Chapter 29
Harry managed to keep himself occupied until the rain started.
He frowned at the thick rivulets running down the window.
It had been nearly two hours since Kat had called him to say she was going to talk to her mum.
He knew there was a lot to say between them, but shouldn’t she have been home by now?
He wondered if he should call her, but he didn’t want to interrupt.
Maybe he could send her a text? Even he could manage to type ‘U OK’ without stuffing it up.
No, he’d told her to do her thing and she knew where he was.
Getting in contact might make him feel better but he could be intruding at the wrong moment. He’d just have to suck it up.
That resolve lasted all of ten minutes and then he marched into the hall to put on his coat and shoes.
He knew the likely route she’d take home so he would head that way and hopefully meet her on her way back.
And if he got to her parents’ house without finding her?
Well, he’d cross that bridge if and when he came to it.
He yanked open the door and all but bumped into Kat, who was standing on the top step.
He took one look at the state of her and swore viciously as he pulled her inside.
Her hair was plastered around her face, the shoulders of her coat darker than the rest of it from the rain.
Ignoring how wet she was, Harry enfolded her in his arms. Her cheeks were red with cold and she was visibly shivering.
‘I’m okay,’ she said, then immediately started to cry.
Anger and worry filled him as he yanked her against him, rocking her gently as her slight frame shuddered against him.
He hadn’t had a chance to zip up his coat and the water from hers had soon soaked through the front of his jumper.
Harry stepped back only long enough to unzip and push her coat away and strip off his wet jumper before he pulled her close once more, rubbing his hands up and down her back to try and warm her up.
The storm of tears passed almost as quickly as it had arrived. It wasn’t long before she took a deep breath and raised her head to look up at him. ‘I’m okay,’ she said, her voice strong and steady.
‘Come in the kitchen and you can tell me about it, while you eat something.’ He tried to urge her in that direction but she resisted a moment.
‘What about the carpet? It’s raining and my shoes are wet, I need to take them off.’
‘I noticed the rain,’ he said, gesturing to the damp patch on his T-shirt from where she’d rested her wet head against it.
He scooped her up in his arms and carried her through to the kitchen where he sat her down on a chair.
‘I don’t care about the carpet. You’re freezing cold and I need to get some warm food inside you. ’
He turned the soup back on to reheat while he fetched towels from the bathroom and her pyjamas, a cosy hoodie and a pair of thick socks from her bedroom.
Though she grumbled about being fine and that he should stop bullying her, Harry soon had her out of her wet clothes and into the dry things with a towel wrapped around her hair.
‘I remember when you used to take your time undressing me,’ Kat said as he knelt to pull the socks on over her cold toes.
Harry grinned up at her, relieved she was sounding more like herself.
‘I promise I’ll make it nice and slow next time, but I can’t say I find blue a particularly attractive skin-tone on any woman, not even you.
’ He rose, pausing on his way up to press a quick kiss to her lips. ‘Let me sort that soup out for you.’
He would’ve pulled away but her hand caught the back of his head and pulled him back in for another kiss. ‘Thank you.’
‘For what?’ Not that he minded kisses – he’d take as many as she could give him – but she didn’t need to thank him for doing the bare minimum anyone would do for someone they cared about.
‘For being you. For being here.’
‘I’ll always be here for you,’ he promised, feeling the truth of it deep in his bones. Even if he wasn’t a Penrose with a protective streak a mile wide, he’d still be here for her because she’d been let down too often by the people she should’ve been able to depend on the most.
It didn’t take him long to dish up the soup and doorstep slices of fresh, crusty bread slathered in butter. He ate in silence, doing his best to tamp down his anger as she unfolded what had happened with her mother – or Jen as she was now insisting on calling her – in fits and starts.
‘Do you think it’ll make any difference?’ he asked when she’d finished.
Kat swallowed the last of her soup and set her spoon in the bowl with a sigh. ‘Honestly, probably not, but I couldn’t go any longer without saying something. It’s not her I’m worried about so much as my dad.’ Her pretty nose scrunched in worry. ‘You should’ve seen the state of him, Harry.’
Harry had markedly less sympathy for the man for letting things get to such a low point, but saying so wouldn’t do anything other than make Kat feel worse, so he kept that to himself.
As much as he wanted to encourage her to stand firm and break away from this hold her parents had on her, he knew she’d never forgive herself if anything happened to her dad.
Truth be told he wouldn’t forgive himself, either.
‘I think you should focus on the coffee shop, at least for the time being.’
Kat’s eyes widened. ‘But what about the bid?’
Harry took her hands and gently massaged her fingers.
‘It’s fine. It’s better than fine, it’s in great shape thanks to all your hard work.
I’ll get Liam and Rick to give it a once-over on Friday when I go round to my folks’ for dinner.
’ His mum had found out it was Adam’s birthday and she didn’t like the idea of him not having anyone around to celebrate it, so she’d invited him over.
Harry had booked the night off. If the school went ahead he’d be leaving the restaurant anyway, so it would be a good chance for Russ to get one of the juniors to step up and see how they got on.
‘No, no!’ Kat protested. ‘I just needed to say my piece to Jen and now I’m done with all that. If I keep propping Dad up all the time, I’ll never be free to focus on our future.’
Harry had a sneaking suspicion Kat might never be free of the binds her family had wrapped around her, but how could he say that to her given the state she’d come home in?
She’d been so brave today. Given her natural inclination to please and pacify it must’ve been hellishly hard for her to confront her mother the way she had.
He had to give her time, even if everything inside him wanted to urge her to walk away from it all and leave her parents to sort themselves out.
Swallowing down his growing trepidation, he reached across the table and took her hand.
‘I’ve got this, Kat, I promise. I’ll need you with me to make the presentation to Russ because I’m bound to get myself in a muddle when he starts talking facts and figures, but that’s all for the time being.
It’s going to take ages to get everything through, so between now and then I want you to help your dad in whatever way he needs.
Take some extra shifts at the coffee shop if you can stand it and let him rest up and sort himself out.
That way, when you do walk away you can do it without feeling guilty about it. ’
Kat nodded. ‘Thank you.’ She rubbed a tired hand over her eyes.
‘I really wish I didn’t have to do it, but I can’t see any other way.
’ She gave him a smile that was only a little wobbly around the edges.
‘And don’t worry about Monday, I’ll be there no matter what.
I’ve already spoken to Debbie and she’s covering for me so we’ll have the morning to make sure we’re fully prepped. I won’t let you down.’
‘I know you won’t.’ He was sure she believed what she was telling him, but that uncertain feeling inside him wouldn’t go away. Harry stood and tugged her to her feet. ‘Come on, you look absolutely done in, let’s have an early night.’
‘It’s not even five o’clock,’ she protested. ‘We can’t go to bed this early.’
He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close.
‘I never said we had to go to sleep.’ He bent his head to nibble a slow line of kisses along her jaw.
‘We can snuggle up under the covers and watch a film.’ He found the tender skin of her earlobe and gave it a gentle nip, earning a soft moan from her that hit him in all the right places.
‘And once you’re nice and warm and cosy, I’m going to undress you very, very slowly, just like I promised. ’