Page 59 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

‘You did want a gastronomic experience?’ prompted Andre down the line. ‘The best gastro restaurant in the area?’

Pete nodded. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I believe I did say that.’

‘Then these are the menus that will gain you the best possible outcome,’ said Andre. There was a short silence before he added, ‘And the best reviews from popular food critics as well, of course.’

That ended Pete’s hesitation almost immediately. Reviews were vital in getting a new restaurant up and running. The classier the establishment, the better in his opinion.

‘Of course,’ carried on Andre. ‘If you wish to go back to the kind of food that they had there before…’

His voice drifted off, leaving Pete with the memory of the horrible food that Angie had used to cook. If indeed cook was the right description for the inedible mess that he had found on his dinner plate the one time that he had dared to eat there.

‘Yes, you’re quite right,’ said Pete quickly. ‘Okay, well, if you think that this will all taste as good as it sounds than let’s go with this new menu. We can always tweak it as time passes, depending on how well it goes down.’

‘Absolutely,’ said Andre, sounding smug. ‘I thought you’d agree that going upper class is really the way forward. All this back-to-earth, good grub just fills me with absolute horror. I shall get going on ordering the food and send you the invoices, okay? Toodles.’

The line went dead and Pete sagged back against his chair.

Upper class? In Cranbridge? For a second, his unfailing confidence wavered. Had he pitched it right? Would it be okay?

Of course it would, he reminded himself. Just because The Black Swan had started off run-down and rustic, it didn’t mean that was how it was destined to continue. After all, wasn’t that the reason the place had been nicknamed The Mucky Duck?

Not that it had a name at all, at the moment. Behind the shroud of the scaffolding, the old letters spelling out half of the name of The Black Swan had finally been removed in preparation for the outside of the building being painted the following week.

‘Hey,’ said Josh, heading across the small pedestrian bridge. ‘How’s it going?’

‘Okay, thanks,’ Pete said, his breath visible in the cold morning air. It was mid-October already and the autumn colours were vivid all around them, as well as being reflected in the river. ‘I was just checking out the menus for the restaurant,’ he added. ‘Do you want to see them?’

Josh shook his head. ‘Let it be a surprise when me and the family come for the big opening night,’ he said. ‘Not long to go now.’

Pete nodded. ‘I know. Hey, thanks for the tip-off about the local brewers. I’ve got some great local wines and gin on order. The beer’s already been delivered.’

It was the one change that Pete was most confident about. The locally brewed drinks were of excellent quality and he had been very impressed when he had tasted them all.

‘Great,’ said Josh, looking pleased. ‘That will help local business.’

‘As will a good restaurant,’ added Pete.

Josh cleared his throat. ‘Look, I know you’ve had this great idea and I agree that it should be good for the community…’

‘We’ve been through this before,’ said Pete. ‘I do have experience in running a place like this.’

‘Only in Singapore,’ replied Josh. ‘And Cranbridge is no sophisticated city.’

‘I know. That’s why I’ve sourced all local drinks.’

‘Okay,’ said Josh with a shrug. ‘I’m sure you know what you’re doing.’

At that moment, Pete wasn’t sure that he did.

They both looked up at the scaffolding once more.

‘It’s going to look so much better than before,’ said Pete.

‘Couldn’t have looked much worse,’ said Josh, with a grin. ‘If I forget to tell you next week, I’m proud of what you’ve achieved.’

‘Thanks,’ said Pete, pleased to have his brother’s support.

‘That’s quite enough of the touchy-feely stuff for now,’ muttered Josh. ‘I’m off to the cash and carry.’