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Meet Me at Willow Hall
CARLA BURGESS
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © Carla Burgess 2018
Annie Lyons asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
E-book Edition © June 2018 ISBN: 9780008271565
Version: 2018-06-27
Table of Contents
For Fifi, the super fan
Rachel,
I’ve been thinking a lot about us recently and I’ve come to the conclusion it’s not working. As you know, I was never looking for long-term commitment, and I really think now is the time to part ways. We had four great months together, but since my accident I just don’t feel like carrying this on any longer. You know I don’t love you. I will never love you. I need to be alone. I’m sorry to be writing this in a letter instead of telling you face to face, but I thought it would be worse for you to drive all this way to visit me here in hospital, only to have to drive home again knowing you’d had a wasted journey. It’s been good of you to visit me, but the truth is that seeing you exhausts me. I’ve told the nurses I only want to see close family, so please don’t come again. I don’t want a big discussion about this. Please, just accept that it’s over and move on.
Goodbye and good luck.
Anthony
One year later
‘Make Willow Hall the stage for your love story!’ I made my voice dramatic as we bounced along the narrow country lane towards the hall in Elena’s little car. Turning slightly in my seat to face her, I cleared my throat and adjusted the glossy brochure in my hands. ‘Set in the green, rolling hills of the Shropshire countryside, and with a past steeped in history and romance, Willow Hall is the perfect venue for your wedding … Oh, please!’ I broke off. ‘Steeped in romance! Honestly, what a load of rubbish! You can tell Anthony’s had nothing to do with this!’ I laughed and looked again at the photograph of the Georgian manor house