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‘Oh my God! You are!’
‘We are not!’
‘But something’s going on I can tell from your voice. Come on, Millie, humour me. Jean-Pierre still hasn’t accepted my invitation to the ball at the weekend; he clearly likes to keep a girl dangling until she’s finished her chiselled masterpiece – although masterpiece might not be the best description for my disastrous attempt at recreating my favourite childhood pet, Barnaby, in stone.’
Millie suddenly wanted to divulge every detail of her dinner date with Zach and seek her friend’s sage advice. After all, she did have a mountain of experience in the romance arena. She launched in, embroidering the tale with humour to conceal her uncertainty about how Zach felt about her.
‘So he didn’t kiss you?’
‘No. I think he was going to, but something stopped him at the last minute. You know, after what happened with Luke, I really don’t want to get involved with someone who keeps secrets. I need honesty, even when the truth might hurt, it’s better than skulking around, avoiding talking about what’s important.’
‘But hadn’t Zach just told you that he’d landed a new job in Scotland?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you think he could have been reluctant to progress things in order to protect you? With the best will in the world, it’s difficult to continue a relationship when one party lives in another country.’
Millie sighed, gratitude for Pippa’s friendship washing over her like a warm comfort blanket.
‘You’re right, Pippa. Thanks for being my love guru!’
Of course, Zach wouldn’t want to embark on a new relationship when he was about to make a fresh start, whether that was in Scotland or the Caribbean, and if she had taken the time to think things through properly, she would have understood that. All Zach had been doing was protecting her – and himself.
The realisation that his behaviour had nothing to do with his feelings for her didn’t fill her with relief but with sadness that any hope of having Zach in her life on a permanent basis had been crushed. Her emotions tumbled painfully, like one of Tim’s broken washing machines, so she quickly changed the subject, asking for all the gossip on the other members of Étienne’s team which Pippa recounted with gusto.
As she climbed the stairs to her suite, she resolved to discard her regret that her future probably wouldn’t include Zach, and to enjoy every moment she could spend in his company. She reminded herself that his cheerful, quirky and mischievous personality had been the bright star in her all-encompassing gloom when she’d arrived heartbroken in St Lucia, and that she had never expected to find such solace in the sun, let alone meet someone who would teach her how to be happy again. How, by approaching life with a braced sword of optimism, gave the bearer more than an equal chance of winning the battle.
Chapter Thirteen
Dawn was only just beginning to breach the horizon when Millie woke. Again, she had slept well and tossed back the covers to leap into the day with a spring in her step until reality crashed into her thoughts. Rupert would be arriving at three o’clock and there was a great deal to do before the house was ready to show its face to its potential new owner.
As she wanted to save Claudia from as much work as possible, she left her curls to dry naturally, using a trick Ella had taught her in the Caribbean to tackle the frizz by running a splodge of coconut oil all the way from root to tip. She then pulled on a pair of smart black trousers and a crimson sweater with snowflakes on the front and cantered down the staircase.
Every time she walked into Stonelea’s kitchen a burst of pleasure erupted in her heart. It was a truly amazing place, and she was gutted for Claudia that she was about to lose it. She started to prepare the ingredients for that day’s tutorial into six separate sets of bowls to make the presentation as easy as possible to follow. The DJ of the local radio station was playing a non-stop medley of jaunty Christmas tunes causing her hips to sway, and as she inhaled the delicious aromas of cinnamon and buttery pastry her sprits ballooned. She really was at her happiest when indulging in a frenzy of baking-related activities.
Nine o’clock came and went and there was no sign of Claudia. The tutorial was due to start at nine thirty so that the food they prepared would be ready for brunch at eleven. Millie set out the ingredients on the respective workstations and stood back to survey her hard work.
‘Wow, this all looks fabulous!’ Marianne declared, her green eyes shining as she paused briefly at the kitchen door before striding straight to the drawer that contained the freshly laundered aprons. ‘You know, I’ve told Mike that instead of keeping our place in Marbella as a holiday home – which we get to visit once or twice a year if we’re lucky – we should invest in a something like this, but on a smaller scale, obviously. When I spoke to Claudia about it yesterday, she told me to go for it. Did you know that before she set up the Paradise Cookery School in St Lucia, she’d been thinking of expanding her repertoire here by organising courses aimed at the younger generation – a Cool Kids Cookery Course in the Cotswolds?’
‘No, I didn’t—’
‘Well, I think it’s a great idea. It’s really important to teach our children to cook healthy meals – and it’s a much more valuable life skill than learning to speak French or Spanish, in my opinion. She should definitely run a few courses in the school holidays.’
‘I agree,’ smiled Millie, trying to disguise her reaction so that Marianne didn’t ask any more questions about the future plans of the school. She didn’t want to lie to her, but she knew Claudia wouldn’t want her private business about the imminent demise of the whole Claudia Croft Cookery School being made public. She decided to change the subject. ‘Where’s Mike?’
‘On his way down, don’t worry. He won’t miss this session – he loves brunch. We never miss an opportunity to indulge on a Sunday morning, sitting at our kitchen table with the newspapers. It’s the only time we get to relax together without interruptions. The working week is so full-on, then Saturdays are spent rushing around catching up on chores and entertaining – so Sunday is sacrosanct. I wish we had more time to do that, actually. Ah, here he is. Mike, I was just telling Millie that I’d love to run a cookery school at our villa. Oh, and I’d have embroidered aprons and chef’s hats and give everyone a file filled with laminated recipe cards to take home afterwards. Oh, and we’d do healthy Spanish tapas and—’
‘Morning everyone. I’m starving,’ interrupted Leo as he strode towards the coffee machine accompanied by a waft of spicy aftershave. ‘Can’t wait to get stuck in and sample today’s brunch. Then, my friends, I have a treat planned for us.’ Leo’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
‘What?’ asked Gina, following him into the kitchen, grabbing a slice of home-made panettone on the way past.
‘It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, would it? But trust me, you’re going to love it.’
Millie smiled. Leo had confided in her at the beginning of the week that he had scored four Grand Circle tickets for the pantomime in Oxford that night. They were going to enjoy an evening of unbridled theatrical fun before going out for dinner. She knew they’d have a great time.
Millie glanced at the clock and then at the door into the hallway. It was nine forty-five and a coil of concern had begun to weave through her chest as she wondered why Claudia hadn’t arrived yet.
‘Okay, so today we’ll be preparing Eggs Benedict with the best hollandaise sauce you’ve ever tasted and finished with a dash of caviar. Then, we’ll rustle up a delicious smoked salmon and mascarpone tortilla before moving on to the Brioche French toast which we’ll serve with thinly sliced bananas and warm salted caramel sauce. Why don’t you make a start on chopping the pistachios for the Stollen muffins and I’ll be back in a minute?’
