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But Millie knew that no matter how many times she reminded herself of that fact, she was deceiving herself. The way her heart bounced with joy whenever Zach arrived on the veranda, or gave her that quirky, sardonic smile, she knew her feelings for him stretched well beyond friendship, despite the short time she had known him. She knew that her sister had met and fallen in love with her husband, James, whilst visiting their mother in Provence. He had been on a backpacking holiday and had moved on after only two weeks, but Jen knew she was going to spend the rest of her life with him. And so she had – one country village wedding and two children later they were happier than ever.
When she had asked Jen how she had known James was her soulmate so quickly she had simply responded that she just knew, that it wasn’t something she could put into words. It was a feeling of absolute certainty that they were on the same wavelength and the fact that she couldn’t bear the thought of being apart from him even for a second. Millie had taken those pearls of sisterly wisdom on board and had waited for those feelings to sneak up on her when she met Luke, but they hadn’t. In fact, looking back, she had often craved an afternoon of solitude, but she put that down to them working together in the restaurant.
For the first time that day, Millie felt a smile stretch her lips as she thought of her sister and an overwhelming urge to hear her voice descended. She pulled herself out of the swimming pool, grabbed her clothes and jogged back to her studio above the garage. She snatched up a sunflower-yellow beach kaftan she had bought at Anisha’s shop in Soufrière, grabbed a beer from the fridge, then settled on the little balcony overlooking the courtyard and took out her phone.
‘Jen? Hi, it’s Millie.’
‘Hi, Millie, it’s great to hear from you, but do you know what time it is here in Oxford?’
‘Oh, no! I’m so sorry, I completely forgot about the time difference.’
‘It’s okay,’ Jen laughed. ‘Don’t worry I wasn’t asleep. I was just giving the kitchen a last wipe down before Lola’s party tomorrow.’
Millie shoved the image of her own kitchen into the deep, dark crevices of her mind. How could she share the same genes with her sister yet be so completely different when it came to organisational skills and tidiness. She knew that her niece’s fifth birthday party the next day would have been planned down to the very last colour co-ordinated detail, with nothing left to chance. There would even be a selection of delicious home-baked alternatives for the guests who had allergies or parents with an aversion to sugar.
‘Ah, Jen, I’m so sorry to be missing Lola’s party. Will you give her a huge hug from me and tell her that there’s something special for her in the post? Has Mum arrived safely?’
‘Yes. I picked her up from the airport yesterday. I’m not sure whether I should wait until you get home to tell you…’
‘Tell me what?’ Millie snapped, the familiar tightening of panic invading her chest as she thought of anything happening to her beloved Mum, Monique. After the unexpected loss of her father two years ago, her mother had returned to the village in Provence where she grew up to take the local community by storm, quickly making a name for herself with her G&T soirées and her penchant for Latin ballroom dancing. If anything was to happen to her… but to her relief, her sister was laughing.
‘Remember I told you that her friend Solange from Salsa class got her navel pierced last month?’
‘Oh my God! Don’t tell me Mum’s gone and…’
‘No, no, no.’
‘Then what?’
‘Are you sitting down?’ Jen giggled, enjoying keeping Millie in suspense.
‘Jen…’
‘She got a tattoo!’
‘A tattoo? Are you winding me up? Mum got a tattoo? What sort of tattoo?’
‘It’s actually quite tasteful. In fact, I’m thinking of getting one myself.’
Millie rolled her eyes. She picked up her beer and took a sip. What was happening to her family? But then another thought occurred to her. Maybe it was her – maybe she had become a boring old stick-in-the-mud, unwilling to venture out of her comfort zone in case disaster was waiting around the corner to claim its next victim.
Suddenly she experienced a lightbulb moment. That was exactly what Zach had been trying to get her to understand. That there was a huge, wide world out there to explore, to experience, to enjoy and she should grasp the opportunity to throw herself into every new adventure whenever she could. After all, without Zach’s encouragement, when would she have ever attempted a zip wire ride?
‘Millie? Millie? Are you still there?’
‘Yes, I’m still here. How was the Cornwall Living Show?’
‘Oh, yes, that was great fun, but what I want to know is how’s the Paradise Cookery School? Are you enjoying presenting the classes? What are the students like? I’ve spoken to Claudia a couple of times this week and she told me that you’ve had to divert from theChocolate & Confettiitinerary. What an awful thing to happen.’
Millie smiled to herself. Jen was a seasoned expert in presenting cookery classes, whether to her pupils at the local primary school, to the new students at catering college or to a gathering of her local WI members. However, as a detail obsessive, she didn’t cope well with any last-minute amendments to her carefully organised schedules. Whereas Millie, on the other hand, was so used to things going pear-shaped because of her chaotic approach to orderliness that she had developed the skills needed to compromise and make it look like that was intended all along – just like she had been able to do during the last two days. Yes, she might still have issues with her self-confidence after what had happened with Luke, but one thing she knew for certain was that she could cook, and bake, and decorate cake pops!
‘Ella and I have everything under control. Imogen’s wedding cake is finished and it looks amazing.’
‘I know. Claudia forwarded me the email Ella sent her with the photographs attached. Was it chocolate sponge?’
‘Yes. Did she send you the photos of the cake pops me, Carla and Harriet made to replace the wedding favours that were also damaged in the fire?’
‘No! Wow, what a fabulous idea! You are a brilliant cake designer, Millie. Oh, I just knew this adventure in the Caribbean would be exactly what you needed. So, enough about the cookery classes, what I want to hear is all the gossip about a guy called Zach that Ella just happened to mention in passing. Have you taken your big sister’s advice about indulging in a little romance over there on that paradise island?’
