Lemonade and Lies (Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery Book 2)

by Agatha Frost

  “I need to go to the manor to see her,” Julia said, bowing her head. “To apologise for not believing her.”

  “I didn’t either,” he said, joining her in bowing his head. “I don’t think she’s forgiven me for it, but it will take time. I think we’ve all learned that time can heal old wounds.”

  “Or reopen them,” Jessie chimed in as she scrubbed the front of the counter. “But it can heal them too.”

  Brian laughed softly and looked down at the brownie, then around the café, and then at Julia. She thought he might cry, but he collected himself and stared deep into her eyes.

  “I’m proud of you, kid,” he said.

  He quickly finished his brownie and left, promising to go and speak to Sue. Julia hoped it wouldn’t be the last time he stepped foot in her café.

  “Jessie, can you watch the counter for me?” Julia asked as she pulled out a heavy white envelope she had hidden that morning. “I just need to nip next door.”

  “You got it, boss,” Jessie said, saluting with a wink. “I held down this place for three weeks, didn’t I? I think the folk around here are starting to warm to my cakes more than yours.”

  Julia smiled her thanks to Jessie, not wanting to tell her about the dozens of phone calls she had had since Jessie had been in charge, begging her to come back so they didn’t have to endure Jessie’s baking. It would take a little more practice before she was up to Julia’s standards, but now that she was enrolled in her college apprenticeship, she was optimistic for the future.

  With the letter clutched in her hands, Julia walked next door to the post office. She thought about how much this letter had been taunting her everyday while she had been at home, mocking her for not having had the guts to get rid of it sooner.

  She wondered if that was how Jessie had felt, stuffing all of the letters from the social workers, who were trying to arrange a home visit, in various boots in her wardrobe, all of which Julia had discovered and read. It turned out Jessie’s sleepwalking had been from her fear that if faced with the official decision of fostering her, that Julia would reject her. The second Julia told her that wasn’t going to happen, they hugged it out and agreed that there would be no more letter hiding or secrets. Jessie agreed on the condition that Julia posted her divorce papers, but that was a condition Julia was more than happy to oblige. The sleepwalking had stopped, and the only thing waking Julia in the night was the banging of her own head when the painkillers wore off.

  “First class,” Julia said, dropping the heavy envelope onto the scales. “Recorded. I want to make sure this gets where it’s going.”

  “That’ll be three pounds twenty please, love,” said Shilpa, the kind lady who ran the post office. “How’s your head?”

  Julia’s fingers wandered up to the butterfly stitches keeping her healing cut together. She had figured out a way to style her hair so the work of Terry Lewis couldn’t be seen even when the stitches were taken off later that afternoon.

  “Healing,” Julia said as she handed over the exact money in coins. “Can barely feel a thing.”

  “You’ve been through the wars, young lady,” Shilpa said as she counted out the money. “Your tracking number is on your receipt. Take care, love.”

  And just like that, her divorce papers were gone. Out of her hands. She had expected to feel euphoric, like a weight had lifted off her shoulders, but instead she felt nothing. It made her wonder why she had dreaded this moment for so long. Jerrad was in her past now, and she had so much to look forward to in her future.

  Against the advice of the doctors, Julia drove up to the hospital after the café closed. She was itching to have her stitches taken off, and she didn’t fancy chancing her luck trying to make her appointment in time catching the buses.

  “One, two, three,” the nurse said as she peeled the stitches off. “Didn’t hurt, did it?”

  “I’ve been through worse.”

  The nurse smiled but she didn’t question Julia. Unless she had read the lengthy articles about what had happened in The Peridale Post, she doubted the nurse would know. Julia was glad. She knew eventually the residents of Peridale would move onto something else, but until that time happened, people weren’t letting her forget the ordeal she had been through.

  After giving her some aftercare instructions and a prescription for a cream to help the scar fade quicker, Julia left the room but she didn’t head for the hospital exit. Instead, she walked into the depths of the hospital to the room where Jamie Lewis was being kept.

