by Agatha Frost
“Are you just assuming he was upset or did he actually look upset?” Julia asked as she dropped a peppermint and liquorice teabag into a cup.
“He pulled this face.” Sue scrunched up her face and pushed out her bottom lip. She looked like a Cabbage Patch Kid. “And then he started sobbing and fainted to the floor screaming ‘Julia’!”
Julia tossed a dry teabag at Sue. It hit her on the side of the face.
“I’m glad my life is so amusing to you.”
“Oh, cheer up, big sis,” Sue said, tossing the teabag back. “Okay, so I might have stretched the truth a little, but he did look disappointed. And he’s spending his lunch break giving Jessie a driving lesson. That must mean something.”
“Jessie hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Neither have you,” Sue said with a shrug. “Still being married to a pig isn’t a crime. So what that you didn’t tell him? I bet he hasn’t told you every detail of his past.”
Julia dropped her head guiltily as she poured hot water into the small cup. She thought back to the time Barker had shared his past with her, about how his fiancé had died. She had almost shared her own past with him after that revelation, but it felt cheap in comparison. He had told Julia she was the first woman he had loved since, which dug the guilty knife even deeper into her chest.
She pulled on the string of the teabag and bobbed it up and down in the water as she gazed out of her café window at the quiet village green. People seemed to be heading to Happy Bean’s, avoiding looking in her café’s direction. She wondered if it was time to accept her fate and start thinking about another route she could take, but it ached to think she wouldn’t have her café to come to every day.
“Maybe I could do corporate events,” Julia thought aloud before blowing on the hot surface of the water. “Or wedding cakes.”
“Boring!” Sue exclaimed. “I went for my scan this morning. I was going to tell you before, but Dad came, and I didn’t want to show –”
Screeching tyres interrupted Sue before she could finish her sentence. They both turned to the window in time to see Jessie drifting around the corner of the village green in Barker’s car. Dot, who was tearing out the weeds that were poking through her garden wall, jumped back, tumbling over the low wall and into her garden. Julia caught a flash of Jessie’s hand waving her apology before she sped off again, turning and speeding past St. Peter’s Church like she was drag racing.
“For the sake of Peridale, I hope that girl never passes her test,” Sue said with a nervous laugh. “She’s lethal!”
“She’s learning,” Julia said, as hopefully as she could muster. “You failed your test three times, remember?”
“But I didn’t kill anybody in the process!” Sue exclaimed as she grabbed her handbag from under the counter before pulling out a bottle of red nail polish. “I hit that cat, but it sprung right up and ran away with eight lives still intact. Barker is braver than me to get in a car with her. What do you think of this colour? Does it clash with the bump?”
Julia chuckled as she sipped her tea. She looked out of the window at the village green again, and something outside Happy Bean caught her attention. She craned her neck in time to see Jerrad bolting out of the coffee shop as the stressed young barista from earlier burst through a crowd of people, tossing her apron to the ground as tears streamed down her face. She ran across the road, narrowly missing the bonnet of Barker’s car as Jessie made another erratic lap of the village green.
“Drama at Happy Bean,” Julia whispered over the top of her tea. “Looks like she’s just quit.”
“You could sound a little less happy about that,” Sue replied with a wink. “Serves the man right.”
Julia sipped her tea, letting the peppermint and liquorice warm her throat, the familiar sweetness perking her mood after the disjointed morning. She watched the girl sprint across the village green, mascara streaking her cheeks. Julia put down her tea and walked around the counter.
“Stay here,” Julia said. “I won’t be long.”
“Again?” Sue cried as the red-tipped brush touched her thumb nail. “Where are you going?”
“To gloat,” Julia said with a shrug and a twinkle in her eye. “If you can’t beat them, join them.”
Leaving Sue in the café to paint her nails and attend the non-existent customers, Julia hurried across the village, waiting until Jessie had passed to cross the road. A little smile tickled her lips when she looked through Happy Bean’s window and saw Jerrad behind the counter, attempting to work the complicated computer screen till while a line of frustrated people tapped their feet
“Having some staffing trouble?” Julia asked, trying her best to sound concerned.
“The little brat quit!” Jerrad cried, hovering over the screen, his eyes scanning the dozens of different options. “What did you say you wanted?”
“A caramel latte with an extra shot,” Jeffrey Taylor, Billy’s father, said. “Oh, hello, Julia. Is that your Jessie bombing around the village in that car? She’s almost as bad a driver as my Billy. I’ve tried teaching him, but he’s a lost cause.”
“Let’s hope they never get in a car together then,” Julia said, trying to smile through her disappointment that Jeffrey hadn’t come to her café for his usual order.
Jerrad peered under his brows, his eyes almost pleading with Julia to help. He somehow managed to put the order through the machine before taking Jeffrey’s money with shaky hands. When he turned to the coffee machine, he wiped the visible beads of sweat from his forehead with one hand while the other rubbed the faint stubble on his jaw.
“Erm,” he mumbled. “Coffee. Right.”
Julia exhaled heavily, not wanting to believe what she was about to do. She walked around the back of the machine and slipped behind the counter, pushing Jerrad out of the way.
