AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Zach grinned, displaying a perfect set of teeth that any orthodontist worth his weight in toothpaste would be proud of. Millie slumped down into a cane chair on the veranda. She hoped she got on better with Ella Johnson because if Zach was going to be her only other company at the Paradise Cookery School she was in for a turbulent time.
Chapter Four
With a chorus of birdsong and croaking crickets to accompany her thoughts, Millie meandered along the pathway between the swimming pool and the edge of the plantation. In the post-deluge afternoon sunshine, she could completely understand why Claudia had fallen in love with the villa. Its position on the hillside overlooking the most famous of St Lucia’s landmarks must be one of the best in the Caribbean.
Cocoa palms crammed the estate for as far as the eye could see. Strange wizened pods, the shape of small rugby balls, grew straight out of the gnarled trunks. She ran her fingertips over one of them, prodding the leathery, purple-brown exterior. She sniffed the skin, expecting it to smell of chocolate, but unsurprisingly it didn’t. These were the husks she had seen piled in the wooden crates by the back door of the villa earlier. She assumed Zach had harvested them.
She regretted not having the chance to chat through the finer details for the school with Claudia. She hoped her vision would be, if not identical, then along similar lines to the celebrated cookery writer’s own. Whilst the plans were already approved, it would be the finishing touches that made a project like the Paradise Cookery School stand out from the rest. A loop of nervousness began to coil around her chest when she thought of the responsibility of testing out the recipes for such a prestigious venture.
What if she got it wrong?
Millie immediately chastised herself for her negativity. Only a few short months ago, she would never have entertained such an episode of self-doubt. It was amazing how a broken heart could deflate a person’s confidence so much, even in their professional life! She inhaled a deep breath and vowed to concentrate on the advantages of her good fortune; the opportunity not only to learn new culinary techniques from Ella but also to experiment with a medley of fresh, exotic ingredients, all under the sparkling canopy of the Caribbean sky.
To say she was a sun-worshipper was an understatement. After all, she had spent the first seven years of her life and every summer holiday thereafter with her French grandparents running through the lavender-infused fields in the South of France until her limbs were as brown as milk chocolate.
However, for some reason, she had chosen to overlook the fact that for such a lush tropical paradise to exist in St Lucia there inevitably had to be a regular delivery of rain in almost biblical proportions. Never mind. It couldn’t rainallthe time and she was looking forward to enjoying the golden beaches and mooching around the brightly painted shops in Soufrière with the strains of calypso music spilling out onto the pathways – not to mention sampling the local rum cocktails.
She would continue to work on healing her wounded heart whilst proving to Claudia that she had made a worthy choice by showing off her wide range of culinary skills to their best advantage. It was something she hadn’t been able to do whilst working as one of a number of pastry chefs at the patisserie. The only talents she had exhibited to the patient French owner, Étienne, were her complete lack of organisational skills and her propensity to sprinkle ingredients and culinary implements like an escaped garden hose.
The intense screech of a struggling car engine, accompanied by a loud blast of reggae music, told her that Clavie had arrived with Ella Johnson. Her spirits lifted and she jogged back to the veranda and into the courtyard to welcome her, hopeful that this time she was about to meet a friendly companion with whom she had lots in common.
She watched the woman emerge from the back seat of the taxi and was relieved the driver had managed to navigate the incline this time. The Caribbean chef carried a few extra pounds around her midriff – enhanced by the brightly coloured fabric of her voluminous dress. A bold statement necklace rested at her chest and matching gold hoops hung from her lobes. She had rounded the ensemble off with a wide emerald-and-saffron bandana to keep her hair away from her smooth, crease-free forehead.
‘Hello! You must be Millie!’
Ella rushed towards Millie and enveloped her in a fragrant hug, drawing her into her ample bosom as though enjoying a reunion with a long-lost daughter. Her lips glistened with a slick of deep burgundy lipstick, but her eyes had no need of shadow or mascara. The dark hazel of her irises drew the onlooker’s attention to their kindness and wisdom. A faint whiff of lavender, mingled with a sweet caramel, tickled at Millie’s nostrils.
