Death Takes A Trip (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 5) Read Free Page B

beautiful. Julia
felt the air on her tongue and snapped her mouth shut.
    The woman removed her arm from Douglas ’ and extended a
hand towards Julia. She smiled and said, “ How lovely to meet you at last, Julia. Douglas has told me a lot about
you. ”
    “ Has he? He ’ s told me barely nothing about you. ” Julia shook
the woman ’ s hand.
    The woman then moved over to Cain and said, “ You must be Cain. I hope you don ’ t mind, but I ’ ve made you a
fruit cake to take home. I ’ ve left the box by the front door. ”
    Cain stood up and took her hand. “ Thank you, I love fruit cake. ” He paused for
a moment and then added, “ I like all sorts of cake. ”
    Julia shook her head slightly. Cain would have enough
baked goods soon to start his own shop.
    The woman spoke again. “ Oh! Where are my manners? I haven ’ t told you my name. It ’ s Nina Sapphire. ”
    Julia felt her breath catch. “ That ’ s a beautiful
name. It matches your eyes. ” Her hand flew to her mouth. “ Sorry! That was a silly thing to say. ”
    Nina laughed, a genteel kind of laugh. “ I know what you mean. Sapphire isn ’ t the surname I was born with. I changed it to that for my career. I
used to be a …”
    Cain pointed at her and shouted, “ A film star! I thought I recognised you! I used to watch all your films
with my gran. I can ’ t believe you ’ re still alive! ” It was Cain ’ s turn to look embarrassed.
    Nina gave a small grimace. “ I ’ m just about
alive, these old bones keep me moving. ”
    “ You are more
alive than any woman I know, ” Douglas said. Julia ’ s eyes prickled at the tenderness in his voice. If he said anything else
like that she ’ d burst into
tears.
    Nina moved back to Douglas, she looked as if she was
floating on the air. “ Darling, I think we need to go. We ’ ll be late for our reservation. ” She looked at
Julia and said, “ We ’ re going to that Italian restaurant in town, we ’ re booked in for the pensioner ’ s special. ” She chuckled. “ There are some compensations to being so old. ”
    “ You don ’ t look old, ” Julia said truthfully. Nina couldn ’ t be eighty years old! Julia hoped that she ’ d look that good at eighty. She sighed. She wished she looked that good
now.
    Douglas said, “ Julia, I ’ m sorry for
messing you about. Shall we leave the cleaning until next month? ”
    “ No, I ’ ll check my schedule, I ’ m sure I can find another day. Although, I don ’ t mind staying now to do the cleaning work. ”
    Nina waved a delicate hand at her. “ My dear, you can ’ t work late on a Friday. I ’ m sure you ’ ve got social
plans. ”
    “ Oh, yes, of
course I have plans, ” Julia said. She didn ’ t add that her plans included pepperoni pizza and three episodes of
Lewis.
    Nina said to Douglas, “ Would you mind if I paid a visit to the ladies ’ room before we go? ”
    “ Of course not,
sweetheart. I ’ ll get my coat
on. ”
    Nina removed her arm again and gave Julia a small
wink. “ I ’ m a slave to my bladder. ”
    Julia returned her smile. What a lovely woman she was.
Douglas really was a lucky man.
    Nina moved away, again seeming to float.
    As soon as she was out of earshot Douglas beamed at
Julia and said, “ Well, what do
you think? She ’ s perfect, isn ’ t she? ”
    “ She certainly
is. How did you meet? ”
    “ At that
charity shop in town. I finally plucked up the courage to take Val ’ s clothes in. Nina works as a volunteer there. I was reluctant to hand
over Val ’ s clothes, I ’ d changed my mind about giving them away. Nina took me through to the
back of the shop, made me a cup of tea and listened to my worries about letting
Val ’ s things go.
She was so understanding. It was her who asked me out on a date! Can you
believe that? At my age? ” He smiled to himself. “ I ’ m the luckiest
man alive. I can ’ t believe I ’ ve got a second chance at love. ” His glance
flicked upwards. He lowered