The Windmill Café: Summer Breeze
The Windmill Cafe is open for business!‘I relished every moment of this story … definitely not one to be missed’ Emma, Shaz’s Book BlogAs Rosie Barnes serves glasses of tangy lemonade and ice-cold prosecco at her summer garden party, she couldn’t be happier. The Windmill Café, with its peppermint green sails is a roaring success and has given Rosie a chance to escape the heartbreak of her busy life in London.But then disaster strikes when popstar Suki Richards is taken unexpectedly ill at the party. Now all eyes are on Rosie…have her famous raspberry cupcakes poisoned her most high-profile guest? Or is someone else trying to damage Suki’s chance of stardom?If Rosie wants to save her picture-perfect life, and the reputation of her beloved Windmill Café, she’s going to have to get to the bottom of the mystery…and fast!
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HarperImpulse
an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2018
Copyright © Poppy Blake 2018
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018.
Cover illustrations © Shutterstock.com
Poppy Blake asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © March 2018 ISBN: 9780008285128
Version: 2018-01-22
Table of Contents
To Mum and Dad; I know you would be so proud to see my name on the cover of a novel
âHurry up, Rosie, they need you outside to cut the ribbon!â
âBut I thought our resident pop star had that honour?â
âIt seems Suki Richards is far too busy scattering her celebrity stardust,â giggled Mia. âDid you see the way Freddie was hanging on her every word? Yesterday he had no idea who she was, and now heâs acting like heâs her number one fan! Come on, someone needs to declare the very first Windmill Café garden party open or thereâll be a riot!â
âOkay, if youâre sure you donât want to do it. Youâve put in just as much work as I have â those Stilton and grape scones are to die for, not to mention the raspberry and prosecco cupcakes! Why donât we do it together?â
âAgreed! Oh, and by the way, youâd better have your best smile ready. When Dan Forrester from the Willerby Gazette heard Suki and her friends were staying in our luxury lodges, and that she had agreed to be guest of honour at the garden party, he jumped in his little MG and drove up here like Lewis Hamiltonâs older brother.â
Rosie hobbled in Miaâs wake across the sweeping lawn at the front of the Windmill Café. She wished she had stuck to her usual preference of putting practicality over sartorial elegance and worn her ballet flats instead of the ivory stilettos with four-inch heels that sunk into the ground with every step she took and made her look like a waddling duck.
âIâm loving the belted tea dress, Rosie. That apricot-and-cream floral pattern really complements your hair.â
âNothing complements my hair! Itâs the hirsute equivalent of jazz hands.â
âDonât say that. I know lots of people who would love to have your flowing Titian curls. Right. Ready to perform todayâs starring role?â Mia handed Rosie a pair of scissors and pointed to where Dan was lurking like a pugnacious paparazzo. âSmile for the camera!â
Rosie forced a smile onto her lips whilst simultaneously cursing the Windmill Caféâs owner, Graham Clarke, for skipping off to his villa in Barbados as soon as the date for the first annual Willerby garden party was announced. His abandonment meant that not only had she been left with organizing everything for the party, but sheâd also had to step into Grahamâs muddy Wellies to manage the holiday site in the adjacent field, and she had been battling her rising stress levels all day.
When Dan had eventually declared himself satisfied with his snapshots, Rosie picked up the microphone and tentatively tapped the end with her fingertips, producing a screech of bounce-back which caused every single guest to pause in their conversation and swivel round to stare at her and Mia. She ignored the pirouette of nerves that had appeared in her chest and cleared her throat.
âHello everyone, and a warm Willerby welcome to the Windmill Café. Itâs lovely to see so many familiar faces. I hope you all enjoy the afternoon tea we have laid on for you, and that you indulge in a few glasses of the Windmillâs own speciality punch made by my wonderful friend and baker extraordinaire, Mia Williams. So, without further ado, it gives us both great pleasure to declare the very first Windmill Café garden party open!â