‘Sooogood to meet you. Claudia has told me all about you,’ she cooed before turning to the taxi driver. ‘Thanks, Clavie. See you Saturday?’
Ella’s accent was a melodious sonata of French mingled with the St Lucian Creole which fell softly on the ear. Straight away Millie felt a strong connection with this woman who seemed to project an irresistible aura of comfort and competence. She wouldn’t admit it out loud but Ella reminded her of her mother; the way Monique moved, her Gallic gestures, the cadence in her voice, the calm that exuded from every pore no matter what the calamity her daughter had perpetrated, the partiality for wearing bright colours. She was certainly an inspired choice as a co-presenter of an upmarket Caribbean cookery school.
‘Sure thing, man. Send my regards to that son of yours, okay?’
‘Oh, I will!’
Ella linked her plump arm through Millie’s and guided her to a pair of blue-and-white striped canvas chairs on the veranda of the villa where they could appreciate the view. Ella’s afro curls bounced as she swivelled in her seat to fix Millie with her chestnut gaze, clearly weighing her up until her eyes came to rest on Millie’s hair.
‘I see you’ve had first-hand experience of the rain we get here!’ There was that belly laugh again. ‘Clavie told me he’d ditched you at the bottom of the driveway, the old goat!’
Millie reached up to run her fingers through her long straw-like fringe and down the sides to her shoulders. The usually sleek strands seemed to have doubled in volume as the humidity increased.
‘Is there anything you can recommend that might tame my hair?’
‘A little coconut oil may help – or you could just go with the flow. You’ll have to tie it back when we start cooking anyway. Now, I have the keys to the villa so you’ll be able to get an idea of what Claudia has planned, but I’m sure you’ve noticed the fact that very little progress has been made on the kitchen renovations. The builders were supposed to start their preparations last week but there was a delay in the delivery of the appliances due to some administrative mix-up. Why they couldn’t have got on with something else I don’t know, but it means the schedule is going to be tighter than initially thought.’
Ella paused and placed her hand over Millie’s. ‘If you’ll allow me to give you a little friendly advice, Millie. Under no circumstances must you allow the men to take advantage of your good nature. Time is elastic to Fitz and whilst he’s renowned island-wide for being the best in the business, he does have an equally infamous tendency to slope off for a lunchtime rum and a nap. As the final touches will be down to us, it is our time he will be stealing!’
Millie smiled, grateful that she had such a strong-willed ally in her corner. She wished Ella had been around to stand up for her when she had met Zach earlier, but she decided not to mention the fact that she had made his acquaintance as she wasn’t sure she would be able to keep her irritation at his treatment of her out of her voice. With any luck, she wouldn’t have much to do with him over the next two weeks.
‘Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind.’
‘Good. I can already see that we are on the same wavelength! Okay, shall we acquaint ourselves with the plans for the kitchen and then we can have a chat about the best part – the Paradise Cookery School recipes?’
‘Yes, please.’
Ella drew back the bi-folding doors at the front of the villa to reveal a large empty space. Devoid of all its furniture and appliances, the room was huge. Rectangular in shape, one side had been constructed completely from glass windows to take advantage of the view and all the walls had been painted white – a perfect blank canvas and an ideal space for a boutique cookery school. A lone ceiling fan rotated languidly but Millie was relieved to see there was an industrial-sized air-conditioning unit on the back wall. A door to the right of the kitchen led to a corridor.
‘You’ll find bedrooms through there,’ Ella said, pointing in the direction of Millie’s gaze. ‘Claudia is toying with the idea of offering accommodation to the gastronomes at some point in the future but not until the school is up and running and she can gauge the demand for her courses. Here are the plans.’ Ella gestured to the back of the room where two large sheets of paper had been pinned to the wall. ‘There’ll be one large demonstration workbench for Claudia and four smaller ones which can house two students each. It’s a simple enough layout and should be easily completed within the two weeks, provided Fitz and his men turn up on time on Monday morning. I’ve checked and the lorryisbooked for seven a.m.’
