by Agatha Frost
Julia looked up at the cat clock above her fridge with its swinging tail and darting eyes. It was only a little after seven. She scratched the top of Mowgli’s head before walking down the hallway and to the front door.
Through the frosted glass, she saw a tall, broad man. The lack of a red jacket let her know it was probably a little early for the postman. She pulled her soft dressing gown across her pink silk pyjamas, tucked her curly hair behind her ears, and unlocked the door.
“Dad?” she said, the surprise loud in her voice. “What are doing here?”
Julia’s father, Brian, smiled awkwardly down at her as he glanced back at his car, which he had parked behind her own. His expensive vehicle only served to highlight how dated her vintage wheels were.
“Your gran called,” he said, reminding Julia that he rarely referred to her as ‘mother’. “She told me what was happening with Anthony.”
“Oh,” Julia mumbled, unsure of what to say. “Do you want to come in?”
He nodded, so she stepped to the side to let him into her cottage. He wiped his feet on the doormat as he looked around the house he had never visited before, despite Julia having been living back in Peridale for well over two years now.
“You’ve got a nice place,” he said with a nervous laugh as he closed the door behind him. “Your mother would have loved this.”
Julia’s stomach squirmed at the mention of her mother, but she smiled all the same. Her relationship with her father had improved in recent months, but it didn’t erase their years of being practically estranged after her mother’s death all those years ago.
“How’s Katie?” Julia asked as she led her father through to the kitchen, avoiding referring to her father’s wife as her ‘step-mother’. “Tea?”
“Yes, please,” he said as he took a seat in one of the stools at the counter, his head almost touching the low-beamed ceiling. “She’s doing really well. Recovered from all of that business with her brother.”
Julia refilled the kettle. It felt like a lifetime ago that Katie’s brother, Charles, had been murdered during a garden party at their home. He had been protesting Katie’s plans to turn their family manor into a spa, and it had been Julia who had uncovered the culprit after falsely accusing Katie of her brother’s murder. Months had passed, and spring had turned to summer, but Julia hadn’t seen her father, or Katie since, which made his appearance at her cottage feel stranger.
“I was surprised to hear from your gran,” he said as she handed him a cup of tea. “Did you put sugar in this?”
“You’ve always taken two sugars.”
“Katie’s got me on no-sugar,” he said with an apologetic shrug. “Thinks I’m at risk of diabetes because of my age.”
Julia took back the cup and tossed it down the drain, not needing another reminder that her father was sixty-four, and his wife was thirty-seven, just like Julia. She quickly remade the tea before leaning against the sink with her own tea.
“You know I don’t get into the village much, so I was surprised to hear what Anthony had done,” he said after taking a sip of the hot tea. “The rumour mill doesn’t seem to make its way up to Peridale Manor. I wanted to show my support and let you know that I’m here for you.”
Jessie appeared in the bathroom doorway, a towel tucked under her armpits with her wet hair hanging over her face. Brian turned in his seat, causing Jessie to scurry off to her bedroom.
“Still got the lodger?” he asked as he turned back.
“She’s more than that,” Julia said, her tone sharper than she intended. “Jessie is like family to me.”
Brian nodded and took another sip of his tea. Julia could have cut the tension between them with a knife. Despite the man in front of her being her father, they were practically strangers to each other. After her mother’s death, he had buried himself in his work, travelling the country hunting for antiques while Anthony ran the shop. Julia had learned very young not to rely on the man.
“Why are you surprised Anthony would do something like this?” Julia asked, looking down at Mowgli as he chewed his food contently, unbothered by the presence of the stranger in his house. “We both know he’s always been a ruthless businessman.”
“And not a very good one,” he said, leaning forward and clasping his fingers together. “The man conned me out of my share of the business we built together, but last I heard he was almost broke.”
“He must have come into some money,” Julia said, not wanting to admit she had researched the staggering amount it would cost to start a Happy Bean franchise. “You know it only takes a couple of decent antiques to turn things around.”
