Cult Following
Disclaimer – I don't own anything Midsomer.
Chapter Two
Jamie spent the best part of his evening staring at his phone, wondering if Clara would ever send him a message. Eventually, when he was sitting on the sofa in his pyjamas and beginning to give up hope on getting anything that day, he was rewarded with a few short words.
Hi, thanks for helping earlier, sorry about my mood. Clara
Jamie did an uncharacteristic fist pump, before staring at his mobile and wondering what he was going to say in reply. He spent a good few minutes drafting and redrafting the message, before settling in the end with a simple one.
No worries. Did you want to take me up on that drink? I still owe you one. Jamie
There was a long pause, where Jamie sat with his left leg jittering nervously as he waited for her reply. It felt like an age, but was in fact only a couple of minutes, when it came in.
If it gets you off my back ;) how about tomorrow pm?
"Yes!" He hissed – not only had she agreed but she included a winking face. That was a good sign, right? It had to be, if she was still angry with him she wouldn't have text at all.
3pm? Do you know the Carpenter's Arms?
The Carpenter's Arms was close to DCI Barnaby's house, but as he'd been invited over there for a barbecue lunch Jamie thought it was close enough that he'd be able to leave lunch at a respectable time and still make it. He stood up because he couldn't keep still with nervous energy, leaping for the phone when it vibrated again.
Sure, see you then.
Jamie flopped backwards onto his sofa and spread his arms across the back. He let out a deep breath and couldn't stop the smile on his face. She said yes! He hadn't ruined all his chances before he'd even begun. He huffed a laugh to himself and reached for his remote, ready to boxset binge for a couple of hours before turning in.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Can you put the potatoes on the table outside?" Sarah Barnaby asked her husband, simultaneously moving the whipped cream for the strawberry dessert out of the reach of her young daughter Betty. DCI John Barnaby grumbled but knew better than to ignore a direct order, he scooped up the large bowl of potato salad and put it out on the garden table, alongside a vast assortment of salads, burgers buns, crisps and dips.
"How many are you expecting?" He asked, one eyebrow raised. "There's enough here to feed the neighbourhood."
"Oh shush you," Sarah chided gently, bringing out a cool box full of ice with the tops of several beer bottles poking out of it. John eyed them up appreciably, but suddenly found a pair of tongs in his way. Sarah ignored his pout as she carefully manoeuvred the cool box out of his way. "No drinking until you've got the barbecue sorted! Otherwise we won't have anything edible." She put the tongs with the rest of the tools on the edge of the barbecue. "And, for your information, this is the first barbecue of the year and I want everything to go well."
"We've only invited Winter and Fleur – even if Betty counted as a whole person there would still only be five of us."
"And everyone eats themselves silly at a barbecue! I don't want to be seen as a stingy host!" She waved a spatula threateningly at him and he raised his hands in capitulation.
"Sorry, sorry! Just no more implements to the face! I will never query the amount of food again."
Sarah turned and looked at the food, a multitude of salads, dips and sides. "Oh I have gone a bit overboard haven't I?"
"Just a little, darling." John walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. "It will be fine, we'll send Fleur and Winter home with doggy bags."
The sound of the doorbell rang loudly from the house. "Oh! They're here, and the barbecue isn't even lit yet!" Sarah fretted.
"Don't worry about it, you go and answer the door and I'll get the barbecue going." John soothed, turning her shoulders and giving her a small push towards the house. As Sarah hurried off, John winked at Betty and turned his attention to the barbecue. "Now, what do we have here?"
Sarah hurried through the house and opened the front door to find both Jamie and Fleur Perkins, a pathologist that Jamie and Barnaby routine worked with on cases, had arrived at the same time. Both carried bottles of wine, although Jamie also had a small pack of beer bottles tucked under one arm.
"Come in, come in. It's lovely to see you both." Sarah kissed their cheeks and took the wine bottles from them happily. "John's just lighting the barbecue in the garden, isn't it a lovely day?" She gestured for them to go ahead of her so Jamie headed towards the garden while Fleur stopped to talk to Sarah.
"Ah, Winter! Come to find out how it's done?" John asked, brandishing a poker and wearing a chef's apron as he dramatically stoked the barbecue coals. Betty laughing with delight at her father's antics told Jamie who the display was really aimed at.
"Of course sir," he replied with a smile, before holding up the beers. "I come bearing gifts."
"Wonderful, wonderful. Can you put them in the cool box with the others?"
Duly complying with the boss's orders, Jamie turned his attention to the table groaning under the weight of food. "How many are you expecting?" He asked.
"Oh, it's just us." Barnaby replied. At Jamie's expression he shook his head. "Don't ask. And for goodness sake don't mention anything to Sarah!"
"Right, got it." Jamie mimed zipping his mouth shut, to John's approving nod.
"Jamie!" Betty turned her attention to the new arrival, Paddy the dog following her around excitedly. "Look at the new trick I taught him!" She held up her hand and, on cue, Paddy stood up on his back legs. Jamie cheered at the display, sharing a grin with his boss.