“You like it quite strong, don’t you Jeffrey?” Julia asked over her shoulder with a smile. “No custard slice today?”
“Watching the figure,” he said with a pat on his completely flat stomach, which she knew was smothered in inky tattoos under the fabric.
Julia quickly made the order with ease. It was a little more complicated than the machine in her café, but it did the same thing. She had always wondered why steaming milk and filtering ground coffee needed so many buttons and knobs.
While Jerrad figured out the drinks orders on the till, Julia quickly produced them, switching with ease between coffee, cold drinks, and tea. She wasn’t sure if she was working to Happy Bean’s standards, but she knew she was working to her own, which had been good enough for the village until recently. When the last of the customers took their drinks, Jerrad turned to Julia with a relieved smile covering his sweaty face.
“We make quite the team,” he said with a smirk. “You just saved my bacon.”
“Don’t get any funny ideas,” Julia said, extending a finger in his face. “Even I couldn’t watch you try to figure this out. I did it for the customers, not for you. They might have stopped caring about me, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped caring about them.”
Jerrad held his hands up, before clasping them together and bowing his head in thanks.
“I rather like this new, feistier Julia,” he said, taking a step forward. “You’ve changed.”
“I’ve grown.”
“We both have.”
Julia held back the laugh. She looked at his fake hairline, fake teeth, and impossibly flat stomach, which used to poke out of his shirts.
“There’s a difference between growth and change for the sake of change,” Julia said with an arch of her brow. “I need to get back. I have an empty café to run.”
Julia slipped around the side of the coffee machine and walked across the sterile coffee shop towards the door.
“Wait!” Jerrad called after her. “Let’s talk.”
“About what?”
“Us.”
Julia didn’t suppress the laughter this time as Jerrad walked around the counte
r after her.
“Unless you want to talk about us actually getting divorced, there is no ‘us’,” Julia said, folding her arms across her chest.
Jerrad reached out and grabbed her hand, his cold wedding ring burning against her skin. She was so stunned, she didn’t immediately pull away.
“Don’t you feel it?” he asked, pulling her in slightly. “The spark?”
“I think it’s just indigestion, darlin’,” Julia said, ripping her hand away as she stared into Jerrad’s eyes, sure that he was just about to kiss her. “I think you need to read the instruction manual before your next wave of customers floods through the door.”
Julia turned on her heels, pleased with her confidence. She had never had the guts to stand up to Jerrad, but looking into his eyes and saying exactly what she wanted felt refreshing. Barker had never tried to censor her, and she knew it had made her a better, stronger woman.
She pulled on the door and set off down the street, feeling Jerrad hot on her heels.
“Julia!” he cried after her. “You’re still my wife.”
“We’re separated,” she called over her shoulder. “It’s just a piece of paper. It doesn’t mean anything.”
Knowing that Jerrad was going to chase her right back to her café, where she would be stuck in a room with him, she made a detour and cut across the village green, glancing in Sue’s direction to make sure she wasn’t being bombarded with customers; she wasn’t, and she was still paying close attention to painting her nails.
“You need to listen to me,” he cried, jogging to keep up as she hurried across the grass.
“I don’t need to do anything.”
To her surprise, Jerrad’s fingers wrapped around her wrist, yanking her back. She stopped in her tracks, feeling a little pop in her shoulder. She tried to pull away, but his grip was firm.
“I said, you need to listen to me,” he said, his voice darkening as he stared deep into her eyes. “You’re my wife, and I made a mistake.”
Julia stared down at the fingers tightening around her wrist, turning the skin there white, and her fingers bright red. She pulled again, but he was holding on tightly.
“Let go of me,” she said, her free hand clenching. “Now.”
“You’re my wife!” he repeated, as though it meant something. “Twelve years, darlin’. It means something. You and me, the dream team.”
“It was a nightmare,” Julia said through gritted teeth as she continued to yank. “I said, let go –”
Screeching tyres interrupted her, making them both turn to face St. Peter’s Church. Barker’s car burst over the concrete lip of the village green, landing with a crash on the grass. Instead of stopping, the car sped up, racing towards them at lightning speed. Frozen to the spot with Jerrad still gripping her, Julia closed her eyes and waited.
There was another screeching, as tyres and grass collided. Julia peeked through her lids, and let out a huge sigh of relief when she saw the car had ground to a halt only steps away from them. Through the pounding of her heart, she let out a small nervous laugh.
The driver’s door opened. What Julia saw was even more shocking than the car racing towards them. Jessie wasn’t the one who had been driving, it had been Barker.
“Get off her,” Barker snapped as he slammed the door before marching towards her.
To Julia’s surprise, Jerrad did let go of her in an instant, but instead of stepping back and apologising, he walked towards Barker, meeting him halfway. Julia clutched her sore wrist, turning as Jessie jumped out of the passenger seat.
“Or what?” Jerrad sneered, laughing in Barker’s face as their chests bumped together. “You gonna arrest me, PC Plod?”
Barker smiled down at Jerrad, who was several inches shorter than him. He blinked slowly, the smile growing, before turning into a sneer. Julia noticed Jerrad’s fingers tucking into his palm. She stepped forward, unsure of what to do.