“That’s just the thing. The man was completely useless,” he admitted, cupping his hands around the mug as he stared down into the golden surface of the tea. “Wouldn’t know a Shigaraki Kiln Soy Vase from a Zsolnay. It was always my knowledge that propped the business up. I told him how much things were worth, and he sold them with his charm and charisma. He was good at that. Always had the gift of the gab, that’s for sure.”
“Well, he’s certainly doing his best to make sure he’s eliminating the competition,” Julia whispered after sipping her tea.
Brian pulled his wallet out of his pocket and looked down at it for a second, weighing it up in his hands. He pulled it open to reveal that it was bursting with more red fifty-pound notes than Julia had ever seen in one place. He pulled them all out and pushed them across the counter.
“Your gran said you were struggling,” he said, tapping a finger on the cash. “It’s not a lot, but it’ll tide you over.”
Julia couldn’t decide if she was offended or flattered. She stared down at the money, her mouth ajar. It would help, but she couldn’t help but think the money had come from Katie’s family fortune and not his pocket. After all, he had admitted that Anthony had conned him out of his business and Julia knew he hadn’t worked since marrying Katie over five years ago. It wasn’t like he needed to. Katie was sitting on the Wellington fortune, and with her brother dead and her father wheelchair bound, it wasn’t going to be long before she inherited the family pot of gold.
Before she could respond, Jessie came out of her bedroom dressed for work, already wearing her protest t-shirt. She hovered back before Julia gave her a supportive nod. She walked cautiously forward and sat at the counter, leaving a seat between them. She reached out for her tea, her eyes widening when she spotted the money.
“I should get going,” he said, standing up and pushing his unfinished tea away as he checked his gold watch, no doubt designer. “Katie will be wondering where I’ve gone. She told me to invite you and your sister to lunch next Sunday.”
“I’ll let Sue know,” she said, not giving him a definite answer as she wondered if it was really Katie who had asked that. “I’ll show you out.”
She walked her father to the door, leaving Jessie with her tea in the kitchen. When they reached the door, he turned and opened his mouth, but closed it again.
“I appreciate you coming to see me,” Julia whispered, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You’re always welcome here, you know that.”
“I know,” he said, his fingers closing around the door handle as though he couldn’t wait to get back to his manor. “Just be careful today. Anthony won’t think twice about playing dirty.”
Her father left her cottage and walked back to his car. Before he drove away, he waved, and she waved back. When he drove down the winding lane, she exhaled, hating how awkward things were with the man she had adored as a child. She looked out to Emily Burns’ cottage across the road. She waved with her rose pruning shears in her hands. Just like Jessie, she too was already in her ‘Choose Local Coffee’ t-shirt. Julia waved back a little less enthusiastically as Emily craned her neck to see if she recognised the car speeding away from them.
“There’s five hundred quid here,” Jessie said, wafting the red notes in her hand. “He must be minted.”
Julia sighed and took the money from Jessie. She h
adn’t wanted to keep it, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to flat out refuse either.
“I forgot to give it back,” Julia said, unsure if that was true. She flicked through the notes before rolling them up and stuffing the bundle in the biscuit tin with the custard creams. “Hopefully, we won’t need it.”
“Save Peridale!” Dot’s voice crackled out of the megaphone and floated through the open café door. “This faceless coffee shop is destroying local businesses!”
If Julia wasn’t completely rushed off her feet trying to keep up with her full café’s orders, she might have asked her gran to calm down a little. Even though things had started off quietly and it had just been Dot and a couple of her friends outside the coffee shop, there were now over twenty people there, all wearing the t-shirts, and holding signs written out in Dot’s handwriting.
“If you want real coffee, go to my granddaughter’s café,” Dot cried out. “Real coffee, made by real people. Support local business!”
