by Agatha Frost
“Shove off, Billy.” Jessie pushed him away from the camera’s view. “Everything is fine. You’re not worrying, are you?”
Julia considered her response as she paced across the grass. When Jessie had mentioned that she wanted to spend a month backpacking around Australia, Julia had been apprehensive. When she had realised Jessie was telling her and not asking, Julia had been even more anxious. Though Jessie was eighteen and legally an adult, Julia couldn’t help but worry. It soothed her a little to know that Jessie’s boyfriend, Billy, and her older brother, Alfie, were there with her, but it hadn’t stopped Julia from losing sleep.
“Mum? Is everything okay?”
“Oh, yes.” Julia nodded and pushed a smile onto her lips. “I haven’t been worrying.”
“You know I can see you, right?” Jessie rolled her eyes again. “You’re a terrible liar. There’s no need to worry. We’re having a great time, and I’ve got Alfie here. He’s travelled the world twice over.”
Jessie tapped something on her screen, and the camera suddenly flipped to show Alfie and Billy sitting around a campfire as a pink sun faded into the orange sky behind them.
“You know what I’m like,” Julia said with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about me worrying. That will make me worry more. I don’t think I’m making much sense, am I?”
“You’re not.” Jessie chuckled. “But you are crazy. How’s the café? How’s Mowgli?”
“Everything is fine here. Tell me about your day! Don’t skip the details.”
Jessie explained how they had hitched a ride in the back of a ‘very cool guy’s truck’ to a popular backpacking hostel fifty miles outside Sydney, where they were sharing dorms with thirty other ‘really cool’ people. Julia listened carefully, smiling and nodding, hoping her distress was not written all over her face.
“We’re going horse riding tomorrow.” Jessie let out a long yawn. “One of the guys here knows someone who knows a guy who runs a farm. Should be fun.”
“Just be safe.” Julia’s voice faltered. “I miss you.”
“Six days, cake lady.”
“I’m allowed to miss you.”
Jessie looked around before bringing the phone closer to her face and saying, “I miss you too, but only a little bit. Just don’t freak out, okay? I’m going to have a beer with the guys. Love you.”
“Love you too,” Julia said loudly. “And don’t drink too—”
Jessie ended the call before Julia could finish her warning. Julia dropped onto the creaky, moss-covered bench under her sitting room window and let out a deep sigh as she peered up at the bright blue, August-morning sky. Though she had no idea how the next twenty-four days were going to go, Julia was sure the ache in her chest was only going to grow with each passing day.
Julia had no idea how long she had been sitting on the bench thinking about Jessie, but a car driving slowly down the lane dragged her out of her daydream. She watched as it ground to a halt in front of the only other cottage Julia could see from her garden. She stood and pulled her gown tight as she watched a tall, slender woman with pin-straight, sandy-coloured hair climb out. The mystery woman peered over the top of her car at the tiny cottage, shielding her eyes from the sun.
“A new neighbour?” Julia’s question drifted on the warm morning breeze as she dipped down behind the bushes circling her garden.
She squinted over the edge of the greenery for a better look, but under the sun’s glare, the newcomer was nothing more than a head of gleaming hair. She walked around her car and popped open the boot before pulling out a large cardboard box.
After hurrying inside, Julia swiftly changed out of her dressing gown and into a peach-coloured summer dress. She ran a brush through her chocolatey curls, spritzed on a little sweet perfume, and threw on a coat of black mascara.
“New neighbour!” Julia called into the dining room as she ran towards the kitchen. “We have a new neighbour!”
“Huh?” Barker replied, his fingers still drumming on the keyboard. “How’s Jessie?”
“She’s fine.” Julia peered into the packed fridge until her eyes landed on the orange-zest carrot cake she had baked the previous night. “Someone is moving into Emily Burns’ old cottage.”
“That’s been empty for a year.”
“Exactly!” Julia pulled the cake from the fridge and peeled the lid from its plastic display case before transferring it onto one of her prettiest china plates. “I’m going to introduce myself. Why don’t you come?”
