The Peridale Cafe Cozy Box Set 4 Read online

  “I should go.” Oliver slung his bag over his shoulder. “I don’t like to leave Addie on her own at this time of night. She starts to get a little odd when the sun goes down. Caught her trying to put her slippers in the toaster last week. Do you know if the bus to Fern Moore goes through here?”

  “No busses.” Jessie walked over to the counter and grabbed her keys. “I’ll give you a lift.”

  “You don’t—”

  “It’s no trouble.” Jessie pushed Oliver towards the door. “I’ve decided you’re probably not a psycho killer.”

  “Only probably?”

  “There’s still time.”

  “Take care of yourself, Oliver,” Julia called after him. “You know where I am if you need me.”

  “Thank you.” Oliver paused while Jessie held the door open for him. “There’s one more thing, actually. I didn’t understand it at the time, and I still don’t, but I overheard Mr—I mean, I overheard Tony on the phone four days ago. He said something about a horse and being sued. It doesn’t make much sense, but it stuck in my mind, so I thought I’d mention it.”

  “No, it makes perfect sense,” Julia said, almost to herself. “Take care.”

  After gathering up her things, Julia pulled out her new phone and opened the search engine. She typed ‘Horses Peridale’ into the search bar, and clicked on the first result that came up, a riding school called Peridale Riding Centre. Julia didn’t have to go any further than the ‘OUR TEAM’ page to see the face she wanted. The horse-scented coffee-slinger from the morning of the bake-off now had a name and a title: ‘Florence Henshaw - Owner.’

  Chapter Eleven

  Julia planned to visit the riding school with Vinnie on Saturday, but heavy rain thwarted her. Instead, Barker looked after Vinnie at the cottage while Julia worked with Jessie at the café all day. Thanks to Dot’s big mouth and the gossip channels, every customer knew about Julia’s mugging, although most of what they had heard had been highly exaggerated along the way. Julia couldn’t believe what she was saying when she had to assure Father David that the attacker hadn’t been carrying a machete, and she was even more in disbelief when she had to tell Shilpa she hadn’t hospitalised three of them with her bare hands.

  Late on Saturday night, Dot called Julia in a panic, insisting that they meet for lunch on Sunday afternoon. She assured her it was an emergency, but since she wouldn’t impart the information over the phone, Julia concluded that it couldn’t have been that important.

  “Can I pick the venue?” Julia had asked.

  “Yes, dear,” Dot had replied. “Just make sure to invite your sister, too. It’s important!”

  When they pulled into Little Tots Treasures’ car park on Sunday afternoon, Dot looked less than impressed.

  “A children’s play area?” Dot cried as they pulled into one of the free spaces at the back of the car park. “Have you lost your marbles, Julia? I said lunch, not torture!”

  “It’s not so bad. They serve coffee.”

  “So does prison! Doesn’t mean I want to go there either.”

  Despite Dot’s upset, Vinnie seemed to remember where he was, and he bounced and giggled in Julia’s arms all the way to the entrance. After paying Vinnie’s entry fee, they walked to the toddler soft play area next to the coffee shop. Sue was already there with her twins, Pearl and Dottie, who wore matching pink dresses. Sue, who had re-joined the working world now that her maternity leave was over, was in her blue nurse’s uniform, ready for an evening shift at the hospital.

  “Look, girls, your Auntie Julia and Uncle Vinnie are here,” Sue exclaimed when she spotted them. “And your Great-Granny Dot, although by the looks of her face, we’ll be calling her Grumpy-Granny Dot today.”

  “Did you know about this too?” Dot asked as she looked around, wincing at the wall of noise coming from all directions.

  “I did.” Sue pulled out a chair while Julia settled Vinnie in the shallow ball pit with his nieces, who were only one month younger than him. “I like it here. Reminds me that I’m not the only one crazy enough to have a baby. Don’t you think you’re a little overdressed?”

  “What do you mean?” Dot looked down at her fur coat. “This is a practical item of clothing, dear.”

  “But the snow has stopped.”

  “For now.”