“We’ve not been this busy in weeks!” Jessie whispered excitedly as she hurried past Julia with a tray of tea and scones for a group of women who were curiously staring around Julia’s café. “Dot’s nutty plan actually worked!”
Julia took down another large food order and hurried through to the kitchen, where Sue was spreading butter on bread rolls as fast as she could.
“Not how I thought I’d be spending my first Saturday off in months,” Sue said as she dabbed at her red face with a tea towel. “I bet they can hear her in Timbuktu!”
Julia hurried back through to the café, pleased to see Barker pushing through the crowd and making his way towards her.
“It’s nice to see this place full again,” he said as he approached the counter, his eyes darting up to the chalkboard menu behind her. “I’ll take a large Americano to go. I’m on the clock.”
“It’s just one day, but it’s a good sign.”
“Your gran is certainly determined,” Barker said with a chuckle as he pulled change from his pocket. “She needs to watch what she’s saying though. She’s crossing the line between protest and slander, and if Anthony officially complains, she could be arrested.”
Julia pitied the poor officer who would try to put cuffs on Dot. Her gran might have been eighty-three, but she was the feistiest and most exuberant woman in the village. Her tongue may have been razor sharp, but the fact she had organised this protest to try and help Julia only proved how big her heart was.
She quickly made Barker’s Americano and bagged up a chocolate cupcake for him to take away. When he reached into his pocket to grab more change, she rested her hand on his to stop him.
“You more than deserve it,” Julia said, pushing the bag into his hand. “It’s the least I can do.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Barker said as he peeled off the plastic lid from his coffee to add a sachet of brown sugar. “When Dot told me her plan, there was no way I wasn’t going to help. I know how much you love this place, and I love you, so it was a no-brainer.”
He leaned across the counter to give her a quick kiss before pulling away with a playful smirk, his teeth biting his lips. He turned on his heels and headed for the door with his coffee and cupcake, making way for more customers to walk into Julia’s café.
“Take these outside,” Julia said, handing Jessie a tray with an assortment of cupcakes on them. “Free samples. People might be in here today, but we want them to come back.”
Jessie finished making a latte before taking the tray, hurrying through the café and out onto the village green. As Julia watched her approach the people to offer them free cupcakes with a smile, pride swelled through her. It hadn’t been that long ago that Jessie had been homeless and breaking into Julia’s café for her cakes. Julia didn’t want to take any credit for Jessie’s transformation, but she was glad she had given her a chance that she might not have gotten otherwise.
“Who’s that boy talking to Jessie?” Sue asked as she appeared behind her with a plate of sandwiches for one of the tables. “He’s a little close.”
Julia squinted into the sun at the boy. Even though she couldn’t see his face, the red tracksuit and baseball cap gave him away.
“Billy Matthews,” Julia answered. “He’s quite smitten with Jessie. I don’t think she wants to admit that she likes him too. He’s persistent.”
“Is that the serial killer’s kid?” Sue asked on her way back, pausing to grab one of the cupcakes from the cake stand. “The one that Barker sent to prison all those years ago before he moved to Peridale and left that funeral wreath on Barker’s doorstep as a threat before a man was actually murdered? I’m surprised you’re letting her associate herself with people like that.”
“Jeffrey Taylor was found innocent,” Julia reminded her. “He’s an okay guy. Barker and he have gone for a few pints in The Plough since. I think it’s more to prove that there’s no bad blood between them. Jeffrey is trying to set a good example for Billy.”
“Didn’t Billy put a brick through your café’s window?” Sue mumbled through a mouthful of cake as she arched a brow. “And didn’t he try to steal your handbag too?”
Julia watched as Jessie walked away from Billy, but he followed her like a lovesick puppy. Jessie tossed her hair over her shoulder and shouted something at him, which only made him laugh and follow her even closer.
“He’s not been in trouble with the police for months,” Julia said tactfully. “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Everybody deserves a second chance.”
