‘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 ofcanned 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 pâté 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.’
It was ridiculous really, but those few words of praise made Harry feel ten feet tall.
He was just dishing up the last portion of pasta and wondering if he should make something else when Kat came over and held out her hand. ‘Give me that spoon, Harry. You’ve done more than enough for one night.’
His hand tightened reflexively on the handle of the slotted spoon before he surrendered it with a laugh. ‘Yes, ma’am.’
She tossed the spoon in the sink then picked up the bowl of steaming pasta and thrust it at him. ‘Sit. Eat.’
Harry let her usher him towards the table. ‘I never knew you had this bossy streak in you, Kitty. I kind of like it,’ he teased.
‘Eat!’ She struggled to speak through her laughter.
