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‘Who’s supposed to be washing the windows?’
The villa had taken on a buzz of frenetic activity. They drilled, hammered, sawed, polished, painted and cleaned, all under Millie’s subtle direction, although she was careful to defer to Fitz on all of the major decisions – but everyone knew who was really in charge. Fitz even managed to repair the crack in the worktop with some magic adhesive which when polished, looked like a natural flaw in the marble.
When dusk finally arrived, the gang congregated on the veranda, devouring Ella’s freshly baked chicken stuffed with figs and apricots, nervously sipping at their coffee and mango juice, as Millie and Ella toured the kitchen double-checking every detail against their lists.
Every surface was scrutinised. Stray finger marks were wiped from the tiles and the stainless-steel appliances. Sawdust was banished from the cornices and the copper pans. Millie tested the flow of the hot and cold water from every tap, ignited each of the gas burners one by one, and tried the sockets with a hand-held blender, before finally declaring herself satisfied and dispatching Alph to collect the furniture from storage.
There was a last push to stage the plump white sofas at a satisfactory angle and dress the lamp and coffee tables with the floral displays donated by Denise. Lottie cleaned off a speck of glue from the front of the refrigerator, Dylan fixed the spotlights so they were at precisely the right angle for each of the workstations, and Anisha affixed a strand of Caribbean-themed bunting around the French doors.
The Paradise Cookery School was finished!
‘Thank you, everyone,’ said Millie, ignoring the tears streaming down her cheeks unchecked. ‘If it wasn’t for every single one of you offering your help today, the kitchen would never have been finished on time. You are an absolutely awesome team and to show my appreciation, and to say goodbye, I’m throwing a party here tomorrow afternoon for when Claudia arrives from the airport. The drinks will be mixed by our brand-new bar and restaurant manager, Miss Lottie Bedford, ably assisted by her sidekick, Travis Scott!’
Henri, Dylan, and Ryan slapped Travis on the back and exchanged congratulatory fist bumps. The young artist lowered his lashes in a shy smile of acknowledgement. It had taken a great deal of persuasion by Lottie and Anisha to peel him away from his artwork, but he had agreed to help Lottie in the Purple Parrot until she found a replacement for Jake and Andrew was informed what his future held. It meant extra cash for Travis, which he could definitely do with, and Lottie still had her job and could meet her rent, not that she was going anywhere.
‘Claudia is going to be delighted with the way the villa is looking. I can feel it in my bones,’ declared Ella as they strolled out to the veranda. ‘I can’t wait to get started with the cookery-school tutorials. I don’t think I’ve been this excited since I was a teenager.’
‘Okay, okay, ladies! If you’re happy with everything, shall we call it a day?’ said Ryan. ‘We’re all desperate for a shower and a beer and a rest from all this hard work. I, for one, am exhausted. See you tomorrow!’
Everyone made their way to the courtyard, laughing and joking, teasing Lottie and Dylan as they exchanged a kiss before jumping into separate jeeps. A wave of intense happiness swept through Millie. She had not known a single person in St Lucia when she arrived two weeks ago, soaking wet, jet-lagged and alone. Now she could count on ten new friends, people who had come to the aid of a stranger in more ways than one, who had worked until their knuckles bled and their backs ached, all for the prize of friendship, a belly full of great food and the occasional bottle of Red Stripe.
Jake was wrong – it wasn’t money that talked; it was friendship.
Chapter Twenty Two
Everything was set for Claudia’s arrival. Lottie had helped to hang a necklace of fairy lights over the doors and windows and around the balustrade overlooking the terrace. The infinity pool’s underwater lights shone so brightly that the water glowed with azure-tinged splendour and was the focal point of that afternoon’s gathering.
Cathedral candles of varying heights flickered inside storm lanterns dotted around the decking and the table groaned under an abundance of treats all provided by Ella and Denise who had worked all morning in the brand-new kitchen. It had been a huge relief to Millie that every appliance had worked the way it should. It was the best day she’d had in the Caribbean – freed from the stress of delivering the kitchen project on time.