“Speaking of books, Neil got this book from the library that said my lime is going to turn into a small pumpkin,” Sue said uneasily as she rested a hand on her small stomach. “A pumpkin, Julia! I don’t think I thought this through.”
“You’re going to be fine,” Julia reassured her. “If it were that bad, Mum would have stopped with me.”
Sue looked like she was about to argue, but she appeared to think about it for a second before mentally agreeing with Julia. She hurried back into the kitchen to start on the next order, leaving Julia to continue to watch Jessie and Billy. Her heart stopped when she spotted Anthony marching out of his coffee shop and across the village green towards Jessie, his open shirt flapping against his bronzed chest in the summer breeze. He tiptoed awkwardly on top of the grass as though he didn’t want to get his expensive shoes dirty. Without a second thought, Julia abandoned her post and joined him in running towards Jessie.
“You need a permit to hand out street food,” Anthony exclaimed smugly as he shielded his eyes from the sun with one hand while the other clicked at Jessie like she was a dog about to perform a trick. “I assume you have the right paperwork from the council?”
“Kiss my –”
“Jessie!” Julia cried, interrupting her before she said something Anthony could use against her. “Go back to the café. I’ll deal with this.”
“I could take him,” Billy offered as he cracked his knuckles. “I’ve knocked out bigger.”
“Billy!” Julia cried. “You get to the café too. What would your dad say?”
Billy scowled at Julia before rolling his eyes at the same time as Jessie. Despite Jessie’s protests that she couldn’t stand Billy, they were more alike than Jessie would like to admit.
“Aren’t you going to offer me one?” Anthony asked, reaching out for the tray.
Jessie swiftly pulled it out of his way, but not before he managed to grab one of the red velvet cupcakes. He took a step back and began to slowly unpeel the casing, making sure to take his time to peel the paper away from each ridge in the tiny cake. Dot and the rest of the protestors had suddenly gone silent and were making their way across the village green towards them.
“Looks delicious,” he mocked, winking at Julia. “Did you bake this yourself, Julia?”
“Julia bakes everything herself,” Dot announced through the megaphone. “Everything at Julia’s café is home baked! Unlike Happy Bean’s cakes, which are filled with chemicals and hav
e shelf-lives that will outlive the cockroaches and Cher herself!”
The people who had been making their way across to Julia’s café stopped to observe the commotion. Julia watched as Anthony slowly lifted the cake up to his lip, his eye contact unwavering. It unsettled her that this was a man she had known since the day she was born, and yet she saw none of that recognition in his icy blue eyes.
“Get on with it, man!” Billy cried, stepping forward and cracking his knuckles again. “You’re not getting any younger.”
Anthony bit into the cake, and Julia was surprised to see the same look of pleasure she would expect to see from one of her paying customers. For a moment, she thought her baking had worked at healing the rift between her café and the new coffee shop, and she almost felt foolish for not trying to work with the new business, rather than against it.
But suddenly, Anthony’s face contorted, as though he had just bit into a sour wedge of lemon. He crushed the cake between his teeth painfully slowly as a hand reached up to his mouth. A gasp rattled through the crowd when he pulled something red and shiny from between his lips. He wiped the wet cake mixture off it and held it up to the sun.
“A red fingernail!” Anthony explained, barely able to hide the smugness in his voice as he twisted the piece of acrylic in the light. “As you heard yourself, ladies and gentlemen, Julia does bake everything herself. We might buy our cakes from the wholesaler at Happy Bean, but I can assure you, we follow the most basic food safety standards.”
Julia looked at Jessie, who looked as confused as she felt. Julia lifted up her fingers, but they were natural and free of any nail polish, as were Jessie’s.
“I don’t even wear fake nails!” Julia cried. “He planted that!”
“You all saw me!” Anthony said, directing his attention to the gathering crowd. “I couldn’t have possibly planted anything in that cake.”
“You’re gonna pay for –” Billy cried, launching himself forward, only to be dragged back by Jessie.
