Pepper Lane Sweet Shoppe (Pepper Bay #14)

4

Tyler

Tyler peered over Erin’s shoulder to see the stairway leading from the shop to the flat covered in stacks of newspapers on either side. He frowned at the lack of walking space, wondering how Mr Masonville managed every day.

Erin glanced at him. ‘What’s that all about?’

‘I don’t know. That door stays locked all the time.’

‘Haven’t you even used the loo? I noticed there wasn’t one down here.’

Tyler gestured to the window. ‘I go to the pub.’

Erin pointed at the newspapers. ‘So you don’t know how long they’ve been here?’

‘Nope. Maybe he was about to put them out for recycling.’

‘Well, that would make more sense.’

Tyler curled around her body, trying not to invade her personal space. ‘Here, let me clear one side, then we can go up without the worry of breaking our necks.’ He clambered over the first pile and moved them to the back door, ready for bin day. After five minutes, one side of the worn grey carpet was visible.

‘There’s another locked door up here,’ said Erin, jingling keys.

Tyler stood behind her. ‘A lot of the shops down here have flats above them, and most with an internal door.’

‘There are more steps going up.’

‘Yes, that’ll take you to a rooftop balcony. They all have those too. This is definitely the entrance to the flat though.’

Erin found the right key and opened the door, but it was jammed against something on the other side, so Tyler helped her shove it open a touch more.

‘Maybe the hinge is broken or something,’ he said, finding it awkward to move to her side due to lack of room.

Erin poked her head around the door. ‘Nope. It’s another stack of newspapers in the way, and this one is almost as high as the door.’

Tyler was confused as he followed her inside, coming to an abrupt halt as she had stopped suddenly, and now he could see quite clearly why.

‘Are you sure he lived here?’ she asked, peering over her shoulder at him.

Tyler was busy looking at the stacks of papers and boxes either side of them, piled as high as the ceiling. ‘Erm, pretty sure.’ He glanced over her shoulder. ‘Can you move forward some more?’

Erin slowly took some steps, then turned a corner. ‘Goodness, Tyler, it’s like a maze.’

‘Are there more boxes?’ He approached her back to see for himself. ‘What is all this stuff?’

Erin reached out to touch a mound of cardboard boxes, but Tyler caught her arm.

‘Don’t move anything. It looks ready to fall.’

She shook her head. ‘Seems well and truly packed in tightly to me.’

‘Yeah, it does, but let’s not take any chances.’

They both jumped as the door slammed to a close.

Erin giggled. ‘At least nothing shifted.’

‘Just my heart rate,’ joked Tyler.

Erin walked along the pathway and pointed to her right. ‘Ooh, there’s a kitchen. Sort of.’

Tyler peered into a bedroom to see it completely full to the brim with rubbish bags, more boxes, crates filled with empty bottles, and a washing machine that was clearly out of use. ‘Guess he wasn’t sleeping in this room.’

Erin picked up a shiny black kettle. ‘This looks new.’

Tyler entered the tiny kitchen space to see a small fridge, black toaster, a microwave, a one-ring table top oven, and half of the draining board. ‘You can’t even swing a cat in here let alone cook.’

Erin motioned at a box on the floor filled with empty baked bean tins. ‘Please don’t tell me he lived like this. It’s just not possible.’

It was absolutely heartbreaking for Tyler on every level to see his old friend’s home in such a state. Had he known sooner, he would have offered some help, at least made sure the old timer was eating properly.

Oh, Mr Masonville .

Words failed Tyler as he took in the view of the second bedroom. A single bed and a narrow tall wardrobe were all that were visible in amongst more clutter. Narrow walkways allowed access to part of the living room, toilet, kitchen, and front door. All else was blocked off, including windows.

‘I’m so sorry, Erin,’ he said quietly, making his way towards the one armchair in the living room that had the smallest amount of space around its base.

‘It’s not your fault, Tyler.’ Her words were soft, but he still felt rotten for not knowing how his employer lived.

He flopped onto the comfy chair and sighed. ‘I would have helped him had I known.’

Erin was gazing at the organised chaos behind him. ‘Maybe he didn’t want any help.’

‘Oh, come on. This isn’t right.’ Tyler splayed his arms, hitting a stack of cereal boxes. ‘I feel like crying for the man.’

‘It is a sad sight.’ Erin offered a sympathetic smile. ‘Was his hygiene bad?’

Tyler shook his head. ‘If you’re asking me if he was smelly, then the answer is no. He always looked fine to me.’ He smiled softly, fondly remembering his friend. ‘He only had about three outfits. Always wore a tank top over his shirt, but he was clean.’

‘He obviously had issues.’

‘You wouldn’t have known. He was all smiles for the customers, often gave off Santa vibes, and was just a normal bloke.’

Erin glanced over at the bedroom. ‘But he didn’t talk about his family.’

‘All I know is his daughter left home when she was a teenager. Sixteen, I think. He would close the shop every December for the entire month and go off to stay with friends. That’s as much as he was willing to share about his life. I didn’t probe. It wasn’t my place.’

Erin picked up a bicycle pump from a box close to her feet. ‘Who were his friends?’

