Page 5 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

‘Willow Tree Hall,’ said Eric. ‘But we can change the name.’

Jack turned to stone. He glanced down at the paperwork in front of him as Eric continued chatting. He hadn’t even bothered to check it until that moment.

‘It’s in some little village called Cranley.’ Eric looked at his notes. ‘Apparently it’s a small estate with cottages and so forth. But we’re not interested in those. We just want the big house. Maybe the family can move into one of the outlying properties. Anyway, it’s all owned by Arthur Harris. You won’t believe it but his actual title is—’

‘The Earl of Cranley,’ said Jack, with a small sigh. No wonder the photo had rung a bell.

Eric looked impressed. ‘You know your Debrett’s, that’s for sure. Maybe you’ve got friends in high places as well.’

‘Cranley is the next village along from where my parents live,’ said Jack in a flat tone.

Eric looked hopeful. ‘And do you know this earl?’

Jack shook his head. ‘Never met him, but I went to school with his eldest grandson, Sam.’

‘Better and better,’ said Eric. ‘You can use that old school network to our advantage.’

Jack nearly burst out laughing at the irony. The private boarding school had been a nightmare where the boys had teased his rough accent and even rougher ways. His adoptive parents had scraped together the money to send him there as a day pupil, but he had never fitted in. There were only a few boys that he had got on well enough with, two of whom were Sam Harris and his younger brother Will. They had been kind enough towards him in those days.

‘Are you still friends?’ asked Eric. ‘It would certainly smooth along the consultation period if you were in with the family.’

Jack shook his head. ‘Sam and I haven’t seen each other since school.’

Perhaps it would be nice to catch up with Sam after at least twelve years. But that’s all, thought Jack. He had pretty much kept himself to himself at school, such was the shock of going from the streets to a private boarding school in the space of a year.

‘Pity.’ Eric brightened up. ‘Ah well. At least you’ll be going in there as a friend and not the enemy.’

Jack wasn’t sure the word friend applied when he hadn’t seen Sam in so many years. They had both moved on in that time.

But Eric sounded determined. And whatever Eric wanted, he normally received. ‘So you make the contact and have a nice little chat with the family,’ his boss was saying. ‘Go there and offer what it takes to get them to sign on the dotted line. Not too much though, eh? I still want to make a tidy profit. But I want this place for our portfolio. Got it?’

Eric could be ruthless on occasion but business was business, after all. And if Jack could get the Harris family to sell up, it would be another major accomplishment in his career.

As Jack tidied up his paperwork after the meeting, he spotted one of the secretaries looking at him. As always, his automatic assumption was that they were inspecting him like a speck of dirt on their shoes. But, no. Glancing at her again, he realised she was giving him a flirty smile. He didn’t return it.

He didn’t like being the centre of anyone’s attention. He knew that he was OK to look at. But he didn’t need anyone else’s company or desire it to keep him warm at night. He was just fine on his own. He couldn’t imagine ever falling in love with someone so hard that he couldn’t bear to be without them. It was unthinkable.

Everyone else had let him down too often. He didn’t need anyone.

But the thought of Cranley had brought up other memories he had long since tried to hide.

Of yet more guilt.

Would Lily Harper still be living there? Surely not, after all this time. It was highly unlikely. The wild girl he had known would be all grown up and long gone. After all, she had always been desperate to escape and see the world.

But he knew that he would be looking out for her as he drove through the village, anyway. And that she was the reason that he had barely been home for almost fourteen years.

3

The late afternoon sun blinded Lily briefly as she drove towards Cranley.

Although the lane was narrow and twisty, it was her favourite way to go home as it afforded her the best view of the village.

The view caused her to smile for the first time in a fortnight. It had totally been the right decision to head home for a while and not stay in London.

She’d tried not to think about Mark’s betrayal and the utter misery of the past two weeks as she had packed up her life in London. She had tried to find a new job, but to no avail. Then the deposit on her flat had been kept from her due to her flatmates ruining the lounge carpet with candle wax burns.

Lily sighed and concentrated on looking out from the high viewpoint over the last rolling hill towards the village of Cranley.