“Deadline,” he replied, his typing only pausing so he could slurp his coffee. “Maybe later.”
Julia headed to the front door, cake in hand, before realising her new neighbour wouldn’t have any tea or coffee making ingredients yet. Doubling back, she filled a plastic carrier bag with half a jar of coffee, a box of black tea bags, a bag of sugar, and a small carton of milk. She almost closed the bag but threw in a handful of individually-wrapped peppermint and liquorice tea, just in case the new neighbour liked Julia’s favourite tea. With excitement fluttering in her chest, Julia left her cottage.
Making her way down the garden path, Julia wondered if she was being a little premature in welcoming her new neighbour to the village. The newcomer might want to be left alone to unpack, after all—though Julia knew nobody would turn down a freshly baked cake; nobody nice, at least. Shaking these thoughts from her mind, she remembered that Emily Burns had appeared to greet Julia the second her moving van had pulled up outside her cottage three years ago. If she sensed hostility from the new arrival, she would hand over the cake and leave her to her day.
Julia lingered by the gate and peered through the open cottage door. While she waited for her new neighbour to appear, she assessed what had once been Emily’s beautiful and prized rose garden. Weeds had taken over the grass, which had yellowed thanks to the recent drought. Even though vibrant red roses had persevered without attendance, they lacked the refinement that Emily’s daily pruning had brought.
The new neighbour walked out of the cottage, dusting her hands. She made it halfway down the garden path before she noticed Julia and stopped in her tracks.
“Oh, hello,” the woman said, her brows knitting. “Wait. Julia? Julia South?”
Julia stared at the woman who knew her name, but it only took her a second to realise she was staring not at a stranger but someone she had once called a close friend.
“Leah? Leah Burns!”
“Now, there’s a blast from the past.” Leah’s hands drifted up to her mouth as a grin spread across her face. “I’ve been back in Peridale for five minutes, and Julia South has turned up on my doorstep with a cake! If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was dreaming. Look at you! You haven’t aged a day.”
“Neither have you.” Julia stared at her old friend in disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re my new neighbour. How long has it been? It must be twenty years!”
“Twenty-one years exactly,” Leah said as she looked around at the green countryside surrounding them. “I haven’t stepped foot in Peridale since 1997, and this place hasn’t changed one bit. What are you doing here? Nobody knew I was coming.”
“I live across the lane.” Julia nodded to her cottage. “I saw your car pull up and I thought I’d welcome you.”
“You’re telling me I would have got one of your delicious cakes even if you didn’t know me?” Leah shook her head in disbelief. “You really haven’t changed. I still dream about your chocolate fudge brownies. I can’t imagine how much better they are now that you’ve had twenty years practise.”
“I run a small café in the village,” Julia said. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m moving in!” Leah clapped her hands together. “Or, should I say, moving back? It still feels like home after all this time. I never thought I’d come back here, but with Mum’s death, and—”
“E-Emily’s dead?”
“Oh.” Leah raised her hands to her mouth again. “You haven’t heard, then? I suppose you should c
ome in. I’d offer you tea, but I haven’t been to the shop yet.”
Julia handed over the bag in mute silence before following Leah into the cottage. All of Emily’s things were where she had left them. Framed watercolour paintings hung on the walls, and porcelain ornaments covered every surface. If not for the dust, Julia could imagine Emily had merely popped into the village to pick up a loaf of bread.
“Mum passed away two months ago.” Leah filled the kettle at the sink. “Cancer. It all happened so quickly.”
“Two months ago?” Julia echoed, the shock evident in her voice. “I can’t believe nobody mentioned it. Surely somebody here knew? She had so many friends in the village.”
Leah exhaled as she set the kettle on its base. Plucking two cups from the rack, she swilled them under some warm water while the kettle bubbled.