Lunch was a happy affair, full of laughter and gossiping. Jamie sat back with his beer in hand, feeling very full and having to wave away the constant offers of more food that Sarah was passing his way. It wasn't long now until he had to leave to meet Clara at the pub, so he'd been nursing his beer for a while. He didn't want to turn up already inebriated on his sort-of-maybe date. The wind had dropped and the sun was surprisingly warm, Jamie might have even thought about dozing off for a moment when hearing his name brought him back to the conversation.
"Winter will watch it with me, won't you?"
"Sorry?" Jamie blinked, trying to remember what Barnaby had been talking about.
"I said, there's that rugby sevens tournament on TV later – England are actually in the final eight. You'll stay and watch it with me, won't you?"
Jamie winced. "Oh, actually sir I'm meeting a friend at the Carpenter's Arms at three, I'm going to have to head off soon."
"Oh the betrayal!" Barnaby clutched at his chest dramatically. "Anyone we know?"
"Oh, no," Jamie shook his head. "Just a friend that's in town."
"Someone from London here for a visit?" Barnaby prodded.
"No, a friend from Causton."
"I wasn't aware you had made many friends yet in Causton." Barnaby commented, watching his sergeant closely. Jamie opened his mouth to fire a response back, but was beaten to it.
"That will be nice for you!" Sarah loudly intervened, elbowing her husband with a whispered 'behave!'. "Do you want a last piece of pavlova for the road?"
"Oh, thank you but I couldn't," Jamie demurred, unable to think about eating anything else. "In fact, I really should think about heading off." He stood up and brushed some crumbs from his dark jeans.
"I'll have it," John held out his hand for the plate.
Jamie watched him with eyebrows raised. "Aren't you meant to be on an athlete's diet now, sir?"
"Oh that starts tomorrow, along with the training plan." John said airily, waving his hand.
"What's all this about a diet and training plan?" Sarah asked curiously, looking between her husband and his sergeant.
"It's for the Midsomer 10k Fun Run in a few weeks' time, we're part of the Causton CID team." Jamie explained. "Some have been taking it more seriously than others."
"Shepley CID are entering a team," Barnaby added, as though that explained everything. "We need to make sure we beat them."
Sarah raised her eyebrows at her husband before turning to Fleur. "Do they have you roped in for this too?"
"Oh first I've heard of it," Fleur replied, cheerily waving her wine glass. "I can't say I'm too disappointed though." She grinned at Barnaby who glared back at her.
"I really must go," Jamie broke in, looking at his watch anxiously. "Thank you so much for lunch, I'll see you on Monday sir."
"Of course," Barnaby waved him off. "Would you like another glass of wine, Fleur?"
"Well I wouldn't say no," Fleur grinned cheekily as she waved goodbye to Jamie. Both Sarah and John called out goodbye as Jamie headed towards the house, ruffling Betty's hair on the way. There was a moment's pause while they all just enjoyed the peaceful afternoon before John's gaze turned thoughtful.
"Did anyone else think that Winter was pretty tight-lipped about who he was seeing?"
"It's none of our business, John." Sarah chided, taking a seat at the table.
"Still," John pressed, drumming his fingers thoughtfully on the beer bottle he was holding. "He's never really mentioned Causton friends before, apart from in connection to one of his team sports he does and they tend to meet up in the evenings. It's curious."
"Oh for heaven's sake." Fleur put down her wine glass and peered at them over the top of her sunglasses. "The boy has obviously got a date and he doesn't want to tell you in case it doesn't work out."
"A date?" John queried. "You're sure?"
"As I can be," Fleur shrugged. "Didn't you see what get up he was wearing? Smart new jeans, polished brogues and a blazer of all things. Plus he checked his phone about every five minutes, probably to see if his date had messaged or cancelled. Honestly, and you call yourself a detective."
John nodded thoughtfully, tapping his beer bottle. Next to him Sarah had opened her mouth in an 'o' of understanding. There was silence for a few seconds, before both John and Sarah leapt up and began pulling on their jackets.
"Whoa whoa whoa, where are you going now?" Fleur asked, surprised by the sudden movement.
"The Carpenter's Arms," John replied, downing the last of his beer. "You coming?"
"To act as chaperone to your sergeant's date? No thanks." Fleur scoffed, taking a swig of wine.
"In that case, can you keep an eye on Betty for us?" Sarah asked. "And we're not chaperoning… just… making sure it goes ok, that's all."
"You just want to get a look at whoever agreed to meet up with Winter." Fleur replied, rolling her eyes. "Fine, I'll keep an eye on Betty. Don't blame me though if Winter isn't happy to see you."
"We'll be the soul of discretion," Sarah promised, kissing Betty on the head as she hurried out of the garden.
"What she said," John added, following suit.
Once they had all gone, Fleur turned to Betty who crept towards the table. With a sigh she reached over and grabbed a chicken drumstick. "It's just you and me now, kiddo." Fleur told Betty, biting into the drumstick aggressively. Betty just looked quietly up at her while Fleur cast her eyes around, trying to work out what to do with a young child.
"I don't suppose you know how to play poker?"
Betty shook her head solemnly.
"Hmmm. Do you want to learn?"