Page 79 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

He’d never failed at anything before. Except, he suddenly realised, that he had. He’d failed at being supportive to his family. He’d failed in staying true to the family name. He’d failed at ensuring that The Black Swan would succeed.

Most of all, he’d failed to help Belle keep her home.

‘I was wrong,’ he told her.

‘About what?’ she asked.

‘About all of it.’

She nodded. ‘Yes. You were. But at least you tried. Don’t stay out here too long. It’s freezing.’

She hesitated before turning to walk away. He knew what the unspoken words meant. It meant that she would never forgive him.

But what she would never realise was that he would never forgive himself either for causing her so much pain and letting her down.

43

Belle had walked away from Pete. He seemed happy to be drowning his own sorrows in the garden and she needed to secure the inn and close up.

In truth, she also didn’t want to talk to him at that moment. She was filled with disappointment about how his insistence on the gastronomic experience that he had wanted for the restaurant had always been destined for disaster. It didn’t fit with Cranbridge and it certainly didn’t fit with The Black Swan. Or her.

That was her deepest worry of all. That he was looking for something glamorous. Something far more stylish than she could ever hope to be.

And she felt worse than ever. Because it was also just possible that Pete had put the death knell on The Black Swan for good. Without a restaurant, they couldn’t make the money they needed to survive in business. Which meant that she was about to lose her home.

She pushed open the back door to the inn, still deep in thought. So she was startled to hear a noise coming from the kitchen.

She wondered if perhaps they had mice, but when she went into the kitchen, she realised it was just a big rat in the form of Andre.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked, as he was poring over some written notes in a book.

‘I’m planning the menu for tomorrow,’ he told her in a sarcastic tone.

‘What are you talking about?’ she asked.

‘Yes, whatareyou talking about?’ asked Pete coming to stand next to her. He had obviously followed Belle inside.

Andre looked at them both with raised eyebrows. ‘I am the head chef, am I not? Then I must plan the meals for tomorrow’s dining experience.’

Pete blew out a sigh of disgust. ‘Tomorrow?’ he said. ‘There is no tomorrow. The restaurant is closed for good. Your awful food saw to that. Among other things, I admit.’

‘My awful food?’ Andre’s voice had risen several octaves. ‘I don’t agree.’

‘The pork wasn’t cooked properly,’ said Belle, her own anger flaring up. ‘You may very well have given quite a few of our customers food poisoning.’

‘Nonsense,’ said Andre. ‘My food is always cooked and delicious.’

‘Dear God, you are delusional!’ said Pete, running a hand through his hair. He looked at Andre in disbelief. ‘Did you not check the food before it left the kitchen?’

Andre lifted his chin in an apparent smug gesture. ‘Of course I didn’t,’ he said, almost preening. ‘My work is excellent.’

‘It was awful,’ said Pete. ‘I cannot believe a man with such glowing references could cook so poorly.’

Andre gulped in the silence that followed, at which point Belle’s mouth fell open in shock.

‘You faked your CV,’ she said.

‘I did not!’ said Andre, shaking his head at her.