Before Barker could do anything, Jerrad reacted first, his fist striking Barker hard in the stomach. He doubled over and stumbled back before falling to the ground. Julia screamed out and ran to his side.
“You idiot!” she cried up at Jerrad, her hands clutching Barker’s shoulders.
“She’s my wife,” Jerrad said, before spitting at Barker’s feet on the grass. “Nobody is going to –”
Jerrad didn’t get to finish his sentence. Jessie’s fist struck his nose, and with a crack and a spurt of blood, he fell to the ground completely unconscious. Jessie doubled back, clutching her fist to her stomach as she winced in pain.
“Ouch!” Jessie mumbled through her red face. “I knew he was a bonehead.”
Barker stumbled to his feet with Julia’s help as he caught his breath. Julia looked around the village as people ran from every direction, including two police officers.
“If anybody asks, I punched him,” Barker said, tapping Jessie on the shoulders. “Get out of here.”
A car pulled up in front of Julia’s café just as Sue ran to the door, her eyes wide. Their father climbed out of the car and looked down at Sue. Instead of explaining anything, she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the scene, with her other hand clutching her tiny bump.
“What did I miss?” Sue cried, her arm wrapping around Jessie’s shoulders as she looked confused between them. “Jessie, are you okay?”
“I think I’ve broken my thumb,” she muttered, looking down at her hand, which she was still clenching. “But it was worth it.”
“You need to ice it,” Julia’s father said.
“There’s ice at Happy Bean,” Julia replied, glancing down at Jerrad as he started to come around with a groan. “He’s not dead.”
“Shame,” Jessie mumbled as they walked towards the coffee shop. “I was hoping to hit him so hard he flew out of Peridale and landed on the moon.”
Barker held back, pretending to clutch his hand as he began to explain what had happened to the two police officers, who Julia recognised as the ones who arrested her and Jessie. Barker caught her gaze, and they shared a smile. He winked at her, before reapplying his fake hurt expression. She had a feeling things were going to be okay after all.
Once they were in the empty coffee shop, Jessie and Sue sat in two of the pleather armchairs, while Julia hurried behind the counter and scooped a handful of ice into a tea towel, which she secured in place with an elastic band from a bag of chocolate flakes. Julia’s father hovered back, following her as she walked towards Jessie and Sue. He looked like an excited child who was dying to tell her something.
“Let me see,” Julia whispered, prying Jessie’s fingers off her sore hand. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I did,” Jessie said. “Are you angry with me?”
Julia smiled. She didn’t want to let Jessie know that she had been right about it being highly satisfying to watch Jerrad be punched in the face. If it were anyone else, she wouldn’t have condoned the violence, but she hoped Jessie might have knocked some sense into the deranged man.
“I’m not angry with you,” Julia said softly as she rested the ice against Jessie’s bright red hand. “I think we need to take you up to the hospital.”
“Julia?” her father mumbled.
“Just a second,” Julia said as she wiped the tears from Jessie’s cheeks. “I feel like the appropriate thing to say right now would be not to do it again.”
“Or just not to tuck your thumb in when you punch somebody,” Sue suggested as she blew on her still wet nails. “But also, what Julia said. Naughty!”
“You’re going to make an ace mum,” Jessie said, before glancing at Julia. “Must run in the family.”
Julia rested her hand against her chest, her heart swelling at the sentiment. Looking into the young girl’s eyes, it put everything into perspective. She didn’t need her café to feel complete, it was just a nice extra to have. She glanced at Barker on the village green as the police officers handcuffed Jerrad and not Barker. She might not have done things the same way as her siste
r, but she had created a life for herself, despite having thought she had wasted her years with the man being dragged towards the police car.
“Julia?” Brian muttered again, his hand dragging over his chin as he glanced from her to the wall behind her.
“What?” she snapped, not wanting to leave the special moment.
“The painting,” he said, glancing behind her again. “I think I’ve found it.”
“How?” Sue cried, jumping up, careful not to touch her nails.
Instead of saying anything, their father nodded at the wall he was staring at. They turned around together, their mouths opening when their eyes landed on the giant landscape painting in the gold frame on the wall among the stock photography.
“Are you sure?” Julia asked. “I thought it was a print.”
“It’s a Murphy Jones,” Brian said with so much certainty, Julia felt like he had just muttered a name she should have heard of, but hadn’t. “And that’s one of his pre-war landscapes from when he lived in Peridale briefly in the early 1900s. They’re rare to come by, and the last time one was discovered, it sold at auction for well over a million.”
Sue gasped, her hand clasping over her mouth, the money making her completely forget about her nail polish. Julia stared at the dull, dreary painting. She took a step forward, the thick brush strokes jumping out at her.
“Anthony is a clever swine,” Brian mumbled, sounding a little impressed. “He hid it in plain sight. Most people wouldn’t know a Murphy Jones if it hit them in the face, especially his early work.”
Julia crept forward, her eyes honing in on the missing screw on the left side of the painting.
“The screw!” she cried, lifting her foot up and clasping her sole.
“I beg your pardon?” Sue exclaimed.
