Chapter 9
Harry blinked in surprise at the question.
He honestly hadn’t expected Kat to accept his offer, hadn’t really thought through the implications of making it.
She’d just sounded so sad and desperate he’d wanted to make her feel better.
He shoved a hand through his hair as he tried to get his brain working. ‘Umm, whenever you like.’
Kat’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, you didn’t mean it, did you? You were just trying to be nice.’ A flush reddened her cheeks and she turned away abruptly. ‘Forget it, Harry. I’ll sort something out.’
He reached for her without thinking, his hand locking around her arm, feeling the thinness of it.
She’d been so slight against him when they’d been dancing, like even a hint of a breeze would carry her away.
That protective instinct roared back into life.
Someone needed to look after Kat, because she clearly hadn’t been looking after herself.
‘Tomorrow. You can move in tomorrow, first thing.’ Hadn’t he promised the juniors he’d sort out the kitchen though?
‘Damn, not first thing because I need to clean up.’
‘If it’s that bad, maybe I don’t want to move in after all,’ Kat countered, but she was smiling as she said it.
‘Smart arse,’ he admonished, lightly. ‘I meant at the restaurant. The kids worked really hard tonight so I said I’d sort things out as I was leaving early to come here.’
Her smile softened. ‘You’re a good guy, Harry.’
The words warmed him even as they made him shift uncomfortably. ‘Don’t go spreading that around, okay?’
Kat tossed her head back and laughed. ‘Your secret’s safe with me. I can’t move in too early because most of my stuff is at Issy’s.’ She recalled the pair of them smooching on the patio. ‘And somehow I don’t think she’d appreciate me disturbing them at the crack of dawn.’
‘Probably not.’ Harry shook his head, not wanting to think about what Liam and Issy might be getting up to later.
Releasing her arm, he shooed her gently in front of him into the kitchen.
‘Right, let’s find that drink. We need to celebrate your new living arrangements.
’ The state of the kitchen stopped him in his tracks.
Dirty plates and glasses littered every surface along with empty bottles and trays of half-eaten food. ‘Christ, look at this mess.’
Kat hurried towards the table and began stacking the dirty plates. ‘We can’t let your poor mum see it like this, not after all her hard work.’
With a nod, Harry shoved up the sleeves of his jumper then pulled open the dishwasher door. Someone had made a complete pig’s ear of stacking it. He quickly rearranged things while Kat ferried plates and cups to the worktop beside him.
‘We’ll never get everything in,’ she observed, looking over his shoulder. ‘I’ll put the glasses by the sink and we can wash those by hand.’
‘Good idea.’
By the time he’d completed the Jenga puzzle of the dishwasher and turned it on, Kat had moved on to the trays of food, discarding anything that looked past its best and consolidating a few leftover sandwiches on to a single tray.
‘Just cover the crisps and that with a bit of cling film,’ Harry suggested. ‘Someone’s bound to get the nibbles.’
‘M’kay.’ Kat’s words were muffled by the sandwich she’d stuffed in her mouth.
‘Looks like you’ve got the nibbles, yourself,’ he said with a laugh.
Kat blushed as she swallowed the food. ‘Sorry, I haven’t had a chance to eat anything this evening.’
Well, he wasn’t having that. Reaching for the nearest chair, Harry pulled it out and pointed at it. ‘Sit.’
‘What about the washing up?’
‘We can sort that out in a minute. I’m not letting you go hungry when I can do something about it.’ He gestured at the chair again. ‘Sit.’
She shot him a bemused glance but did as he instructed.
Once he’d tucked her up at the table, Harry turned to survey the tray of limp sandwiches before shaking his head and opening the fridge.
No one had been keen on the chopped vegetables, it seemed, as there were several bowls still on the top shelf.
He pulled them out and placed them on the counter, before returning to see what else he could find.
Ah ha! He lifted out a pack with four ready-roasted chicken breasts and put them next to the vegetables, then bent down to open the cupboard his mother used to store dried goods and retrieved a packet of instant noodles.
‘What are you doing?’ Kat protested when he pulled open the large drawer under the oven and lifted out a wok. ‘A couple of those sandwiches will be fine!’
‘They’ve been out for hours.’ Harry poked one with his finger. The bread was already stale around the edges and he turned an accusing look on Kat. ‘I can’t believe you ate one of these!’
‘It wasn’t that bad,’ she protested.
‘Well, I’m not letting anyone else risk food poisoning tonight,’ he said, carting the tray over to the bin and tipping the sandwiches inside before returning to his task.
A couple more cupboard searches and he had everything he needed.