  Luckily for her, the officer on the door was one of the officers who had originally arrested Katie, so he knew exactly what had happened. He told Julia she could have five minutes, and that was all. She didn’t need any more.

  She slipped into the room and the noisy hospital corridor faded away. The small body in the bed rolled over, its eyes widening with recognition. He attempted to sit up, but handcuffs chaining him to the bed restricted his movement.

  “How are you feeling?” Julia asked, unsure of what to say, and unable to look him in the eyes.

  “Sore,” he mumbled. “You?”

  “Better.”

  Julia pulled up a chair and sat next to Jamie. She hadn’t brought a card, or flowers, or grapes, but she was there, and she knew that was important. The boy would be going to prison for a long time, so she wanted to make sure he knew exactly how she felt.

  “I understand why you did what you did to Charles Wellington,” Julia said, looking in his eyes for the first time since he had thrown himself out of the window clutching his father, an image that had haunted her every night since. “I know what it feels like when everybody wants you to be one thing, but you want to be another.”

  “I never wanted to be a builder,” Jamie said, looking hopelessly into Julia’s eyes. “I wanted to be a comic book illustrator. I got into a really good college in London, but my dad told me I couldn’t go. He said I had to be in his trade because they couldn’t afford to send me to London, and they needed the extra hands.”

  “That wasn’t fair of him,” Julia said.

  “I gave up my dreams to help him and he didn’t care. When I heard Charles Wellington talking over the microphone about how he was going to stop the spa being built, I saw everything I had already lost. I ran into the house looking for him. Some guy was hitting him, but a woman came and dragged him away. Charles stumbled upstairs so I followed him. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I thought I was going to talk to him, to convince him how other people in the village needed the spa, how my family needed the spa. Without that job, we were losing our house. I guess we’ve lost it now. The debt collectors were days away as it was. We were counting on that money to save us. My dad gambled away everything. Their lifesavings, the money my gran had left for my future. Everything. I hated him for it.

  “Charles came out of the bathroom, and I tried to talk to him. He called me a dumb kid and he wouldn’t listen to what I had to say. I panicked. I saw my father in him. I cracked. I picked up the bust and I hit his head. He fell so quickly. I didn’t mean to kill him. I didn’t mean -,”

  “I know,” Julia said, reaching instinctively out for Jamie’s hand.

  He held back the tears before continuing.

  “I knew he was dead. I just knew it. My dad came looking for me and he saw what I had done. It was his idea to throw Charles out of the window. He picked him up, and tossed him like he was nothing. We cleaned up the blood and he took the bust. I ran into the bathroom and I panicked. I knew any minute somebody would rush upstairs to see what had happened, so I opened the window and I climbed down the drainpipe.

  “And then I ran. I didn’t stop running. I never thought I would stop running. My dad came home and he found me. He beat me. Then my mum came home. We didn’t tell her. My dad told her that we had gone for some lunch together and it was best she just tell people we were all together when Charles was pushed out of the window. She didn’t question him. She didn’t find out the truth until my dad hit you. I
wanted to keep her out of it, but it was too late.

  “When I saw my dad about to stab you, I knew I had caused this. I couldn’t let it happen again. I didn’t think, I just jumped in front of him. I wanted to die. I wanted him to die. I wanted it all to stop. I thought it had worked. I remember looking up at the rain, and touching the knife handle, and then my eyes closed. When I woke up here, I didn’t understand why I wasn’t dead.”

  “There has been enough death,” Julia said, squeezing his hand. “You took two lives, but you saved one. You already know you’re going to prison, but you’ll be a free man one day. You might even be out by the time you’re my age.”

  “That old?” Jamie said, laughing through his tears.

  “Less of the old,” Julia whispered with a wink. “Take care of yourself, Jamie.”

  “You too.”

  “If you still remember me when you get out of prison, come and find me,” Julia said as she opened the door. “I’ll show you what old really means.”

