Page 17 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

There, in the large, elegant entrance hall of Willow Tree Hall, stood the man who had broken her heart all those years ago. She stood and stared at Jack Carter.

7

Jack stared at the woman in shock. He couldn’t believe it was really Lily Harper standing there in front of him.

‘Hi,’ she was saying, walking over to shake Sam’s hand. But she appeared to be in some kind of daze, as she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Jack. ‘Nice to see you again.’

Jack found he couldn’t break eye contact with her either.

He was an idiot. Of course there had been a chance that she would be at Willow Tree Hall of all places. Her parents lived in the village, didn’t they? He had wrongly assumed she would have long since left, such had been her desire to break free of the place all those years ago.

How long had it been since he had last seen her? He had been eighteen and was about to leave college. She had been sixteen at the time.

Her hair had changed. Not the gorgeous red colour, of course. But these days it was fixed in a neat ponytail, as opposed to the wild and wavy mane around her shoulders that he remembered. Her face was a little older, but her smooth, pale skin wasn’t lined. She was smartly dressed in a pair of skinny trousers and a silk T-shirt.

But when her eyes flashed back at him it was like instantly going back in time. That same vivid green. The deep emerald staring at him. That was the same.

He realised that somebody had spoken.

‘Do you two know each other?’ asked Sam, looking from one to the other.

‘From a long time ago,’ said Lily. She broke into a smile but it didn’t meet her green eyes. ‘It’s been a while, Jack. How are you?’

Her words were polite but the tone of her voice was hard. Who could blame her for being upset with him, even after all this time?

‘Very well, thank you,’ he replied.

He felt Sam and Annie exchange a look. ‘Sam, can you just check something for me?’ said Annie, dragging her husband away.

Then it was just the two of them standing alone in the entrance hall.

‘What are you doing here?’ said Lily, when she finally spoke.

‘I was having a meeting with Sam and Arthur about the possible future development of the Hall,’ Jack told her.

‘I see.’ But she was frowning as she looked him up and down. ‘You’re in a suit.’

He glanced down. ‘Yeah,’ he told her. ‘How times change, eh?’

She nodded in thought. ‘They really do.’

He supposed that the last time he had seen her he had been wearing his battered leather jacket and jeans. And she would have been wearing that little silver vest top with the lacy straps that he loved seeing her in. Those long legs bare in her tiny denim shorts…

Jack was desperately trying to keep his wits about him. But he was having trouble concentrating on anything as Lily stood in front of him.

It had been so many years, and yet seeing her like this had jolted him right back to his miserable teenage years. She represented all that he hated about himself.

He had tried to push the thought of what he had done to her away, but the guilt still ate away at him each and every day. How she must hate him.

After all, he would always be the man who had promised that they would run away together. Instead, he had left her on the night of her school prom and taken off by himself.

*

Lily was trying very hard to be professional and not let her shock at seeing Jack ruin the job she had come to Willow Tree Hall for.

And yet, here he was after all these years.

She was cross with herself for struggling to think straight. She was definitely angry with Jack for showing up like this. And she was angry with herself for being cross with Jack.