Having washed his hands, he dumped the dried noodles in a pan of water then poured oil into the wok and fired up the burner underneath it.
He was just tossing the softened noodles into the wok with the rest of the ingredients when Chloe walked in, Adam on her heels. ‘Something smells good!’ his cousin exclaimed as she came over to peer over his shoulder. ‘What are you making?’
‘Chicken stir fry. If you want some make yourself useful and grab some bowls and cutlery.’
‘Oh, yum!’ She hurried away to do as he’d instructed.
By the time he was ready to dish up, there were four bowls waiting on the counter at his elbow. He’d just begun spooning it out when Liam and Issy arrived. ‘God, I’m starving!’ his eldest brother declared.
Harry surveyed the contents of the wok and decided it could stretch to another couple of portions. He pointed his spoon towards the cupboard. ‘Get me two more bowls.’
He served everyone and was just about to claim his seat when Ed wandered in. ‘Here you all are! Oh, what’ve you got there?’
Without a word, Harry pulled out the chair and gestured at it. ‘You’re just in time.’
‘Cheers, bro!’ Ed plonked himself down, grabbed a fork and began shovelling noodles in his mouth like his life depended upon it.
‘What about you?’ Kat asked. Her food sat uneaten in front of her, a small frown marring her brow.
Harry nudged her bowl closer. ‘Eat up before it gets cold. I’ll find something, don’t worry.’
Knowing the smell of food would draw more people to the kitchen, Harry returned to the fridge and pulled out some unused salad ingredients from the crisper drawer, which he quickly chopped and mixed into a large bowl.
It didn’t take him long to whip up a vinaigrette to go with it and he set them both on the table.
‘This is so good, thank you,’ Kat said with a smile and he was pleased to see her bowl was already half-empty.
‘It’s great,’ Adam agreed as he reached for the salad and spooned some into his bowl next to the rest of his stir fry.
‘I’m glad you like it.’ There was nothing Harry enjoyed more than seeing people enjoy his food, even if it was just something he’d chucked together on a whim. He turned back to Kat. ‘Do you want anything else?’
Shaking her head, she pushed her bowl aside. ‘No, I can’t finish what I’ve got.’
‘You’re not leaving that, are you?’ Ed asked, his hand already reaching for her bowl.
‘Help yourself,’ Kat said with a grin even as Ed was tipping the leftovers on top of his own food. With a shake of her head, she stood and came around the table towards Harry. ‘Aren’t you going to eat?’
‘In a bit. I’m going to whip up a few other things in case anyone else is peckish.’
Kat retrieved her now empty bowl and placed it on the already crowded counter beside the sink. ‘I never got around to washing these glasses.’
‘Here, I’m finished, I’ll give you a hand.’ Chloe joined Kat and they soon had a little production line set up together with Liam and Issy who were in charge of drying up and putting things away.
Leaving them to it, Harry turned his mind back to what else he could make that was easy.
A bag of pasta, a triple pack of canned tuna, some frozen mixed veg and a couple of cans of mushroom soup later and he had the ingredients for a quick and dirty tuna pasta bake.
It wasn’t going to win any awards but this late at night people wouldn’t care.
Adam came over to join him. ‘Hey, I know now’s not the time but I’d definitely like to hear more about your idea. Can we fix up a meet sometime, soon?’
Harry nodded. ‘That’d be great! Can you give me a few days to get my head around it first? I don’t want to waste your time if I can’t make it work.’
‘Of course, and don’t be afraid to ask for advice if you need it, I’ll be around for the foreseeable.’ He clapped Harry on the shoulder. ‘In the meantime, what can I do to help here? I’m not an expert like you, but I know my way around a kitchen.’
‘There’s some paté and cheese in the fridge.’ Harry nodded towards it. ‘Can you put it on the table, maybe make a few rounds of toast as well?’
Adam grinned. ‘Feeding the five thousand?’
He laughed. ‘Something like that.’ He’d been to enough parties to know that people always got the late-night munchies after a few drinks.
Harry’s instinct proved correct and the kitchen was suddenly the most popular place in the house.
The pasta was well on the way and Adam was already three quarters of the way through an entire loaf of bread when Harry’s parents walked in.
‘You should’ve come and found me!’ his mum exclaimed as she hurried over.
‘It’s all in hand, Mum,’ he assured her. ‘Go and grab a seat.’
‘Leave the boy to do his thing,’ his dad said, capturing his wife’s hand and tugging her away. ‘What you making, son?’ he called over as the pair of them sat at the table.
‘Pasta bake, but it’ll be a few minutes.’
‘It’ll be worth the wait, I’m sure.’