  She doubted she would ever see Jamie again, but she hoped he would still be able to have a life one day, maybe even find happiness. He was just a child who was pushed to make a bad decision. Julia knew how easily that could have been Jessie on any different day. She looked back at him one last time, almost upset that she had discovered the truth.

  “Julia?” she heard Detective Inspector Brown’s voice call out down the hallway as she walked away from his room. “What are you doing here?”

  Julia turned, a smile on her face and peace in her heart. Seeing Barker warmed her like the hottest July sun.

  “Getting closure,” she said.

  “Did you get it?”

  “I think so.”

  “I’m glad,” Barker said, glancing over his shoulder to his colleague who was standing guard outside of Jamie’s room. “I slipped him twenty quid and told him to let you in when you finally showed up.”

  “What made you think I would show up?”

  “Because you’re a good woman,” Barker said, his smile easy and soft. “A good woman, who I still haven’t taken on a proper first date.”

  “I hear the jacket potatoes in the canteen aren’t half bad,” Julia said, linking arms with Barker and setting off down the corridor.

  “I thought you would be sick of hospital food by now,” Barker whispered, leaning in and resting his head on hers.

  “I am,” Julia agreed. “But the company will make up for it.”

  They walked down the corridor arm in arm, and Julia thought about her happy ending. She knew nothing that ended was happy, but she was on the brink of something new, with Barker and Jessie, and that made her heart truly happy.

  The End

  • • •

  The third book in the Peridale Café series, Doughnuts and Deception is coming March 7th 2017! Join Julia South and friends for another murder mystery adventure. Turn the page for a sneak peek at the first chapter!

  • • •

  If you enjoyed Lemonade and Lies, don’t forget to leave a review on GOODREADS and AMAZON!

  Doughnuts and Deception

  Peridale Café Mystery – Book 3

  Coming March 7th 2017

  Chapter 1 Sneak Peek!

  Julia reached under her bed, her fingers closing around the baseball bat. Her gran had given it to her three weeks ago, insisting that it wasn’t safe for a single woman to be living alone, especially with the recent murders. Julia hadn’t taken her seriously, but had put it under her bed all the same, just in case. As she pulled the heavy bat from under her bed, she was glad for the gift.

  With the wooden bat in hand, she tiptoed towards her bedroom door. Holding her breath, she pressed her ear up against the cold oak, wanting to be sure she hadn’t imagined the rustling that had woken her. The unmistakable zip of a backpack confirmed her suspicions.

  Holding her breath, she twisted the brass doorknob, not wanting to make a sound. She didn’t know what she was going to do when she came face-to-face with whoever was digging in her kitchen, but she hoped the bat would scare them off before she had to find out if she had a good swing.

  “I’ve called the police!” she cried out, the shake in her voice betraying her. “I’m armed!”

  The rustling stopped, and then something smashed against the tiles in her kitchen. Acting fast, she reached out and slapped for the hallway light, her fingertips narrowly missing in the dark. As she did, her foot trod on something fluffy, which let out an ear-piercing yowl. Jumping back, her heel caught the edge of her hall rug, sending her tumbling backwards, the bat flying free in the air. She opened her eyes as gravity sent the bat soaring towards her face. Rolling out of the way just in time, she crashed into the small table displaying the dozen roses Barker had given her. The bat clattered against the floor as she darted forward, catching the vase before it succumbed to a similar fate.

  “Julia?” Jessie cried, running out of the kitchen, fully dressed and clutching a backpack. “What are you doing?”

  Jessie flicked on the light Julia had been reaching for before she stepped on Mowgli, who was now cowering by the front door, sending daggers at her. Squinting at the light, she looked down at the vase of roses she was holding in her lap.

  “I thought you were a burglar,” Julia mumbled feebly, glancing awkwardly to the bat.

  Jessie took the vase from Julia and placed it back where it belonged. “You keep a baseball bat under your bed? You’re more gangsta than I thought, cake lady.”

