Page 92 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

As expected, Pete spun around to look at her once more, shaking his head ferociously. ‘We cannot change them,’ he told her. ‘They cost me a small fortune.’

‘And are terribly uncomfortable,’ she replied. ‘Have you even tried sitting on one for the duration of a meal. They’re rock hard.’

He faltered in his protestations. ‘Belle,’ he told her. ‘We can’t return them. They’ve been used. And, for what it’s worth, my savings are seriously depleted.’

‘We don’t have to return them,’ she said. ‘I can make some seat cushions to soften them up. They can still look stylish without being hideously painful to sit on.’

‘Okay,’ he said, still sounding unsure. ‘Just don’t put a whole load of pink bows everywhere, that’s all I’m asking.’

Belle rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, because I’m known for my love of bows and pastel colours, aren’t I?’

Pete chuckled. ‘Okay. Fair enough.’

She looked around the room once more. It could work, she thought. With just a few more homely touches, perhaps it would work out all right.

She turned to find Pete staring down at her.

‘I should have listened to you from the beginning,’ he said softly.

‘Yes, you should have,’ she told him. ‘But if we start to make a few changes now then maybe something good can come from this.’

Change was certainly on the way with regard to the menu too.

Belle sat down with Pete and Brad that afternoon to discuss the choice of food. She took heart from the fact that Pete was including her in the meeting. That finally he trusted her opinion regarding what the inn needed.

They both looked down at the menu that Brad had made on his phone. It wasn’t ambitious nor particularly long, but it covered all the basic inn food requirements, such as a burger, steak, vegetarian pie, pasta, pizza and, on Sundays, a choice of roasts.

‘This looks great,’ she said, smiling at Brad. ‘Really great.’

He gave a shrug of his shoulders. ‘It’s just stuff that I’d wanna eat, you know? If I came to the inn.’

Belle looked across at Pete.

‘This is really good,’ said Pete, to Brad’s obvious relief. ‘Let’s keep the menu short to start off with until we find our feet. I’m aiming to start this weekend.’

‘Okay, boss,’ said Brad.

‘I want to source all the produce for the menu locally,’ carried on Pete, who gave Belle a knowing look. ‘That should please my brother.’

‘And the local farms too,’ replied Belle.

‘I’ll need to get back in touch with Cassie and see if she has a friend to help staff the restaurant again if Aaron is to be your commis chef,’ said Pete. ‘But there’s just one problem with this menu,’ said Pete. ‘Where’s the desserts?’

Brad broke into a wide grin. ‘Apple pie, mince pies and you haven’t lived until you’ve tasted my death by chocolate,’ he said.

As it happened, he was right because he spent the rest of the day preparing and serving them testers of all the various recipes in the kitchen. Each one was delicious.

‘Have you tasted Brad’s pizza yet?’ asked Pete.

Belle clutched her full stomach. ‘I have and if I keep eating everything, I’m not going to be able to fit through the door soon,’ she replied.

Pete’s eyes softened as he looked at her. ‘Let me keep an eye on your figure, okay? And you’re looking mighty fine today.’

She couldn’t help but smile back at him. ‘You’re so corny,’ she told him. ‘How on earth did you manage to date so many women?’

‘I have a cheeky grin,’ he told her, breaking into a wide smile before walking away.

After he had left, she walked slowly to the window. Outside, she could see that the snow was falling quite heavily now. Everything was being wiped clean by the snow.