“Mum was stubborn,” Leah said, unable to look Julia in the eyes. “She made us promise not to contact anyone in Peridale. She was humiliated. She hardly left under the best circumstances, did she? She told us all about that nasty business with the Peridale Green Fingers and all those deaths. She never forgave herself for all the lies she told.” Leah looked through the bag and pulled out two of the peppermint and liquorice tea packets. She gave them a cautionary sniff, but appeared to like what greeted her because she ripped them open and dropped them into the cups. “She moved to the coast with her cousin, Bonnie, and settled into life quite nicely down there. She had even started a new rose garden. We all went down for Christmas, but we could tell something wasn’t right, but she wouldn’t go to the doctors. That’s what Mum was like though. She was diagnosed in March after collapsing in the post office while drawing her pension. Died in May. We wanted to send something to the paper up here, but she had made us promise not to, and it didn’t feel right to betray a dead woman’s promise.”
Julia’s stomach writhed with guilt. Even though she hadn’t given Emily cancer, she had been involved in uncovering Emily’s plot to fraudulently become the president of the Peridale Green Fingers society. Emily’s lies to get to the top had resulted in the original president’s accidental death, leading the president’s daughter to kill members of the society in revenge. Because of this, Emily had lived her last months away from the village she adored under a grey cloud of regret.
“Was it peaceful?” Julia swallowed the lump in her throat.
“She went in her sleep. She wouldn’t have known what was happening. That’s what the doctor said, at least. It’s something, I suppose.”
The kettle pinged, and Leah filled the cups to the brim. She took them over to the tiny dining table and set them down on the faint layer of dust. They both sat and stared into the dark surface of their teas.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Julia offered. “I know what it’s like to lose a parent.”
“My mum was old.” Leah grabbed Julia’s hand. “Yours wasn’t. But thank you, Julia. I can’t believe we’re going to be neighbours after all these years.”
Julia couldn’t believe it either. Being the same age in a small village, they had gone through school side-by-side. Julia couldn’t remember what had led to Leah leaving the village, but they had been fond friends, especially in their teens.
“So, you’re really moving in here?” Julia took in Emily’s floral and pastel décor, which didn’t suit Leah’s stylish and modern appearance.
“It needs redecorating.” Leah blew on the hot surface of her tea. “She left the house to my brother and me. We were trying to sell it when she was alive, but I don’t think people could see past the dated wallpaper and carpets. We talked about dropping the price to get rid of it, but neither of us was that desperate for the money, so we decided to hang onto it until we were sure. The tenancy at my flat ended, and after many bottles of wine and a lot of soul searching, I decided to come back. I’m not sure I’ve made the right decision, but time will tell.” Leah paused to sip her tea before smiling and changing the subject. “So, you run a café in the village? I bet people are lining up around the corner for your baking.”
“It does okay,” Julia said with a modest smile before taking a sip of her tea. “What about you? Are you looking for a job here?”
“I’m a wedding planner,” Leah said, her sparkling green eyes darting to the ring on Julia’s left hand. “Is that an engagement ring?”
“Oh.” Julia felt her cheeks blush. “It is.”
“A pearl?” Leah thumbed the milky stone. “Unusual, but gorgeous. Tell me all about him.”
“He’s called Barker,” Julia started, her cheeks blushing hotter. “He lives with me across the road. He used to live down the lane, but a storm destroyed his cottage, and—it’s a long story.”
“How modern.” Leah winked. “What does he do?”
“He’s a writer. Well, he was a detective inspector, but he retired to focus on writing. His first book came out earlier this year. It was a national bestseller! He wrote it about a body we found under my café.”
“The Girl in the Basement?” Leah coughed, and a drop of tea rolled down her chin. “I have that book! I’ve read that book! That was about you? I thought it all felt strangely familiar. I think I saw him on one of those morning chat shows. He’s rather handsome, isn’t he? You’ve bagged yourself a catch there, Julia. Have you set a date?”
“November third. We only secured it last week. I haven’t even started planning yet.”
Leah coughed again. After she swallowed her mouthful of tea, she reached out and grabbed Julia’s hands.
“It’s only three months away! Oh, Julia! This is fate! I’m a wedding planner, and you have a wedding to plan. Coming back here was a good idea. Thank the wine!”
