AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Well, I don’t think vacancies for estate managers are two-a-penny around here, do you? When I saw Zach’s mother at the café yesterday, she mentioned something about him relocating permanently to the Caribbean. I suppose it’s better than the heather-strewn glens of Scotland! Who in their right mind would want to live there?’ Blake grimaced, his cute ski-slope nose wrinkling as if Scotland was in Outer Space. ‘I mean, do they even have Waitrose? And don’t get me started on the quality of the wifi!’
Blake performed a theatrical shiver that caused Millie to giggle despite the cauldron of emotions his disclosures had whipped up inside her. Zach was moving back to St Lucia? Why hadn’t he told her?
‘I’m sure Scotland has entered the twenty-first century with the rest of us.’
‘Maybe, darling, but you can count me out for regular weekend visits – although it might be worth a jaunt just to check out those fabulous kilts the men insist on modelling… and, more importantly, what they wear underneath them! And whilst a trip to the Caribbean would be a totally different scenario – I have absolutely no problem with a splash of Rum & Relaxation – the airfare is sadly beyond my meagre means.’
Blake wandered off to replenish his drink with a generous dose of neat Bacardi, leaving Millie to absorb what his revelations about Zach’s future meant. Like Blake, there was no way she could afford a flight to St Lucia unless Claudia booked her services to present another one of the Paradise Cookery School courses – which in effect meant that once he’d left the UK, she would probably never see Zach again.
The thought caused a burst of panic to explode in her chest, followed swiftly by an intense desire to seek him out and demand that he explain what was going on. Why hadn’t he said anything to her? Was this the reason for the change in the tone of his texts before she left London and why he’d said they had “a lot to talk about”? Obviously, he was going to tell her that there could be no future for them if they lived in different countries, and her reaction to this made her realise that her feelings for Zach had morphed beyond friendship into something entirely different and much more worrying. After what had happened with Luke, she had no desire to revisit the heartache that losing someone close caused, and the only way to do that was to surround herself with a sturdy armour of detachment.
But could she do that?
She wasn’t sure she was capable of controlling the way she felt when Zach was at her side. Why did her relationships always have to be so complicated?
Millie drained her glass, running her tongue around her lips to collect the last taste of cinnamon, and she suddenly realised that the village hall had almost emptied. As it was a school day the next morning, everyone with children had ushered them from the party with promises of hot chocolate and marshmallows when they got home, and Tim and Claudia were waved off like newlyweds to a fanfare of thanks and farewells and with numerous beautifully wrapped gifts under their arms.
She sighed and made her way to the kitchen, having agreed to stay behind to help with the tidying up, but her offer hadn’t been entirely altruistic – whatever was going on at Stonelea Manor, she wanted to get to the bottom of it. Yes, Tim had told her that this year’sFestive Feastcourse would be the last one, but why did the scaling back, or even the closure, of the cookery school business affect Zach’s position as the estate manager?
The only way to find out was to ask him directly and brace herself for the answer she didn’t want him to give – that Blake had spoken the truth. Zach was leaving the UK for a new life in St Lucia and she was devastated.
Chapter Six
Zach drove his car through the stone pillars and onto the driveway that led to Stonelea Manor. A whoosh of relief flashed through Millie’s body when she saw that the tarmac was clear. Although it was still cold – it was the middle of December after all – the temperature had lifted and the only snow that remained was the undisturbed blanket of white spread across the front lawns.
When they arrived in the gravelled car park at the back of the house, Zach cut the engine and twisted round to face her. It was eleven thirty and she was bone-tired from a hectic day she had spent baking up a storm with Claudia, then scrubbing the kitchen in the village hall, not to mention the soporific effect of the three glasses of punch she had devoured, each successive glass tasting better than the last for some reason. Her head felt heavy and all she really wanted to do was dash into the boot room, peel off the padded green jacket she had borrowed, and shoot up those magnificent stairs to bed because she had an early start the next morning and she needed to feel fresh and raring to go for the first day of the course.
However, she had resolved to find out what was going on. She didn’t feel she could ask Claudia who’d had ample opportunity to share her problems with Millie, and had chosen not to, and anyway, she doubted there would be a single moment of privacy to discuss such delicate matters, even if their numbersweredepleted. She had no idea when she would be seeing Zach next, and she could see that the kitchen was suffused in darkness which meant Claudia and Tim and their guests had retired for the night and they would have the place to themselves.
‘Come and have a night cap. There’s Blue Mountain coffee, or we could indulge in a tot of Tim’s single malt, if you prefer?’
‘Millie, I should really—’
‘Please Zach.’
Before she was waylaid by arguments to the contrary, she shot from the car and into the house. She could envisage Zach’s reaction to a tee – the eye roll, the sigh, the twist of his lips into a resigned smirk, but he followed her into the kitchen nonetheless.
Millie set the kettle to boil and lit a couple of cathedral candles, only subsequently realising that Zach might have thought she had more romantic intentions in mind. The kitchen filled with flickering golden light and once again Millie was surprised at the lack of Christmas decorations in the room where it was intended that their guests would spend the majority of their time. It was another mystery she would just have to add to the lengthening list because her brain felt like it had been stuffed with cotton wool.
She carried the coffee mugs, and a plate of home-made mince pies, to the table next to the French doors and sat down facing Zach, determined to excavate the details as to the cause of Claudia’s distress, Tim’s anger, and Blake’s despondency at Zach’s imminent flight.
‘Okay, what’s going on with the cookery school?’
‘I don’t know what—’
‘Don’t fob me off. I know it’s none of my business, but I care about Claudia. I know how much she loves the cookery school, and I can see how upset she is that this year’s Christmas tutorials are going to be the last. She’s trying to hide it, but it’s not working, and Tim spends all his time hiding out in his workshop, bashing away his resentment on those inventions of his. Whatever it is, it’s more than just theFestive Feastcourse, though, because even Blake is miserable and that isn’t a character trait I would associate with him. Please, Zach, tell me what’s going on.’
Zach sighed, a muscle in his jaw working overtime as he took a couple of beats to master his emotions. He swallowed a long draught of his black coffee to inject a little courage into his veins, inhaled a deep breath, and met Millie’s eyes.
‘It’s true. The Claudia Croft Cookery School is closing its doors at the end of the week.’
‘But why? Every course is sold out as soon as it goes online.’
‘It’s amazingly successful! That’s why Claudia and Tim decided to set up The Paradise Cookery School at their villa in St Lucia.’
‘Then I don’t understand. Is Claudia closing that too?’
Millie’s heart pounded out a symphony of sadness as she contemplated all the hard work she and Ella had put into finalising the school. Claudia had confided in her that it was a long-held dream to upgrade the plantation house into a luxury boutique hotel so that their guests could stay on site whilst learning the secrets of gastronomic excellence Caribbean-style.
