Pepper Lane Sweet Shoppe (Pepper Bay #14)

3

Erin

Once Erin had settled into her room at Pepper River Inn, she went back to the reception to peruse the leaflets on the desk. There were quite a few places of interest on the Isle of Wight, but would she really have time to see them all? It was a nice idea, especially after Tyler told her about the garden centre where he lived. It wouldn’t take up too much time checking out the place.

Ever since she’d unpacked, all she could think about was her crazy adventure so far. One minute, she was living the high life in London, with a secure job, a little flat she could just about afford to rent alongside a flatmate, and a group of friends, none who supported her when she failed to get the promotion, and the next minute, she was clinging to the side of a ferry for dear life, feeling half dead and not too bothered about the other half coming to whip her away.

‘See anything you like?’ asked Rosie, the lady who had checked her in earlier.

Erin lifted a leaflet out of the wire slot. ‘Frozen Forest.’

‘Ooh, it’s lovely there. Very enchanted. Got ice-sculptures, so a bit cold. Make sure you wrap up for your visit. Having said that, I don’t think it opens until the first of December.’ Rosie shook her head, flicking her blonde ponytail from side to side. ‘Goodness, can you believe it’s Christmas soon? This year has flown by.’

It certainly had felt that way to Erin. At the beginning of the year, she had a mum still alive in Yorkshire. Now all she had was some shop left to her by a recently deceased grandfather she thought had died years ago.

‘Erm, I was just off to find Pepper Lane. Could you point me in the right direction, please?’

Rosie clasped her hands together as her hazel eyes twinkled. ‘I can do one better than that. I was about to head that way myself for a walk. I fancy some pastries from Edith’s Tearoom. Wait till you see the place. You’ll love it.’

Erin tipped her head to one side. ‘When you say walk, do you mean a long walk?’

Rosie chuckled. ‘No. It’s not far, and I know a shortcut. Give me two secs to toss on a coat, and I’ll show you the way.’

‘Sure. Thanks.’

Wow, people are so friendly around here .

Erin smiled at the cosiness she was feeling. She tugged on her gloves and went to stand by the open fireplace in the foyer, wishing she had one at home.

Home, what a joke that was. Her small shared flat on the fifth floor of a tall building hardly held any homely vibes. It was just a place to store her things, as her busy schedule kept her away from home most of the time, and her flatmate was hardly a mate at all.

Staring into the mesmerising flickering flames, Erin felt deflated. So many years were spent fighting for a life she was sure would satisfy her, but since being fired from the job she was certain would lift her to the top of the ladder, all she could think about was how she had quite possibly wasted her years.

Rosie came out of a back room, ready for their walk.

‘It’s nice here,’ said Erin, stepping out into the crisp air.

‘I love it.’ Rosie slipped her arm around Erin’s, as though they had been friends for years, but Erin didn’t mind. ‘I’ve been here two years now. Met my husband here.’

Erin warmed just from the gleam in Rosie’s eyes. ‘Aww, that’s lovely. What made you come here?’

Rosie laughed as she glanced back at the hotel. ‘There used to be two inns here. One on the left, and one on the right. My sister and I inherited the one on the right. Goodness, Erin, you should have seen the state of the place.’

‘That bad?’

‘Worse.’

Erin turned to the hotel. ‘So what happened?’

‘My husband and his brother owned the other inn. Their one was so lovely. Anyway, we all came together one day, and we joined the hotels.’

‘Why do I get the feeling it wasn’t as easy as it sounds?’

Rosie laughed. ‘It wasn’t. Our families were at war once. Hated each other, so we weren’t supposed to like each other either, but I think I just fell that little bit in love with Elliot the first time I laid eyes on him.’

‘Aww, true love conquers all.’

‘Do you have someone special?’

Erin laughed on the inside at how much worse her love life was than her work life, but it wasn’t something she cared to get into. ‘No, just me.’

They approached a small, arched, wooden bridge that completely took Erin’s breath away.

‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ whispered Rosie.