  Julia gratefully accepted Jessie’s offer of a hand. Standing on both feet, she realised she had acted thoughtlessly in her sleepy state. Her gran’s fearmongering had worked.

  “Are you sleepwalking again?” Julia asked as she leaned over to pick up the bat.

  Jessie looked down at her clothes and then up at Julia, arching a dark brow. She was wearing her black Doc Martins, baggy black jeans ripped at the knees, and a heavy black hoodie. They were the clothes she had worn when Julia had caught her stealing from her café two months ago, before she had offered Jessie a job and the use of her guest bedroom.

  “I had a dream,” Jessie said, tossing the full backpack over her shoulder. “I’ll explain it over a cup of peppermint and liquorice tea.”

  Julia followed Jessie through to the kitchen, where all the drawers and cupboards were wide open. Julia’s favourite cat-shaped mug was scattered across her kitchen floor, having fallen victim to Jessie’s rummaging. Julia sat at her breakfast bar, scratching her head as she let out a yawn. The cat clock, with its swinging tail and darting eyes, told her it was only five in the morning.

  “I had a dream,” Jessie said, staring out into the dark garden as she filled the kettle. “I was homeless again. It felt so real.”

  “It was just a dream,” Julia said, as comfortingly as she could. “You don’t ever have to worry about being homeless again. I won’t let that happen.”

  Jessie smiled over her shoulder as she set the kettle back in its stand. She plucked two individually wrapped teabags from the box in the cupboard and ripped them open with her teeth before dropping them into two mugs. While the kettle boiled, she fished the dustpan and brush from under the sink and started to clean up the shattered cat mug.

  “I’ll replace it,” Jessie said as she swept up the pieces. “I’m sorry. I panicked. I don’t want you to think I was robbing you.”

  Julia cast an eye over to the bag, and then to her kitchen cupboards. It appeared that most of her food had made its way into the bulging backpack.

  “It’s just a mug,” Julia said, shrugging and ignoring the small pang in her chest as she watched Jessie toss it into the bin. “I’ll get over it.”

  Jessie smiled again, but her young face was solemn. Julia wondered how bad the dream had been.

  “I was back on the streets,” Jessie continued, pouring the boiling water into the two mugs. “Back at the old Fenton Industrial Park. That’s where I was most of the time.”

  Julia had heard of the Fenton Industrial Park more than once
. It was a couple of miles from Peridale, on the outskirts of Cheltenham. The Peridale Post had covered the devastating fire that had caused all of the businesses to flee the area. It hadn’t covered that a small community of homeless people had moved in and made the area their own soon after, but she had heard that on the Peridale grapevine.

  “I know of it,” Julia said with a nod as Jessie set a cup of tea in front of her. “I can’t imagine that being an easy way to live.”

  “It’s wasn’t,” Jessie said, sitting across from Julia, the dark circles under her eyes becoming obvious. “It was a horrible place to live, if I’m being honest, but it was home for six months. It felt more like six years. The winter seemed to go on forever, but we had each other, y’know? We were sort of a family. We watched each other’s backs and protected each other. When I used to nick cakes from your café, I’d take whatever I could back and share them out.”

  “That was very thoughtful of you,” Julia said, blowing the edge of her boiling tea. “You’re a nice girl, Jessie.”

  “But I’m not, am I?” she cried, her voice suddenly shooting up. “Because I got this cushy new life and left them all there to get on with it.”

  “Is that what the bag is about?”

  Jessie glanced to the bag and nodded.

  “I woke up in a cold sweat,” Jessie said, staring into her cup as the tea bag steeped, its golden goodness swirling in small circles. “I felt so guilty. I left to find some food two months ago and never went back, not even to explain.”

  “Were you going back there?”

  “Only to give them food,” Jessie said, looking ahead at the empty cupboards. “I would have replaced it all before you woke up. I made a list.”

  Jessie reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled, messily written shopping list. Julia smiled, resting her hand on top of Jessie’s.