Peridale Cafe Mystery 20 - Cocktails and Cowardice

by Agatha Frost

  “As I live and breathe!” a voice called from behind her. “Is that Dorothy South I see before me?”

  Dot tore her gaze away from the view as the familiar voice called to her through the decades. Her ears knew precisely who it belonged to, although when she turned, her eyes didn’t find Minnie amongst the faces of the few people lounging in the sun on the terrace beds.

  “Dorothy!” An elderly woman with a short and wide constitution similar to Percy’s rose from a sunbed. She had a mop of thick grey hair, a round face, and deeply tanned skin. She wore a leopard-print kaftan, sandals, and thick bangles on either wrist, and she looked absolutely nothing like the image of Minnie Dot had in her mind, even though the voice was the same. “Would you look at that! Somehow you avoided the middle-age spread. You look fantastic!”

  “And you look . . .” Dot’s voice trailed off as the short woman pulled her into a tight hug. “You look so different!”

  Minnie pulled away and held Dot at arm’s length. Up close, there was some resemblance buried somewhere in her plump and aged features. Still, the eyes were the biggest giveaway. While paler than the photographs in the album showed, they were still the same crystal blue eyes she had shared with her brother.

  “Minnie,” Dot said finally, relaxing a little. “It really is you. How many years has it been?”

  “Far too many, my dear sister-in-law.” Minnie looked her up and down again. “Welcome to La Casa! It translates as ‘home’, and I want you to take that as literally as possible while you’re here.” She looped her arm through Dot’s and led her back into the sunroom. “I think it’s time for a cocktail and a nice catchup, don’t you?”

  Dot glanced back at the view and nodded for Percy to follow. There was no other place, with any other people, she’d rather be at that moment.

  3

  JULIA

  A fter a generously laid out three-course dinner, they spent the rest of the evening on the terrace listening to Dot and Minnie reminisce about old times while the sun set over the gorgeous valley. The sangria flowed late into the night, although in Julia’s case, she’d settled for an equally delicious mocktail version, which suited her fine.

  Not only was Lisa the one to cook and serve the whole meal, but she also made and served their drinks all night, only briefly lingering to listen to her mother regale tales of her modelling and acting days. Julia had been under the impression that the hotel belonged to her great-aunt, but it seemed Lisa was the one running the day-to-day business. Julia didn’t get to talk with Lisa much, but that was mainly because Minnie was fantastic at holding court.

  Splayed out on a chaise lounge in her leopard-print kaftan with a never-empty glass of sangria in hand, Minnie told stories of skiing with Paul McCartney in the Alps, dinner in France with Rick Astley, shopping with Joan and Jackie Collins in Italy, helicopter rides with Meatloaf over the Grand Canyon, and even lunch with Princess Diana in London. They were wild and fantastical tales, all with more twists and turns than most Hollywood movies.

  Whether they were incredibly genuine or wholly made up, Julia didn’t care. Dot had promised that Minnie was always a lot of fun, and it seemed the years hadn’t dimmed her shine in the slightest – even if she no longer resembled the glamour-puss from the photographs.

  When Julia and Barker fell into bed in the early hours of the morning, she fell asleep instantly, with a smile on her face. She didn’t set the alarm, and she awoke still smiling the next morning. Julia had no idea how many hours she’d slept, but it felt like the best night’s sleep of her life.

  Stretching out, she rolled over to wrap herself around her husband on the first morning of their honeymoon. Her arm hit fresh – and very empty – air. She sat up, and a vision of her wild, matted hair greeted her in the dressing table mirror at the foot of the bed.

  She scanned the room and spotted Barker out on the small balcony. He was slouched on one plastic chair with his feet up on another in nothing more than his underwear and reading glasses. With a book in his lap and against the backdrop of the valley, he looked like he’d been ripped from the pages of a travel brochure.

  “How long have you been up?” Julia asked when she joined him. “I slept like a baby.”

  “Me too.” Barker left his book and stood behind her as she took in the view, his hands naturally drifting down to the bump. “I think I have that holiday feeling people always talk about. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t think I ever want to it leave.”