  “The man on the telly said we were through the worst of it,” Sue said, arching a brow at Julia.

  “Well, the papers say something different.” Dot pulled her coat together. “Wait and see. I want to be ready for when the wall of snow hits. It could be any hour now. Anyway, I was promised lunch!”

  “Sit down, and I’ll get you a coffee and some cake,” Sue said.

  Dot sulked as she rummaged in her handbag before producing a banana. “Good job I always carry one of these around with me. Never know when you’ll need one.”

  While Sue went to the counter to get their drinks and cakes, Julia watched the babies. She had wanted to go to the counter herself to see if Bev was working again, but for the sake of not seeming too keen, she let Sue go, although she kept her eye out for any sign of Tony’s ex-wife.

  When Sue returned with the drinks and cakes on a tray, Julia joined the table, leaving the kids in the capable hands of the two members of staff who were supervising the toddler play area due to it being so busy.

  “So, what’s the big emergency, Gran?” Sue asked as she tore off a chunk of her blueberry muffin. “It’s nothing bad, is it? I wouldn’t put it past you to break some terrible news over lunch.”

  “Considering this isn’t lunch, you’re off the hook.” Dot finished her banana and neatly placed the skin on the tray. With her hands free, she rummaged in her large handbag and produced what appeared to be a scrapbook. “After Julia was almost murdered in cold blood—”

  “I wasn’t almost murdered, Gran,” Julia cut in. “Let’s stick to the facts.”

  “None of us know what could have happened!”

  “But we know what did happen,” Julia explained. “Did you tell Father David I fought off a machete and Shilpa that I hospitalised three of them?”

  “Hardcore,” Sue mumbled through her muffin.

  “I may have embellished some details.” Dot wafted her hand as though it wasn’t important. “People aren’t scared enough. I keep telling you girls that you never know when someone is going to jump out to kill you! Today it’s your phone and rings, tomorrow it’s your life!”

  “You sound like Barker.” Julia pulled her whistle, panic alarm, and torch out of her bag and put them on the table. “This isn’t even half of it. He bought me a Swiss army knife and pepper spray!”

  “That’s so romantic,” Dot said without a hint of sarcasm. “He really cares about you.”

  “Isn’t pepper spray illegal?” Sue asked through another mouthful of muffin. “Where did he get his hands on that?”

  “If I told you, I’d have to torch you.” Julia picked up the torch and aimed it at Sue. “Don’t try me. It’s bright.”

  “I think it’s good that you’re prepared,” Dot said as she turned the panic alarm around in her hand. “You never know what’s around the corner.”

  “Exactly,” Sue said, winking at Julia. “Today it’s muggers, tomorrow it’s the new ice age.”

  “Oh, mock all you want, dear.” Dot puckered her lips before opening the thick scrapbook. “We’ll see who’s laughing when it happens. Let’s get back to business, shall we? I asked you both here to discuss something incredibly important. After Julia’s near-death experience, Percy and I decided we weren’t going to sit and wait around for death to claim us, so we’re speeding things up with the wedding.”

  “Speeding up?” Sue asked with a worried look. “Couldn’t you have told me that before I stuffed my face with a muffin? I need to fit into a dress!”

  “We haven’t decided a date.” Dot flicked through the pages. “We’re still deciding on the theme.”

  “Theme?” Julia and Sue said at the same time.
/>   “Percy wants a magic theme, but I’m thinking something Victorian.”

  “Victorian?” Julia and Sue said again.

  “Yes, Victorian.” Dot pursed her lips and pushed up her curls. “Is there an echo in here?” She flipped the book around and pushed it across the table. “I need your help. You’ve both planned weddings more recently than I have. It feels like it was one hundred years ago! I’ve lived so many lives since then.”

  “And to celebrate that, you want a Victorian wedding?” Julia asked sceptically as she flicked through the pages of elaborate costumes Dot had cut out and stuck into the book. “You were born in the 1930s.”

  “But look at those costumes!” Dot stabbed her finger in the book. “Drama! Who doesn’t want a bit of excitement on their wedding day? I’m only going to get one more of them before I pop my clogs.”

