by Agatha Frost
Casper and Heather hobbled past them, their smiles warm and kind until they landed on Luke. For a split second, the pressure boiled up again, turning the room cold until they left. Julia itched to know what was causing the tension, but was too polite to ask either of them.
“I think I could use a nap too,” Dawn said, pinching between her eyes. “I can feel one of my migraines brewing.”
“I’ll come up with you,” Ethan said, opening his mouth and letting out what seemed to be a fake yawn. “That train journey has exhausted me.”
“You’re in the room next door to your brother,” Katie announced, pouring homemade lemonade into two glasses. “Are you staying for a glass, Julia?”
“I should get back,” Julia said, hooking her thumb over her shoulder, not wanting to admit that the lemonade was too sickly for her tastes. “Barker will be wondering where I am.”
“What’s the Wi-Fi password?” Luke asked bluntly, the last of Barker’s family still in the room. “I need to check my emails.”
As Katie shuffled over to the internet router on a small table in the corner of the room, Julia nodded for her father to follow her out into the hall.
“Is everything sorted?” Julia asked, pulling a small notepad out of her coat pocket to run down her list again. “Did the balloons arrive?”
“Everything is in hand,” he assured her with a confident smile that she knew was supposed to soothe her, but did not. “I’ve told you not to worry. Just bake one of your delicious cakes, and everything will go smoothly.”
“I never expected it to be so difficult,” she said, slotting the notepad back into her pocket. “I never expected them to be so difficult. I’m beginning to wonder if this was all a giant mistake. What was that look Casper gave Luke?”
“What look? You have nothing to worry about with Casper and Heather,” he assured her as they walked to the front door, their heels clicking on the shiny marble. “They’re the loveliest people I know. This world just keeps getting smaller, doesn’t it? I’ve known Barker all this time, and I never put the two Browns together.”
“The last brother, Theo, is arriving tomorrow at noon. Do you want me to be here to greet them?”
“It’s all taken care of,” he repeated, yanking on the door. “There’s nothing to panic about. The Wellington family are famous for their hospitality. We’ll have a nice dinner tonight. They’ll be refreshed for tomorrow night’s party, you’ll see.”
“Okay,” she said, allowing herself to smile for a second, glad she only had the cake to worry about now. “Just don’t let them anywhere near the village. The last thing I want is for Barker to see one of them so close to the party.”
“I’ll keep them under lock and key,” he promised with a wink. “Go home, put your feet up, and have one of those peppermint teas you like. What could go wrong?”
Leaving her father on the doorstep, Julia climbed back into her car at the exact moment it began to rain. Reversing out of the tight space, she waved to her father before turning and heading back down the winding lane. As her window wipers squeaked against the glass, she inhaled deeply, wondering why she felt even more nervous than she had standing on the platform waiting to meet one of Barker’s brothers for the first time.
“What could go wrong?” she whispered to herself, repeating her father’s words. “What could possibly go wrong?”
The next and 9th book in the series, Birthday Cake and Bodies, is OUT NOW. Click Here to BUY your copy!
Also by Agatha Frost
Claire’s Candles
1. Vanilla Bean Vengeance
2. Black Cherry Betrayal
3. Coconut Milk Casualty
Peridale Cafe
Book 1-10 Boxset
1. Pancakes and Corpses
2. Lemonade and Lies
3. Doughnuts and Deception
4. Chocolate Cake and Chaos
5. Shortbread and Sorrow
6. Espresso and Evil
7. Macarons and Mayhem
8. Fruit Cake and Fear
9. Birthday Cake and Bodies
10. Gingerbread and Ghosts
11.Cupcakes and Casualties
12. Blueberry Muffins and Misfortune
13. Ice Cream and Incidents
14. Champagne and Catastrophes
15. Wedding Cake and Woes
16. Red Velvet and Revenge
17. Vegetables and Vengeance
18. Cheesecake and Confusion
19. Brownies and Bloodshed
20. Cocktails and Cowardice
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