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Millie slotted her phone back in her pocket and as she crossed the courtyard she heard the familiar sound of the straining engine of Clavie’s taxi ascending the driveway. Ella heaved her bulk from the back seat, but Millie was surprised to see that Lottie was with her, her hair flying high in the breeze, her silver chains jangling around her neck.
‘Thanks, Clavie!’ Lottie called, slinging her bag over her shoulder and skipping towards Millie to give her a hug. Clavie tooted his horn in response and disappeared back down the hill.
‘Hi Lottie, what are you doing here?’
‘The Parrot is closed today whilst the police do their thing so I thought maybe you could use an extra pair of hands at the villa. I’m happy to muck in and do anything you want – especially on the taste-testing side of things.’
‘That’s really kind of you, Lottie, but I’m not sure it’s…’
‘I’ve told Lottie she can help us with the chocolate tiramisu recipe we’ve been struggling with,’ said Ella, making her way towards the studio. ‘Today’s our last chance to get the recipe perfected, and I think I have an idea that might just work. Come on, the sooner we get started, the sooner we can eat the results!’
The enthusiasm in both Ella and Lottie’s faces made Millie feel even worse. She had to come clean with both of them that she was about to inform Claudia she had no option but to cancel the very first Paradise Cookery School course – except she just didn’t know how to. Ella was another person to add to the list of people she had failed, and a spasm of distress shot through her veins because she knew how much Ella was looking forward to presenting the classes with Claudia and how she was hoping to make this her new career.
‘Ah, I just know that the Paradise Cookery School is going to be the very best cookery school in the whole of the Caribbean – the recipes that you and Ella have devised are awesome! Claudia’ll be booked up until next summer as soon as the reviews go up and she’ll be able to open her boutique hotel sooner than she thought, not to mention get the plantation sorted for the tours. I’m going to be the first to put my name on that list – Ilervechocolate!’
Ergh, thought Millie, someone else to add to her list. She just couldn’t bear it.
‘Why don’t you both go up to the studio kitchen and I’ll be with you in a minute. I just want to talk to Fitz about something.’
She saw Ella’s brow crease, but her friend wisely decided to keep her own counsel. Lottie grabbed the numerous carrier bags Clavie had deposited in the courtyard and followed Ella up the stairs to start baking, chatting about how amazing Dylan was and how they planned to manage the Purple Parrot until they knew what was happening with Andrew.
Millie thought her head was going to explode. Her heart thumped in her chest when she rehearsed the enormity of what she had to say to Claudia. She meandered down to the pool terrace and sat under the shade of a lemon tree, her toes tickling the surface of the water, searching her brain for a solution that wouldn’t mean disappointing so many people. She checked her phone to see if Claudia had called her back as she hadn’t heard it ring, but there was nothing.
‘What’s up? Has Messy Millie been banished from the kitchen?’
Millie couldn’t be bothered to rise to the task of challenging Zach over his name-calling. She knew how much he wanted to arrange activities for the cookery-school attendees, and how upset he was going to be when she confessed how she had failed, but she needed to confide in someone or she would be looking her sanity in the rear-view mirror.
‘The first Paradise Cookery School course is being cancelled,’ said Millie, her throat tightening against the words.
‘What? Why? I thought you and Ella had everything planned? Every recipe triple- and quadruple-tested, every detail ironed out, every ingredient sourced and ready to be delivered for Monday. Ella told me that you’ve even got a whole host of backup recipes just in case some of the ingredients aren’t available…’
‘It’s not the culinary side of things,’ said Millie, lowering her voice and tossing a look over her shoulder to the veranda where Alph was smoking a cigarette and contemplating an unopened tin of white emulsion as if he had never seen one before in his life.
‘What is it then?’
‘Well, as you can see, there’s no way everything will be ready in time to receive paying guests. We’ve lost Vic for some reason that’s not entirely clear, and the kitchen needs to pass certain standards for health-and-safety reasons. Claudia would never run a course bearing her name that posed a potential risk to a guest’s well-being.’
Unexpectedly, Millie was ambushed by a burst of sobbing. All the stress of what had happened the previous day, coupled with the delays she’d fought so hard to keep on top of, and the discovery of the crack in the countertop, was suddenly all too much. Zach sat down beside her, waiting until her tears ceased and she turned to meet his gaze. He smiled and reached out to tuck a loose curl behind her ear, a gesture that sent a sparkle of attraction through Millie.
‘You know, Millie, this isn’t your fault. When Fitz was hired to do the kitchen renovations he told Claudia that three weeks was the absolute minimum he needed to complete the work to the standard she required. He was ready to start on time, but as you know, Claudia had her riding accident and there was a week’s delay. It was always going to be a tight timescale to get everything done. Claudia knew that, but of course her mind was on other things, and who can blame her.’
Millie stared at Zach. What he had said was true, but it didn’t make her feel any better. She had wanted the project to be a success so much. For her own peace of mind, she needed to know that she was still capable of delivering results, and had dared to hope that her sojourn in St Lucia would help her to turn the corner on her crisis of confidence, not only emotionally but professionally, too. She had even started to toy with the idea of looking for a head chef’s position when she got back home.
‘Thanks, Zach.’
Zach produced a pristine cotton handkerchief from the pocket of his shorts and handed it to her.
‘Now, you might be lots of things, Amelia Harper, but you don’t strike me as a quitter, so let’s take a look at the kitchen and see what’s left to be done before we throw the towel in the pool! Not everyone is going to let you down, you know. You have lots of friends here who will be only too pleased to offer you their services in return for a cold beer and one of your chocolate brownies!’ Zach sprang to his feet, leaving behind a delicious tang of citrussy cologne. ‘Come on, show me the plans.’
Millie followed him, surreptitiously storing his damp handkerchief in her pocket, not wanting Fitz to know she had been about to call it a day and tell him to go home. She unearthed the torn and paint-splattered plans from beneath a pile of vivid artwork, and together she and Zach scrutinised every aspect of the renovations, before cross-examining Fitz on what there was left to do. Millie scribbled everything on a notepad, making a list of the outstanding tasks as Alph looked on with an expression of scepticism and not a little trepidation.
Next, Zach disappeared into the courtyard where he paced backwards and forwards, his phone clenched to his ear, snippets of animated conversation floating through the air.
‘Great! Thanks, Anisha, and round up Travis too, will you?’ And, ‘Yes, Dylan, Lottie is here. She and Ella are on cooking duties. It’ll be the best barbeque you’ve had all year, I promise! And tell Ryan the beers are on me.’
Zach slotted his phone back into his pocket and strode back to the veranda.
‘Okay, Millie. Prepare yourself to be amazed. You are about to experience what can be achieved when a bunch of friends pull together to help another friend out. Now, I don’t want to hear one more word about cancelling the course next week. Why don’t you spend the next hour prioritizing the remaining jobs so that when the cavalry arrives you can set them to work straight away?’