Erin took a moment to peer over the side, taking in the deep dark water. The edges along the bank were shallow and almost clear, revealing small stones in various shades of brown, curly weeds, and teeny-tiny silver fish. ‘It’s like a painting.’

‘You can buy one of here in The Book Gallery. That’s a book and art shop along Pepper Lane,’ said Rosie, pointing forward.

They walked through some evergreen trees and stopped at a tram crossing.

‘Ooh, is this safe?’ asked Erin, warily looking along the track.

‘Yes, you can see both ways quite clearly, so you shouldn’t get knocked down. The tram is very easy to spot. Let me know when you have some free time and I’ll take you on it for a ride over to Sandly. That’s the seaside town next door.’

Erin had never been on a tram before so liked the idea.

‘Come on, just through here.’ Rosie tugged her across the track and into more trees.

On the other side was a large open space a wide dirt track with deep tractor-tyre marks in front and a farmhouse in the near distance.

‘This is Dreamcatcher Farm,’ announced Rosie. ‘Owned by the Sheridan family. You can go fruit picking here in the summer.’

The thought alone made Erin smile. She gazed over at the farmhouse, warming at the idea of having such a home. It always amazed her how some people lived, especially how all she had only ever known were tiny apartments with no homely vibes, which was down to her or her mum not bothering to add in a scatter cushion or two.

Back in Yorkshire, Erin had friends who lived in cottages and farms. She even met a man once whose home used to be a watermill. Her four walls always felt boring from then on.

‘Check out The Post Office Shop,’ said Rosie, pointing out a small cottage. ‘It sells all your basics, plus fresh bread first thing, and, of course, you can pop your parcels in there too.’

‘Oh, it’s so sweet.’

‘Don’t be fooled by the outside. It’s much bigger inside.’ Rosie grinned. ‘Do you want to take a peek?’

Erin nodded, eyeing up the Christmas wreath on the old wooden door.

A built middle-aged man was behind the counter, putting up some fairy lights. ‘Hello, Rosie, won’t be a sec.’

Erin smiled at his Irish accent. For some reason hearing it made her feel less like an outsider. She had to question why she had felt that way in the first place. Did it matter how she felt on her short stay on the Isle of Wight?

‘That’s okay, Rory,’ said Rosie. ‘I’m just here to show Erin the shop. She’s a guest up at ours.’

Rory came down from the stepladder to smile her way. ‘Good to meet you, Erin. You here for Christmas?’

Erin shook her head. ‘No. Just a short visit to sort some family stuff.’

Rory laughed. ‘I thought I was here for a short while once, two years on, still here.’ He splayed a hand towards the aisles. ‘My other half runs this place.’

‘It’s a cute shop.’

He nodded. ‘Aye. And you’re welcome to pop in just for a nosey anytime.’

Erin laughed quietly. ‘Will do.’

‘Come on,’ said Rosie. ‘Lots more to see.’

A cool breeze whipped through their hair as they stepped outside and a seagull cried overhead. Erin felt as though she were walking around in a painting, the scenery was so beautiful.

‘This is Pepper Lane,’ said Rosie, bringing them to a halt at the end of the dirt track. She pointed to her left. ‘Uphill you’ll find cottages and farms. It goes right up to a main road that we call the long way to Sandly, which is why most jump on the tram.

Erin’s jaw dropped as she spotted a quaint lemon thatched cottage over the road. ‘Oh, wow! How stunning is that?’

‘Lemon Drop Cottage.’ Rosie smiled. ‘I think it’s everyone’s favourite along here.’ She motioned downhill. ‘Come on, the shops are just down here. We also have a pub restaurant, and right down the bottom is a small shingle beach.’

‘Ooh, I fancy a paddle now you’ve said that.’

Rosie laughed. ‘Best left to summer.’

Erin took in the trickling water running along a conduit dipped in the pavement on one side of the road by the pastel-coloured shops. ‘That’s different.’

‘As you can see, it’s quite small down here, but it’s a major hotspot for tourists.’ Rosie gestured to the bottom. ‘Edith’s Tearoom is just there. Do you need any more help or are you good from here?’

