Page 57 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

Andre turned to look at her. ‘But this is my kitchen. My empire,’ he said smoothly at her.

‘It’s okay,’ said Brad quietly. ‘I’m good enough.’

Belle glanced over at the young man, who was suddenly looking very determined.

‘Well then, let’s see,’ said Andre, walking towards the long kitchen counter. ‘I need these vegetables finely chopped.’

Brad grabbed the small rucksack he had brought with him and produced a couple of expensive-looking knives.

‘Good brand,’ said Andre with a nod of what appeared to be approval.

‘Saved up for them ’specially,’ said Brad, looking proud of himself.

Brad almost strutted over to the counter, thought Belle. He was confident of his abilities, she realised, with hope filling her heart. He just needed to be given a chance.

But even she was amazed when his knife flew over the vegetables in a matter of seconds. It was as if a film had been sped up, such was the speed at which he prepared the vegetables.

Having completed his instruction, Brad stepped back, a smug look on his face.

Andre leaned down to study the chopped vegetables in silence before straightening up once more. ‘Not bad,’ he said eventually.

Brad appeared to grow taller in that moment at the unexpected praise. Belle thought that Brad hadn’t had much encouragement in his life so far. He looked proud of himself, as well he should.

‘Of course, there are better techniques out there,’ carried on Andre. ‘I myself was trained at the Iles de Paris by none other than Pierre Madiot. One of the finest chefs in the world. So, in his eyes, you would be doing it completely wrong.’

At once, Brad deflated back down in front of Belle’s eyes. She groaned inwardly. Andre was awful. The man didn’t have any idea how to motivate or give people confidence. He would be a completely useless mentor to Brad.

She spun on her heel and marched out of the kitchen, leaving Andre still regaling stories of his glamorous days in a Parisian kitchen. She wondered why he hadn’t stayed there. Surely The Black Swan was a major comedown for someone whose ego could hardly fit through the door?

She found Pete in the new restaurant where the new spotlights were being placed either side of the oak beams overhead.

‘I need to talk to you,’ she hissed.

He looked surprised at her angry tone. ‘What’s up?’ he asked, letting her take his arm and drag him over to a quiet corner.

‘It’s about Andre,’ said Belle, through gritted teeth.

Pete leaned against wall and crossed his arms. ‘What now?’ he asked, with a heavy sigh.

‘I don’t like him,’ said Belle.

‘Why am I not surprised?’ murmured Pete. ‘Is it because he’s male?’

She glared at him. ‘No! I have some very nice male friends actually,’ she told him.

His eyebrows shot up. ‘You do? Who?’ he asked.

Belle was perplexed by his surprised reaction. ‘Well, your brother for a start. Look, can we get back to talking about Andre?’

‘If we must,’ said Pete, who was also frowning now.

‘I just feel like he’s looking down his nose at us the whole time,’ said Belle.

Pete shook his head. ‘No,’ he told her. ‘I think that’s just his whole chef demeanour.’

‘Yeah, right,’ she drawled. ‘Listen, he was pretty awful to Brad when I was in the kitchen with them. Shouldn’t he be mentoring him? Encouraging him? Rather than putting him down.’

‘Haven’t you seen those Gordon Ramsay shows?’ said Pete. ‘He’s not exactly all warm and fuzzy, is he?’