Everyone had turned up for the celebration – and to wish Millie a safe journey home and good luck in her future ventures. Zach had been curiously taciturn all morning and whenever she caught his eye to offer him a smile, he turned away to speak to whoever was standing next to him. Binks snoozed happily at his feet, but with one eye peeled for discarded titbits.
Millie still hadn’t heard from Claudia. She had asked Ella to call her at her house in the Cotswolds that morning, but there was no reply. They had checked Claudia’s last email for the precise details of her flight, searched the internet to make sure that the plane had left on time, and dispatched Clavie to collect her from the airport. Despite the glorious success of the kitchen, a curl of trepidation still nestled in Millie’s stomach, along with a buzz of excitement at Claudia’s imminent arrival.
Whilst Dylan and Lottie happily exchanged kisses under the palm trees in the garden, Ryan, Connor and Travis pushed each other in the hammocks like toddlers in a playground. Henri and Alisha were chatting at the cocktail table, Henri animated in his explanation of how he was sure his investigative journalism for theTribunewould force those in authority to take a closer interest in the youth-unemployment problem that was gripping their community.
It was only a matter of minutes before Clavie was due to show up with Claudia in his clapped-out old taxi and she would get her first glimpse of her exciting new enterprise. A spasm of nerves shot down Millie’s spine, but then she relaxed. How could Claudia not adore the clean white lines of the walls and the floor tiles, the elegant sleekness of the Italian marble and the shining stainless steel of the appliances? Everything was perfect, including Travis’s artwork which lent a colourful splash of the true spirit of the Caribbean amongst the minimalism.
The kitchen was ready to receive its first Paradise Cookery School students on Monday morning – less than eighteen hours away. Millie was proud of what had been achieved and felt a stab of disappointment that she would not be there to witness their enjoyment and to hear their exclamations of amazement at the beauty both inside the villa and in the surrounding tropical landscape.
She knew the menus they had devised over the last two weeks showcased the very best that Caribbean culinary culture had to offer the discerning foodie. She was also confident that there would be no question whatsoever that theChocolate & Confetticourse would be the first in long line of tailor-made tutorials and that the hotly anticipatedClaudia Croft Caribbean Cookerybook would fly from the shelves when it was published next year.
Millie checked her grandmother’s silver Tiffany watch for what seemed like the hundredth time. Four-thirty. She leaned over the rail of the veranda, her toes leaving the decking, to glance down the driveway, but she couldn’t see any sign of Clavie’s taxi or hear the engine straining to mount the incline. Trust him to be late! She scrolled through the Arrivals schedule on her phone and saw that the British Airways flight from Gatwick had landed on time.
‘Hey, Millie, any news from Claudia? She should be here by now.’ Henri draped his arm over her shoulder and she was rewarded with a whiff of his spicy eau de cologne. ‘Did I tell you that theDaily Telegraphin the UK have agreed to run my article on the recent increase in the use of the old drug routes through the Caribbean in their Sunday supplement?’ he asked, his expression modest, almost nonchalant.
‘Wow, that’s fabulous news!’ Millie hugged her friend. ‘Congratulations!’
‘They also want to commission a professional photographer and I need to tweak a few paragraphs for them, but it’s a great honour. And I’ve been approached byLe Figarotoo. If I’m stuck on the translation, I can always ask you to help out, eh?’
‘Of course! I’m so happy for you, Henri.’
Henri simply smiled and helped himself to a dish of his mother’s mango sorbet topped with freshly frozen mint leaves.
Millie glanced at her watch again. Four forty-five p.m.
She decided to seek out Zach and ask him why he was ignoring her. She would be leaving for the airport in less than an hour and she didn’t want to go without understanding the reason he was distancing himself from her. She had taken just two steps towards the courtyard where he was chatting to Dylan when Lottie intercepted her mission, glancing at Zach and then Millie.
‘I’ve told Zach he’s being ridiculous, but I think it’s a kind of protective mechanism.’
