had polished the Welsh dresser without her even asking, and apparently Jacob had been running all the china through the dishwasher to make sure it sparkled. She couldn’t afford to waste money on centrepieces, but Nate and Moira were doing what they could with what they had in the garden. Carrie hadn’t even asked what they planned to put the flowers in. Nate had just pushed her out of the doorway the previous evening and told her not to worry about it.
The chairs, too, were covered in some dusty old chair covers she’d found in one of the back rooms, apparently left over from another event. The bright lilac colour wasn’t anywhere near the same colour as Ruth’s beloved roses, but she’d splashed out on some thick white ribbon to tie them on, which toned it down a bit.
Then suddenly there was the sound of wheels on gravel, and it was too late to do anything else anyway.
“Oh, Carrie! It’s so good to see you!” Ruth threw herself into Carrie’s arms as soon as she stepped into the lobby, her blonde bob flying across her face. Over her shoulder, Carrie could see Selena eyeing the tapestry she’d replaced over the desk as she stripped off her gloves and coat and left them on the reception desk, since Izzie had disappeared again. “Tell me this place has a bar,” Ruth whispered, hugging her cousin. “The drive up was a nightmare.”
“Fully stocked,” Carrie whispered back. “Where’s Graeme?”
Ruth’s face was stormy. “Last-minute meeting he couldn’t get out of. I’m so sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Carrie lied. Would Selena book without Graeme having seen the inn? “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get this tour over with, and your mum and dad packed off back to Cheshire, then it’s you, me and a bottle of wine.” She pulled back and smiled brightly at Ruth’s mother.
“Aunt Selena, it’s so lovely to see you again. Is Uncle Patrick not with you?” Carrie asked.
“Oh, he’ll be here in a moment.” Selena air kissed somewhere in the vicinity of Carrie’s cheek. “He’s just giving Anna an external tour of the property, apparently.”
“Anna?” Something inside Carrie froze at the sound of the name.
“Anna Yardley. Old family friend. She runs a…wait, didn’t you work for her once?” Selena’s eyes narrowed as she tried to remember.
“Only for about five years, Mum,” Ruth said. Then she whispered in Carrie’s ear, “I’m really, really sorry. They’re hijacking my wedding.”
“Anyway, Patrick thought she’d be able to give us an insider report on this place,” Selena said, obviously unaware at the way Carrie’s skin crawled at the very idea of her ex-boss seeing the Avalon in its current condition.
The heavy front door opened again and Uncle Patrick walked in, still talking to the woman behind him. “The place has potential, you have to agree, Annie.”
No one else in the world would ever get away with calling Anna Yardley ‘Annie’, Carrie thought as she stepped forward to greet them.
“Uncle Patrick. Anna. How lovely to see you both.” More air kissing from Anna, although with a distinctly chilly feel. Uncle Patrick, meanwhile, wrapped her up in a rather sweaty bear hug.
“Little Carrie. Trying to make a go of my inheritance, eh?”
“Gran left the Avalon to Carrie, Dad,” Ruth pointed out. “I think that makes it her inheritance.”
Uncle Patrick waved a hand dismissively. “We’re all family here. And the Avalon belongs to the family. I was just telling Annie the very same thing.”
“And I’m looking forward to seeing the venue that was important enough to tempt you away from Wedding Wishes, Carrie,” Anna said, in a way that made it very clear that, actually, she wasn’t all that interested at all. So why the hell was she here?
Carrie motioned towards the open door beside her. “Why don’t you all come through to the front drawing room?” Hopefully Jacob had heard the commotion and coffee was on its way. “We can talk about your plans and ideas for the wedding.”
“If there is a wedding,” Selena said, only half under her breath, stalking past Carrie into the drawing room, followed by an unamused-looking Anna.
Carrie took a deep breath and waited for Ruth, who paused to give her a sympathetic look, and Uncle Patrick to pass through before she followed, leaving the stack of coats on the reception desk. Hopefully at some point Izzie would return to her post and hang them up, although Carrie wasn’t wholly optimistic about that.
Jacob, bless him, had a better idea about customer service than Izzie did, at least. The coffee was hot and steaming, and, even better, was accompanied by a plate of miniature cakes, which, Carrie promised herself, if there were any left after this meeting, she was going to eat all of the moment everyone was gone.
“I love these flowers!” Ruth was standing at the window, fingering a shallow vase of Nate’s best vibrant pink budget blooms. “They’re so...happy.”
“They don’t really tone with the lavender and white theme, darling,” Selena pointed out, pushing the plate of cakes across the table away from her.
“Oh, they’ll be perfect with the lavender! What are they called, Carrie? I must make a note.” So far, Carrie had noticed, the flowers were the one thing Ruth seemed to care about in her wedding. She managed to get over the shock of somebody actually liking the hideous things long enough to say, “I’ll be sure to ask our gardener for you.”
“Ooh, yes, the gardener! Your partner in crime here, yes? I kept meaning to ask, because you never said in your emails. Is he a hunky Sean Bean in Lady Chatterley type?” Carrie tried not to imagine Nate as Mellors, and failed. “Or is he an ancient old thing?” Ruth sounded quite sorry for Carrie at the very prospect.
Anna was rolling her eyes. Probably best to get back to business, Carrie decided. “Coffee, everyone?”
Drinks poured and cakes rejected, Carrie started into the spiel she’d lain awake perfecting the night before. “I’m so very delighted that Ruth wants to hold her wedding at the Avalon Inn. I know we both have a lot of childhood memories here, and I think we can make her big day very special indeed.”
Ruth clapped her hands together. “And this place is every bit as perfect as I remembered! The views driving up...”
“We haven’t actually seen much of the inn yet,” Selena said, in a voice that made her opinion of what she had seen very clear indeed. “It’s been a long time since either of us have been here. Perhaps we should reserve judgment for now.”
“I think that’s very wise,” Anna said, reaching for her coffee.
Ruth rolled her eyes and flopped into her chair. “Don’t be silly, Mum. I know you had problems with Grandma Nancy, but it’s Carrie’s inn now. Of course it’s going to be perfect.”
Carrie tried very hard not to wince at that. “There’s still a lot of work to be done to bring the inn up to scratch,” she admitted. “But assuming you’re sticking to your original Christmas Eve wedding date...” She paused and waited for Selena’s nod.
“The Save-the-Date cards have already been printed,” Ruth added. Carrie