Erin glanced at the old-fashioned style sweet shop, aptly named Pepper Lane Sweet Shoppe. ‘I’m good, thanks.’

Rosie smiled. ‘I’ll be in the tea shop for a bit if you do need me. Otherwise I’ll see you later back at the hotel.’

Erin thanked her again, then stood outside the sweet shop for a while, taking in her surroundings. Fairy lights hung from shop to shop, crossing over the road in zigzags, and empty flowerboxes sat beneath all the windows above the shops.

She decided she’d have her lunch later in The Ugly Duckling pub opposite. It’s dark beams and whitewashed walls gave off a warm welcome, as did the faint aroma of cooking sausages wafting out the opened door.

A group of people came out of a dairy shop at the end of the slope, and someone was mooching around the buckets of flowers along the pavement outside Silver Blooms flower shop. An elderly man was smoking a pipe by a post box built into a wall, and a woman was walking along with a golden retriever. No one was taking much notice of Erin.

She turned to the sweet shop and rummaged around in her dark handbag for the keys.

Might as well get this done and dusted .

It wasn’t a chore she was looking forward to, but it did have her interest, as it wasn’t every day someone died and left her their business.

Oh, Mother, why on earth did you tell me your dad had died years ago? I could have met him .

A musty smell mingled with cocoa hit her as she entered the small premises. It was a cute shop, and she was sure it wouldn’t take her long to get acquainted with the tall plastic jars of sweet treats.

A glass counter with wooden framework sat to the back of the shop, housing trays of chocolate creams, fudge, and toffee, all looking mouth-watering.

‘Someone’s been looking after this place,’ she mumbled, snaffling a foil-wrapped chocolate ball from the glass dish on the counter.

A brass till caught her eye. Surely that was for show. Looking around, she couldn’t see another one anywhere, but there was a calculator on the side and a notepad and pencil.

Erin laughed. ‘That old till has got to be worth more than the shop.’ She plonked her handbag down on a chair and made her way over to the side door to tug the handle. It was locked, so she shuffled through the bunch of keys in her hand to see if there was one that fitted.

‘Erm, excuse me. What do you think you’re doing?’ said a man’s voice, sounding rather familiar.

Erin shot around to see Tyler closing the front door behind him. ‘Tyler?’

He frowned, looking as confused as her. ‘Erin? How did you get in here?’

She raised the keys.

Tyler’s mouth gaped for a moment. ‘Oh, are you Mr Masonville’s granddaughter?’

‘Apparently.’

‘Apparently?’

Erin shrugged. ‘Not long found out about him.’

‘I didn’t know he had a granddaughter until recently. I knew he had a daughter, but that was it. He didn’t like to talk about his private life.’

She shook her head. ‘My mum told me he died years ago. I only found out through a solicitor.’ She pointed his way. ‘Why are you here?’

‘I work here. Have since leaving school. One of my many jobs.’ He approached the counter to hang up his coat. ‘I’ve been keeping this place ticking over while I waited for news on what to do.’

‘Oh.’ Erin had no idea what to say next. How would he take the news she was selling the shop?

Tyler shuffled his feet on the oak flooring. ‘So, erm, what’s the plan?’

Erin tapped on the internal door. ‘I was going to see what was up there.’

‘That’s where your grandad lived. That’s why it’s locked.’

‘I’m hoping one of these keys opens it up because I need to sort his things.’ She tried a couple in the lock, with no luck. ‘Does he have much?’

Tyler shook his head. ‘Couldn’t tell you. I’ve never been up there.’

‘You can pop upstairs with me if you like. I’m going to need help clearing his things, I guess, and it would feel right having someone he knew going through his stuff.’

Tyler nodded. ‘Sure, I don’t mind. I figured someone would have to venture that way at some point, but I didn’t know you were coming.’

‘Do you have a key as well?’

‘I’ve had one for the shop for years but never one for his flat.’

Erin slipped the one she was holding into the lock, happy it worked. She started to open the door. ‘You can hang on to it for now if you’re going to help. I guess it makes…’ She widened her eyes at the sight on the stairs on the other side of the door. ‘What on earth!’