  “Don’t talk like that,” Sue said. “You’ll at least want to be here when we all freeze to death so you can tell us that you were right all along.”

  “That’s true.” Dot nodded, not seeming to notice the mockery. “Although, if I’m honest, I do think Percy will die before me.”

  “Ever the optimist.” Sue glanced awkwardly at Julia as they turned the page in the book. “You’re not planning on killing him off, are you?”

  “Oh, no!” Dot waved both hands. “Nothing like that. Not unless he annoys me, of course. No, I just feel like my genetic makeup is superior to his. To most, actually. Look at me! I’ve just turned eighty-five, and I’m as fresh as I was thirty years ago. How many people can say they’ve reached my age with no major health complaints? I’m as fit as a fiddle. I think I’ll just keep living.”

  “Well, as long as you’ve decided that, then I’m sure you will.” Sue continued to turn the pages to look at the outfits Dot had collected, but Julia’s attention drifted to the counter where she finally spotted Bev amongst the chaos.

  “How do you feel about bonnets?” Dot asked, her finger tapping on her chin.

  “The same way most people feel about bonnets,” Sue replied under her breath. “As in, if you put a bonnet anywhere near my head, your life expectancy might not stretch out like you hope it’s going to.”

  Dot snatched the book back and slapped it shut. She stuffed it into her bag and folded her arms like a child who had just been told they couldn’t play with their favourite toy because they’d been misbehaving.

  “You two are no help at all!” Dot snapped. “I was there to help with your wedding, Sue. And I was there for all three of yours, Julia! And yes, I’m counting the first one to Barker, even though you didn’t actually get married. I still bought a hat, therefore, it was a wedding!”

  “Thankfully it wasn’t a bonnet,” Sue quipped.

  “Well, if that’s how you’re both going to be, I shall leave and go and have a real lunch with my fiancé. Julia, Sue, I hope you’re happy with yourselves! I spent all night working on that book. Do you know how hard Victorian fashion magazines are to come by?”

  “Not very, considering you filled the scrapbook?” Sue replied after sipping her coffee. “Sit down, Gran. We’re teasing. We’re happy for you! We’ll help in any way we can, but just for the record, I was serious about the bonnets.” Sue’s eyes drifted down to the table, and they suddenly lit up as though she had just had a brilliant idea. “You’ve missed something so obvious!”

  “An underwater wedding?”

  “An engagement party!” Sue snapped her fingers. “You can’t have a wedding before you’ve had an engagement party! If you really are milking this as the wedding to end all weddings, you need to hit every event, and it all starts with the engagement party.”

  Dot’s face lit up, and Julia could practically hear the well-oiled cogs turning. Dot slowly nodded, and her finger wagged next to her head.

  “Yes,” she said, her nodding growing. “You’re right! Why didn’t I think about that? I’ve just had a marvellous idea! Girls, I need to dash. I have so much to do!”

  Dot darted off. She got as far as the gate out of the toddler area before dashing back to snatch up her untouched cupcake. She stuffed it into her bag and set off at a light jog, weaving in and out of obstacles and small children. Julia pretended not to notice when she knocked over a child along the way, and from the way Sue was staring at the ceiling lights, it seemed she was too.

  For the next hour, they watched the children play and talked about everything from Sue being back at work to Barker’s lack of progress with his second novel. Julia was grateful that Sue danced around mentioning the mugging, most likely thanks to their lengthy phone conversation the night before. When Sue finished her second coffee, the topic of conversation switched to one Julia had been expecting earlier.

  “So,” Sue said with a playful smile as she mopped up crumbs from her plate with her finger, “when is it your turn?”

  “You’re going to have to be more specific than that.”

  “I’m serious, Julia.” Sue flicked a crumb at her. “You and Barker are married now. It’s the next step.”

  Julia exhaled heavily as she watched Vinnie splash amongst the plastic balls with the biggest smile anyone had ever had. “I don’t know.”

  “Haven’t you and Barker talked about it?”