  “I think it’s called relaxation.”

  “Never heard of it.” He laughed. “Mrs Morton started calling me from six this morning, so I turned my phone off. Who knew you could just . . . do that?”

  “Be careful, Barker Brown.” She turned to face him with a playful smile. “Your sparkling reputation as the village’s hottest new PI might sour.”

  “Let it.” He winked. “Fancy going down for breakfast? You woke up just in time.”

  After a quick shower, Julia threw her hair up into a damp ponytail, put on her two-piece swimming costume, and tossed a floor-length maxi dress over the top. Loose and flowy, it was nothing like her vintage dresses back home, but maxi-dresses were all she’d brought outside of some t-shirts and shorts. It would never have crossed her mind to buy them, but her more fashion-conscious sister, Sue, had insisted they were a ‘must’ for a stylish holiday. She’d claimed they transitioned seamlessly from day to night depending on how she ‘styled’ them. While Julia didn’t quite know what that meant, she liked how she looked in the blue tie-dyed number she’d chosen for the day. The burst of dye fanned out from her belly button, creating an optical illusion that made her bump look almost invisible from the front. A quick turn to the side confirmed that it was still there, bigger every time she looked in a mirror.

  Strangely, she’d never liked her body more.

  “Here they are!” Minnie announced when they walked into the dining room. “Come! Sit! Have some breakfast!”

  Dot and Percy were already there. They had glasses of orange juice and cups of tea, and they were working their way through a stack of wholemeal toast and half a dozen different pots of jam. Dot wore her usual uniform, but Percy had opted for a bright cotton shirt the same shade of red as his round spectacles, which he’d paired with loose cream trousers. A straw fedora adorned his bald head, a pair of silver aviators hung from his left breast pocket, and a yellow pocket square poked out from the other. He was the personification of a holiday.

  “How did you both sleep?” Minnie asked, ushering them into seats on the other side of the large round table. “Was everything to your liking?”

  “It was all perfect,” Julia replied, sitting. “Thank you.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” Minnie slathered a glob of soft butter onto a slice of toast. “Breakfast is all self-service. Continental style, I think they call it, but I’ve lived on the continent for so long, I can scarcely remember how anywhere else does it. Help yourselves, and if there’s nothing to your liking, I’m sure Lisa wouldn’t mind whipping something up.”

  Having only just sat down, they stood again and walked over to the buffet table. There was a selection of mini boxed cereals, several different types of bread for toasting, and a large selection of small pots of jam for spreading. There were also croissants, a cold meat and cheese platter, a large bowl of fruit salad, pots for making tea, a filter coffee pot, jugs of orange juice, and even a varied offering of individually wrapped teabags. Julia was pleased to find peppermint was one of the options.

  For the first day, at least, Julia kept things simple and opted for a croissant and a small bowl of corn flakes. Barker, on the other hand, piled up his plate with a little of everything. She almost pointed out that they had nearly a fortnight ahead of them to sample the lot, but she held her tongue. They were on holiday, after all, and if Barker wanted to eat everything in sight for two weeks, so be it.

  “We were just talking about how we’re going to spend the day,” Dot said when they returned with thei
r breakfast. “Minnie thinks we should all stay in the hotel and relax, but Percy and I think it would be a good idea to get our bearings and explore the town.”

  “Why do you want to go out there?” Minnie laughed, tossing her arms out. “The view is in here! Relax, Dorothy. You never could sit still.”

  “Says the woman who’s travelled the globe twice over,” Dot pointed out.

  “For work.” Minnie wafted her hand before taking another bite of her buttery toast. “Everything you could possibly want is right here, and if it’s not, Lisa will happily go out and get it for you.”

  Julia looked around for Lisa, surprised to find she wasn’t eating breakfast with them. She spotted her out on the terrace, skimming leaves from the surface of the pool. Did she do everything on her own? Julia had yet to see any other staff.