“Oh, I didn’t really budget to have—”
“Free of charge!” Leah shook both her hands in front of her face. “Are you kidding me? I insist. Like I said, I’m not without money. There’s serious cash in weddings. And besides, you’re an old friend, and it will give us the chance to really catch up. It will be the perfect opportunity to show the village what I can do to get the bookings coming in. I should pay you, really. Oh, please say yes! Just nod, Julia. There’s no wedding planner out there who knows your style like I do. I can already see your vision. I bet you all the tea in China that you want a simple village wedding? You don’t want glitz and glam, you want refinement and quality.”
“Well, yes,” Julia said, silently admitting that she had been feeling nervous about how little planning she had done for the big day. She knew she wanted something simple, but even simple weddings required preparation. “Are you sure? It’s a lot to ask of someone.”
“Call it a wedding gift!” Leah jumped up and pulled Julia into a hug. “It really is great to see you again, Julia. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed you.”
“It’s not just me either,” Julia said when the hug broke up. “The whole gang is still around. We all boomeranged back to Peridale at some time or another. You’re the last to come back, but you’re here now.”
“The whole gang?” Leah’s tone deepened as her brows rose. “Like who?”
“Roxy and Johnny,” Julia said, thinking the answer should have been obvious. “We were the Fantastic Four, remember? They’re not going to believe this.”
Julia waited for excitement to flow from Leah, but Leah’s smile emerged looking decidedly fake.
“That’s great,” Leah said, with all the enthusiasm of someone who had just won 20p on the lottery. “We’ll all have to catch up soon. I should get on with the unpacking and cleaning first. I can already feel my allergies playing up. We’ll talk soon to get started on the wedding planning, okay? How about I swing by your café tomorrow morning?”
Leah practically forced Julia out of the cottage. Julia tried to think why Leah would be less than enthused at the idea of seeing Roxy and Johnny again, but she drew a blank. She shook it off and chalked it up to Leah being overwhelmed with the huge life changes happening to her.
Either way, Julia felt less anxious a
bout the wedding planning she had been putting off, and because the wedding ball was about to start rolling, she finally had something to keep her mind occupied while Jessie hitchhiked around Australia with ‘really cool’ strangers.
Chapter Two
The next morning, Julia and Barker peered through the beaded curtain separating the kitchen and café. Leah sat at the table nearest the counter, fixated on bridal magazines. A pen hung from the corner of her mouth as she flicked from page to page; sporadically, she reached for it to jot notes in a large leather notebook.
“Isn’t she great?” Julia whispered to Barker. “Please tell me you like her.”
“She’s awesome.” Barker fanned himself with a laminated menu. “When is this heatwave going to end? I feel like I’m sat in warm water.”
“You’d be complaining if it was cold.” Julia took the menu from him and slapped him on the arm with it. “This is important. If she’s helping plan our wedding, you need to like her, or it won’t work.”
A thoughtful expression crossed Barker’s face as a glistening bead of sweat escaped his hairline and trickled down his cheek. He attempted to wipe it away, but it rolled into his stubble.
“If you like her, I like her,” Barker said, his unsure expression letting Julia know he was trying to say the right thing. “She’s an old friend of yours, so you know her better than I do.”
“I suppose.” Leah reached into her bag to pull out another magazine. “This is her job. She’ll know wedding planning better than both of us combined.”
“Even Mowgli knows wedding planning better than I do.” Barker shook his head as his eyes glazed over. “I have nightmares that you’re going to ask me to choose between two shades of beige napkins, and I’m not going to tell the difference, and then you’re going to get angry when I pick one at random because it’s not the shade of beige you had your heart set on.”
Julia slapped him with the menu again. He winked to let her know he was joking, but she heard an element of truth in his quip. From their engagement, Barker had shown little interest in being involved in planning their wedding. He regularly said he would happily marry her at the register office with a handful of close family and friends, and she knew he meant it. It touched her to know that he didn’t care about the razzle-dazzle that came with weddings; he only cared about marrying her. Julia wanted just enough razzle-dazzle to give their memories a fuzzy glow when they were old and grey, looking back on their special day.