Tyler shrugged. ‘Never said. I don’t even know where he disappeared to every December. I spoke about it once with him, saying we should be open for the festive season. You know, sweets and all that, but he was adamant he had to be elsewhere. It was just the routine of the shop.’

‘We’ll need to find them. What if they don’t know he died?’

‘I never thought of that. I’ve been too busy trying to keep the shop going as best I could. I couldn’t open every day, but I did try.’

Erin smiled. ‘It’s okay. Thanks for being his friend. I wish I had known about him.’

‘Yeah, what’s up with your mum?’

‘I don’t know their story. I can only guess they fell out. She even shortened her last name to Mason.’

Tyler stood, feeling annoyed about everything. Poor Mr Masonville could have had a better life, he was sure. He should have had family around him, not rubbish. ‘I’m going to start taking some bits downstairs,’ he snapped.

‘Hey, what’s with the tone?’

‘I feel angry on his behalf. Look at this. He shouldn’t have been on his own.’

Erin’s eyes narrowed, crinkling her brow. ‘He wouldn’t have been on his own if someone bothered to tell me he existed.’ She slapped her hand to her collarbone. ‘I grew up with a lousy mum and no dad, so it would have been nice to have had him.’

Guilt came fast in Tyler after that statement. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t mean to take it out on you. I’m just really upset about this. He was my friend.’

‘I’m upset too, Tyler. But there’s nothing either of us can do about it now.’

‘Yes, there is. We can work together to get this cleared and open the shop again.’ Her expression didn’t fill him with much hope. ‘Can’t we?’

‘Sorry, Tyler, I plan to sell the shop.’

‘But you can’t. It’s been here forever.’

‘I’ll try and find someone to take it on as it is.’

Tyler folded his arms in a huff. ‘It’s yours. You take it on. He left it to you.’

‘My life is in London. What do I know about running a shop?’

‘You can learn. I’ll teach you.’

‘It’s easier if I sell.’

Tyler scoffed. ‘That’s right, just come here and take his money. So much for wanting to know your grandfather.’

‘Ooh, that’s just bloody spiteful. I can’t get to know him now. He’s dead. The only reason this place is mine is because I’m all he had left, no doubt. I didn’t ask for any of this to be piled onto my shoulders.’

‘No, but you’ll soon take the money.’

Oh, shut up, Ty. This is none of your business. In fact, I don’t need to be here at all anymore. She can deal with it .

He marched towards the door, his heart pounding, his fists clenched, and his head starting to ache. It was all too much. All he wanted was a quiet life, but no, he had to have a back-stabbing best mate, cheating girlfriend, a dead employer, and now Erin Mason, who cared little for sentiment.

I am not being the nice guy. Walk away. Just ignore the whole lot .

He grabbed the door handle with such force, it snapped clean off in his hand. ‘Whoops!’

‘Tyler, can we please talk about…’ Erin spotted the handle. ‘Is that what I think it is?’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll just slot it back in place.’ But as hard as he tried, it didn’t work.

‘Let me try,’ she demanded.

‘It won’t make any difference. It’s broken.’ Tyler went to reach for the spare phone he’d borrowed from his eldest brother, Heath, whilst his one was being brought home by a mate with the rest of his belongings from the wedding. ‘Great, my phone’s in my coat pocket downstairs. Where’s yours? I’ll call my brother to help.’

Erin turned, her body almost pressed up against his. ‘In my handbag. On the chair behind the till.’

‘Oh, well, that’s handy.’

‘About as handy as your coat.’

It was time to regroup. There had to be a way out of the mess he was in, because there was no way he wanted to be stuck around rubbish all night, not to mention Erin’s scowling face.

‘We’ll shout out the window for help,’ he said, raising a finger.

‘Good luck finding one.’

‘I know where they are.’

‘Yes, but you can’t get there?’

Tyler moved to the kitchen. ‘We can bang on the wall. Anna or Scott might hear us next door in The Book Gallery.’

Erin glanced around his arm. ‘You can’t get to those either.’

‘At least I’m trying. What’s your idea?’

She shrugged and made use of the armchair.

Tyler huffed. ‘Don’t get comfy. We’re not spending another night together.’ The sadness that hit her eyes for a brief moment didn’t go unnoticed, and Tyler felt terrible once more. ‘I didn’t mean that in a bad way,’ he added quietly.

Erin didn’t respond, appearing to read over the cereal box to her side instead.

With little else to do, Tyler went to the bedroom and started moving clutter so he could reach the window that overlooked Pepper Lane. The bed was the only place he could put anything, and touching anything at all was scary, as he was sure the whole building would come tumbling down if he removed just one box.

How is this my life? I should be handing over my shop keys, leaving this problem to her, and moving forward with my new single life, showing the world I am no longer a pushover. Argh! Flipping heck .

He rubbed his finger that had been squished by a stack of old car magazines, then sucked on the papercut. Slumping to the floor, he sighed at the journey between him and the sash window. It was going to take a while.

After a calming breath and the determination to be free, he stood and carried on with his task. One way or another, that window was getting opened.