In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (103) – Filled with Dread

September

 

Sadie Grassman was a very successful chef, and she was well respected by fellow professionals and was highly regarded by everyone who knew her, but her success didn’t extend to her personal life, she may have had the Midas touch in the kitchen, but she was more like Medusa in the romance department.

She was living in Pipershaven with her family when her career took off, which began in a very small way when she was still at college in Abbottsford.

It all started when one of her teachers, a kindred spirit Jane Donald, who employed her as sous chef in her home dining enterprise.

Jane felt an affinity with Sadie because she was doing the same college course at the same college that Jane had, and at the same time her love life was also a total disaster.

Sadie’s bad luck in love continued after she left college and got a restaurant job under Jane’s uncle at his own restaurant where she fell heavily for a gorgeous waiter, who alas turned out to be gay.

And that was the crux of her problem, she kept falling in love with the wrong guys.

After three years at the Faustino’s in Abbottsford, Jane Donald asked her to join her at La Florenza in Purplemere and after two years of that Sadie became Chef in residence after Jane fell pregnant.

The only downside being that she had her heart broken in twice over the next two years before she decided to strike out on her own and got the job of head chef at the Pheasant in Quarry Hill.

After having her heart broken once too often Sadie finally swore herself off men, which she managed to keep to for more than five years before cupid struck again.

It was while she was at the Pheasant that she first met Charlie and Toddy Phelps, although they weren’t married at that point.

The Phelps became regular patrons and when the retreat became a reality they approached Sadie to be their Chef de Cuisine at St Adelaide’s Reflection and Healing Retreat.

She wasn’t sure at first but like many people before her she found it really difficult to say no to Toddy.

 

When she moved to the Retreat in Pepperstock Green at the end of May to take up her new position she wasn’t looking for love.

She was there to evaluate the kitchens, and produce a list of equipment she required, so she could do what she did best, cooking.

Sadie also had the responsibility to interview and employ her own staff, she had already put out feelers among the staff she had worked with in the past and Toddy had invited applications herself, but the final choice was down to Sadie.

 

As Sadie was head Chef she was entitled to one of the staff cottages located on the other side of the River by Carpenters Farm and had only been in the Cottage for two weeks when she met and fell for one of the maintenance team, Tom Webb.

It took her completely by surprise in several ways, firstly she wasn’t looking for anyone and she had her feelings locked squarely away, but most of all he wasn’t her type in any way shape or form.

He was older than her for a start, quietly spoken, socially awkward, nervy and a bit gawky looking to boot.

 

Tom for his part found himself attracted to her as well, despite the fact she was loud, feisty, and outspoken, and very much not the type of woman he was looking for, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and his heart wanted her.

 

As it turned out they weren’t the only ones to think Sadie and Tom were mismatched, but despite the misgivings of all concerned they soon found themselves going out together and then confounded the sceptics by becoming an inseparable couple.

And all was going well but at the back of Sadie’s mind was the fear that it would all go wrong, bound to go wrong, because her relationship always went wrong.

All her adult life she had failed in the art of love, every time she would fall for someone in a breathless passion, she would suffer the hoppy skippy heart when she looked at him, and feel that desperate longing when they were apart, and she would give herself completely, only for it all to fall apart.

Year after year, several times a year, she found herself falling again, helpless to resist, in fact it was like reliving a bad dream when she was forced to make the same mistakes over and over again.

However, she managed to break the cycle, after having her heart broken once too often and managed to keep love at bay for more than five years before she fell for Tom.

 

Sadie had her reservations about dipping her toe in the water but after they had been going out together for the best part of three months she began to lower her guard, and that was when she started to hear the rumours which left her cold. 

There were some in the kitchen who delighted in the fact that they could bring bad news to her door but there were many others who only had her welfare at heart and sought to comfort her.

But no matter how many positives she heard from friends and staff she only remembered the negatives.

That was because the rumour that she kept hearing was that Tom was not going to be part of the maintenance for very much longer and what gave credence to the rumour in Sadie’s mind was the fact that Tom had been quieter than normal and was clearly distracted, so she feared the worst.

 

Everything came to a head on the 2nd of September when she was in the kitchen at the Retreat prepping for lunch with her Sous Chef Madelaine Colgate when he knocked on the door.

This just in itself threw Sadie into a blind panic and seeing her reaction Madelaine made herself scarce.

The reason Sadie was so fearful was that he never visited her before lunch because he knew how busy she was.

Sadie’s sense of foreboding was like the day signified the end of one chapter and beginning of another, with particular emphasis on “the end” and in her case “the end” meant having her heart broken.

She took a deep breath summoned up a smile and opened the door.

“Hello hon” she said, “this is a nice surprise.”

He walked past her without speaking and he was wearing a grave expression, which quickly removed the smile from her own face.

He sat down at the table, and she joined him.

“Sadie! I need to say something” he said abruptly.

“Oh God you’re leaving the retreat” she snapped.

“And you’re breaking up with me.”

“No” he said impatiently.

“What part?” she asked.

“What?”

“What part is no?” Sadie asked, “the leaving or the dumping.”

“Neither” he replied, “I mean both.”

“Then I don’t understand what’s happening, you come here wearing the face of doom saying you need to say something, there are rumours flying around the village about changes at the Retreat and you have been very distracted lately and I don’t know what’s going on, so if you’re not leaving the Retreat and you’re not dumping me, what then?”

“Sadie Grassman, will you please stop talking long enough for me to ask you to marry me” Tom said.

“What?” she exclaimed.

“Will you marry me?” he asked,

“So, you’re staying?” she quizzed “at St Adelaide’s.”

“Yes” he confirmed “I’m to be head of maintenance.”

“So, it’s the Vicar who is leaving?” she mused.

“Yes, to pastures new” he said.

“Wow that’s a relief” Sadie exclaimed and sighed.

“So?” he said.

“So, what?”

“The marriage thing?” he pointed out and only got a blank look and silence until she screamed and threw her arms around his neck.

“Yes, Yes, and Yes” she said punctuating each affirmative with a kiss.

“Of course, I’ll marry you.”