‘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 traysof 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.