  “It came up in passing,” Julia said with a casual shrug. “There’s a lot going on right now.”

  “And? Do you think I was ready to get pregnant with twins? Don’t believe what you read. Imagine the hardest thing you could possibly do, and then times it by two, because that’s what I have. Was it Gran who said one baby felt like one and two babies felt like twenty? Well, she was right!”

  “Are you trying to put me off?”

  “No. I’m saying, imagine how hard it is, but going to bed every night glad that you did it.” Sue looked at the twins and a smile that only came to her when she looked at her girls took over her face. “I’m always exhausted, I’m always running late, I’m always covered in something sticky or smelly, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. You need to experience it. I know you have Jessie, but she came a readymade teenager. Don’t you want a little baby of your own?”

  “You know I do.” Julia fixed on her sister with a serious gaze. “How many nights over how many years did I sob on the phone to you because Jerrad wouldn’t even consider it?”

  “Forget that loser!” Sue tutted. “You’re with Barker now. Talk to him. I know he’ll feel the same.”

  “How do you bring that up in a conversation?”

  “Well, you could start with ‘Barker, can you pass me the salt, and oh, by the way, do you want to have a baby with me?’” Sue looked pleased with herself. “Easy, no?”

  “Easy peasy.”

  “So, what’s stopping you?”

  “What if—”

  “What if what?” Sue reached out and rested her hand on Julia’s hand. “What if he doesn’t want one?”

  “No.” Julia shook her head as she clenched her sister’s hand. “Deep down, I think he would love a baby. You should see him with Vinnie. He’s amazing.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “What if I’ve left it too late?” Julia exhaled and looked up at the ceiling. “I’m thirty-nine. I know that’s hardly seen as old these days, but I’m not stupid. I know the statistics. If I’d tried in my mid-thirties, I’d have a seventy-five percent chance of getting pregnant in the first year. Do you know what that drops to when I turn forty later this year?”

  “Seventy-four percent?” Sue asked with a hopeful smile.

  “Fifty percent,” Julia replied. “Do you know what that drops to when I turn forty-three?”

  “It can’t drop that much in three years,” Sue said with a forced laugh. “I know I’m not a midwife, but you hear stories about women getting pregnant later and—”

  “Somewhere between one and two percent,” Julia cut in. “If I get to forty-three and I’m still not pregnant, there’s a ninety-eight percent chance
it won’t happen naturally.”

  “There are options.” Sue clenched her hand. “IVF, adoption, surrogacy. You know I’d carry your baby in a heartbeat!”

  “I know you would.” Julia squeezed her hand right back. “And that’s why I love you.”

  “How do you know all these spooky facts, anyway?”

  “Late night internet searches while trapped in a loveless marriage.” Julia picked up her cup and finished the last of her cold coffee. “It didn’t scare me enough in my early thirties but consider me terrified now.”

  “Okay.” Sue slapped Julia’s hand three times. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t wait until you turn forty-three.” Sue grinned. “Sit down with Barker and have an honest conversation, no matter how hard it may seem. Do you want to wake up one day at fifty resenting that you never gave it a shot? You might be more than happy enough with Barker and Jessie, but you don’t want to get that far before you realise what you want.”

  Sue gave Julia’s hand a final pat before jumping up. She pulled her coat over her nurse uniform and checked the upside-down watch clipped to her breast pocket.

  “I need to get the kids back to Neil before my shift.” Sue leaned in and kissed Julia on the cheek. “Talk to Barker. You’ve certainly given me something to think about. I turn thirty-four at the end of the month. I suppose it’s time to decide if we want to turn our duo into a trio.”

  Sue collected Pearl and Dottie and strapped them into their giant double pram. She waved goodbye to Vinnie and headed for the door, leaving Julia to decide what to do with her Sunday afternoon.

  It hadn’t escaped her that it was exactly a week since the bake-off, not that she’d know it in the village. Talk had already shifted gears to Julia’s unfortunate incident, and thanks to no major developments happening, or at least not happening in public, it seemed people were ready to forget that Tony Bridges had ever existed.