug and poured some tea.
`Well,
thanks for your support, Sally, but I'll not stay where I'm not wanted,' Annis said decisively. 'It was hard enough coming here in the first place.'
Sally
had pleaded with Annis long and hard on the phone, persuading, cajoling, and finally convincing her that she would be welcomed at the Mill with open arms. Now Sally opened her enormous hazel eyes wide in dismay.
‘But
you can't desert me now, Annis. I need your expertise.'
‘But
Ross doesn't. You heard what he said to you — you've obviously got a lot of staff here, any one of whom could help you, so why choose me?'
Sally
ran a hand through her rather unruly mop of brown hair.
`You
were always good at tackling problems, but it's not just that . . .' She paused, looking almost frightened, Annis thought. `Annis, listen — for ages now, I've suspected that there's been something going on behind my back, plans concerning the Mill that no-one's telling me about probably because it's something I'd oppose . . . Look, Ross is going off-duty shortly until Monday, and in any case, you'll be staying with us at the cottage.'
`I
would like the chance to see Bryn,' said Annis wistfully.
`OK,
once Ross has gone, I'll go up and see if Bryn feels he can see you. He's not been himself since the fire, you see. He feels guilty about it as if he has no right to be here because Andrew died.'
`How
can he blame himself?' Annis shook her head. 'It wasn't his fault, what happened. I heard that Andrew went back inside for Stella.'
`Yes
— she'd managed to get out, but someone must have told him she was still inside . . . It was such a tragedy, such a waste.'
A
kaleidoscope of memories flashed through Annis's mind — Andrew smiling up at her on a picnic by the river; the two of them walking hand in hand in a bluebell wood; dancing with him at numerous weddings held at the Mill . . . but destined never to dance with him at her own.
Sally
looked at her friend with concern, aware of her suffering and not knowing how to help. She put a hand on Annis's arm.
`Look,
why don't you go for a walk?' she suggested. 'Just to get out of Ross's way. Leave your luggage here and come back in about an hour. He'll be gone by then, but just in case, I'll point out his car. It's a dark green Mercedes.'
Annis
set off back down the drive in the direction of the village of Heronsbridge. It was difficult to believe that she hadn't been here for almost five years. In fact, it could have been just yesterday, especially when a young couple pushing a buggy stopped to talk to her.
`You're
Annis Fuller, aren't you? How lovely to see you! You made our wedding day so very special. Everything was just perfect . . . This is our little girl.'
Annis
bent to smile at the toddler and murmured something suitably approving, but she didn't really remember the couple. She had helped dozens of couples to have a perfect wedding which was ironic when her own plans had gone so tragically wrong. She walked along the High Street, deep in thought.
Annis
had worked at Heathercote Mill for several years and had been full of enthusiasm and ideas. Bryn Freeman and Arnold Marsden had been kind and considerate employers, and she had loved her job.
`Something
Borrowed, Something Blue' had started off in a small way, but it had been Annis who had come up with the idea that, while the Mill was certainly a wonderful setting for weddings, they could offer so much more than just a venue. After all, there was enough to think about when you were getting married without having to cope with the hassle of getting it all to come together on the big day.
And
so Annis had hit upon the idea of creating a complete package, arranging not just the reception but everything from the service onwards. They would hire out wedding outfits, liaise with florists, bands, caterers organize the whole day. But always allowing scope for people to make their own arrangements, and fitting in with them.