  “I would like to explore a little,” Dot said, a little more firmly this time. “Get the holiday shopping out the way early, as it were. There’s plenty of people to buy for back home, and I saw quite a few shops on the way in.”

  “Fine.” Minnie huffed. “But be careful, will you? We’ve had some . . . trouble, as of late.”

  Julia and Barker glanced at each other, and so did Dot and Percy.

  “Trouble?” Barker asked.

  “Yes, trouble.” Minnie squirmed in her seat, her finger circling the rim of her glass of orange juice. “It’s nothing to worry about. Things have just gone a little strange lately, but hasn’t the whole world?” She scratched at her mop of grey hair before looking around. “Where’s that daughter of mine got to? Lisa?”

  Lisa abandoned her pool cleaning, walking through the sunroom and into the dining room. She didn’t rush, but she also didn’t push forward a smile until her mother could see her.

  “Yes, Mother?”

  “Be a dear and get me some more toast, would you?” Minnie handed over her plate. “Some of that new wholemeal. It’s rather lovely.”

  Lisa took the plate and walked to the buffet without question. Julia and Barker glanced at each other with the same perplexed look they’d shared only moments earlier. Julia could tell they were thinking the same thing: was there something wrong with Minnie’s legs?

  Lisa returned with the toast before getting back to work on the terrace, and the conversation drifted to Minnie’s memories of Peridale, which didn’t sound like it had changed all that much since she left. Minnie announced she was full after a couple of bites and pushed the plate away before glugging down more orange juice. The conversation shifted from Peridale back to Minnie’s adventures as a model, this time featuring her escapades around Paris in the summer of 1988.

  By the time Julia finished her breakfast, she was starting to understand precisely what made Minnie the type of woman who would send her distant relative twice-annual autographed headshots.

  “Right.” Dot slapped her knees and stood when Minnie paused for breath. “Time to go exploring, don’t you think, Percy?”

  “Right you are, dear.” Percy wiped the crumbs from his lips and joined Dot in standing. “Are you two tagging along?”

  Julia and Barker shared yet another glance, and once again, she was sure she could read her husband’s mind.

  “I think we’re going to have a lazy day by the pool,” Julia said, offering an apologetic smile. “Get some reading in, have a little dip, enjoy the view.”

  “That’s the spirit!” Minnie clapped her hands together and looked around again. “Where’s that daughter of mine? I’ll get her to pop up a parasol so you can have some shade, considering your current condition. Lisa?”

  “Suit yourselves.” Dot pursed her lips as she checked her watch. “Shan’t be long. Should be back before lunch. C’mon, Percy. Let’s make ourselves useful.”

  “Right you are, dear.”

  Dot pecked Julia on the cheek as she left, and Percy tipped his straw hat. Minnie rushed off to find Lisa – no doubt to give her more tasks – proving her legs did, in fact, work perfectly fine. When they were alone, Barker held Julia’s hand under the table.

  “Would it be greedy of me to have a second go around the breakfast buffet?” Barker asked, his eyes already fixed on the food. “I should be full, but there are croissants, and croissants are . . . well, they are croissants, which means they must be eaten.”

  “You’re on holiday.”

  “It would be rude not to, wouldn’t it?” Barker let go of her hand and stood. “Want anything?”

  “I’m eating for two,” she said, shaking her head, “not two hundred.”

  While Barker filled his plate for the second time, Julia watched Lisa drag a parasol from the sunroom onto the terrace by the pool. At the same time, Minnie stood and admired the view. When it was set up, Minnie marched back into the dining room, her kaftan billowing out behind her.

  “I’ll get Lisa in here to clear this lot away,” Minnie said, almost to herself. “Lisa?”

  “It’s alright.” Julia started gathering the plates. “I don’t mind. I run a café back in the—”

  “No.” Minnie pulled the plates from Julia and put them back onto the table before craning her neck to look out of the open doors into the sunroom. “You’re on holiday. Lisa? Would you come in here and get this table cleared away?”

  Minnie turned around to smile at Julia as though she’d just done a great thing. While it wasn’t Julia’s place to judge their relationship and how they ran the hotel, she couldn’t imagine being half so demanding of Jessie. Even when the café was packed to capacity, she never asked Jessie to do something she couldn’t or wouldn’t do herself, if she could.

  “Ah!” Minnie clapped her hands together, looking towards the reception area. “Rodger! How long have you been stood there?” She tapped Julia’s shoulder and nodded for her to follow. “Come, Julia. You must meet Rodger. He’s a fellow ex-pat. He’s been running the hotel next door for the past few years.”

  Minnie scooped her hand around Julia’s and dragged her through to the reception foyer, where a short and slender man with combed-over hair and large glasses was waiting with a crate of what appeared to be straw. He wore a neatly pressed beige linen suit, which fit him like a glove.

  “Rodger!” Minnie air-kissed both his cheeks. “Are those the eggs I ordered?”

  “The full dozen, and freshly laid,” he said in one of the poshest accents Julia had ever heard. He tilted the box to show the brown eggs hidden in the straw. “Frittatas again tonight?”

  “You know I love them.” Minnie placed Julia in front of Rodger. “I’d like you to meet my great-niece, Julia. She and her husband, and my former sister-in-law, and her new husband are staying for the fortnight.”

  “Almost a full house?” he said, smiling ear to ear at Julia. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. How are you finding our little town?”

  “So far, so good.”

  “Best kept secret in all of Spain,” he said in a lower voice, flashing a wink over his glasses as he put the box on the counter. “Although, between us, I think the word may have slipped out. It’s absolute pandemonium out there! Could barely get through the plaza when I picked up my paper this morning.”

  “Oh, dear.” Minnie sighed and leaned against the reception desk. “You know I like to stay inside. I can’t be dealing with all of that.”

  “It’s good for business though, Minnie,” he said like it was something he’d been reminding her of for some time. “I’ve not had room to spare all season. It’s marvellous.”

  “Hmmm.” Minnie glanced over her shoulder into the almost empty dining room. “I was never a fan of the full vacancy weeks. How are the chickens?”

  “Splendid as usual.”

  “Rodger keeps chickens,” Minnie explained to Julia. “Wouldn’t buy our eggs from anywhere else. The ones from the supermarket just don’t compare.”

  “You can’t beat fresh, Minnie.” Rodger pulled back the sleeve of his jacket to check his watch before offering his hand to Julia. “Must dash! I’ve already been gone for too long.” He s
hook Julia’s hand, resting the other on top before offering the same to Minnie. “A pleasure as always, Minnie. You let me know if you need any more eggs. They’re always laying.”

  “That’s because you treat them like queens.” Minnie again kissed the air to either side of his face. “He’s given them all names, haven’t you?”

  “Happy hens lay more eggs,” he said with a laugh. “Right, must be off! Enjoy your day, the both of you.”

  When he left, Julia re-joined Barker. He had already finished his second helping of breakfast and was now sunbathing on the terrace in his swimming trunks.

  “Who was that?” he asked, squinting through one eye at Julia as she sat next to him on a bed in the shade of a parasol. “Sounded posher than The Queen.”

  “Next-door neighbour.” Julia settled into the chair and pulled her phone from her pocket. She snapped a picture of the view. “I think Minnie has a crush on him.”

  “How cute.”

  Julia sent the picture to Jessie, who replied almost instantly with a one-word text: JEALOUS!!!!! She also included a yellow face blowing steam through its nostrils, a black heart (Jessie only ever sent the black ones), and a laughing crying face. Julia didn’t really understand the coded string of emojis, so she sent back a pink love heart and tucked her phone away.

  After admiring the view for a little while longer, she pulled her book from her bag: an old Danielle Steele paperback she’d bought at the local charity shop for 50p. She settled into the chair and picked up where she’d left off on the plane.

  “This is the life,” she whispered to herself. “This is the life.”

  4

  DOT

  “Y ou continue to impress me, my dear!” Percy said as they emerged into the busy town plaza. “Your impeccable sense of direction never fails you.”