‘I know just how much you love the special theme weeks. I think we’ve got a better chance of hitting our sales target without you pulling a face every time someone orders a Loveheart Latte, don’t you?’ Her father’s lips tilted in a wry smile.
Kat laughed in response. ‘Point taken! I’ll behave myself, I promise. I don’t want you taking on too much work though, you already look a bit tired.’
Her dad waved her concern away. ‘I’m fine. And don’t worry about cover for you because I’ve arranged for Debbie to come in at lunchtime. She was keen to pick up more hours now her kids are back at school.’ He gestured towards the rota in herhand. ‘You’ll see I’ve given you most weekends off as well, but that might prove a bit more tricky. I might have to ask you to cover the odd day here and there, but it would only be in an emergency. The cut in hours will involve a cut in pay, of course – that simply can’t be helped – but I hope this is at least a step in the right direction for you.’ He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. ‘I know you said your future doesn’t lie here, but I’m going to need a bit more time before I can replace you completely.’
Kat scanned the rota once more, noting with a soft sigh that there were no shifts against her mother’s name. ‘You didn’t have any luck persuading Mum to step up?’
Her father looked away. ‘Things are a bit delicate at the moment.’
Anger at her mother’s selfishness flared at once, but Kat had said her piece on the matter and she wasn’t going to kick her dad when he was already so clearly down. She leaned over and gave him a hug. ‘Thank you for listening to me.’
His arm came around her shoulder and he patted her back. ‘I’m sorry for not realising before how much of a burden I was placing on you.’
Kat pulled back and sniffed away the tears threatening to fall. ‘Look at us being all grown up and communicating.’
Her father laughed. ‘How are things at your new place? Are you settling in okay?’ His brow creased into a look of disapproval. ‘I hope that flatmate of yours is behaving himself.’
Kat swallowed a sigh. Somehow she didn’t think he’d take too kindly if she confessed to having a terrible crush on Harry, one that she was sure was reciprocated but she was too scared to find out in case it messed everything up. Not wanting this new openness between her and her father to devolve into a row, she settled for a neutral smile. ‘It’s good. I have the place to myself more often than not as Harry and I are mainly working oppositeshifts. Plus there’s always delicious leftovers from the restaurant in the fridge.’ She patted her stomach. ‘I’ll have to go on a diet at this rate.’
‘I’m glad it’s working out for you.’ Was he? Or was he also choosing his words with diplomatic care? Either way, Kat would take it.
An awkward silence hung between them for a few moments. Kat shrugged off her coat, hung it up and retrieved a clean apron from her locker. ‘I’d better get us set up for the day.’ She hesitated in the doorway and glanced back at him. ‘I really appreciate you giving me some time for myself, Dad. I’m happy to trial the new schedule for the next couple of months so there’s no pressure to replace me straight away.’
She didn’t miss the way his eyes widened in relief. ‘Are you sure?’
Kat nodded. ‘I need some time to figure out what I want to do next and I’d rather you found the right person – someone who cares about the business.’ He’d made a big concession today, more than she’d ever expected from him, and it was a shame she hadn’t found a way to talk to him about everything sooner. Her future still didn’t lie in the Java Brava franchise but this way they both had some breathing space. Hopefully her mum would get over this latest nonsense of hers sooner rather than later and Warren and his workouts would be forgotten along with all the other men who’d turned her mother’s head. Once she came back to work, it would make life so much easier for everyone.
With the unexpected delight of an afternoon off, Kat hurried home with a renewed skip in her step. Everyone had got on board the Valentine’s Day promotion train it seemed, includingthe writing newsletter she’d signed up for. They’d sent an email that morning entitled ‘Love is in the Air’ with a range of romantic story prompts. As she’d puttered around at work that morning she’d turned them over in the back of her mind until an inkling of an idea had begun to form. She let herself into the flat, intent on grabbing a notebook and scribbling down her thoughts before they escaped, and stopped short at the sound of voices. ‘Hello?’ she called out as she kicked off her shoes. ‘Harry?’
‘In the kitchen.’
Kat hung up her coat and headed left to the kitchen instead of right towards her room and her precious notebook. Harry was sitting at the table, paper, paint charts and what looked like a hardware catalogue strewn across its surface. His hair was all over the place, as if he’d ploughed his hands into it one too many times. He was alone and it took a moment to register the voices she’d heard were some sports radio programme or podcast he must’ve been listening to. He looked stressed and not very pleased to see her.
Kat belatedly realised Mondays were his one day off a week from the restaurant. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you. Dad changed the rota and gave me the afternoon off. I’m just going to grab a cup of tea and I’ll get out of your way. Do you want a drink?’
‘No, thanks, I’m fine.’ Harry grabbed one of the discarded sheets of paper and began scribbling notes on it.
If a watched pot never boiled then a willed-on kettle was slower still even when she’d only added enough water for one drink. After what seemed like an age, Kat beat a retreat from the kitchen, mug in hand, and scuttled off to her bedroom. She settled cross-legged on her bed, pillows stacked up behind her and opened her notebook to a crisp, clean page. The prompt that had caught her imagination had been about finding a love letter and writing the first 500 words of a story. Her initial idea had been about something being delivered to the wrong addressand the meet-cute between the two leads happening when the heroine took it next door and…
How was she going to make an encounter on a doorstep between two strangers interesting?
Kat tapped her pen against her chin as she mulled it over.What if they weren’t strangers?Okay, that had something going for it. She doodled a flower in the top corner of the page as she chased that idea. Childhood sweethearts was a solid option, but she’d have to find a decent hook as to why they’d been separated.Maybe not sweethearts, maybe enemies instead or at least one of them hates the other over something that happened in the past.Kat smiled to herself.So the heroine hates the hero, but it’s a secret grudge he knows nothing about and he’s delighted to see her when he opens the door and… Out of nowhere, the image of Harry wearing nothing but his pants filled her mind.
Kat flapped her notebook in front of her face as she tried to ward off the heat rising on her cheeks then wafted it over her lap for good measure.What if the hero had been having a shower and he runs downstairs in nothing but a towel because he’s expecting an important delivery…Kat bent over her notebook and began to write.
The prompt had been for 500 words but Kat soon had three times that written in an increasingly illegible scrawl. Her mind was racing faster than her hand could go and her fingers were cramping from gripping the pen too tightly. She should stop and switch to her laptop but she didn’t want to break her concentration when she was in such a flow state. The story was rolling out before her in her mind: she could feel every emotion, hear the voices of the two characters as if they were in the same room as her. She knew their family backgrounds, their life circumstances, could already sense what would bring them together and drive them apart again.
Bang!
Her head jerked up with a start and it took Kat a few seconds to work out where she was, and what it was that had disturbed her. She tilted her head and listened intently, but there was no other sound.
With a sigh, she turned her attention back to her story where the heroine had been trying very hard not to notice the knot on the hero’s towel had loosened to reveal the first inch of the thin strip of hair leading down from his navel to his… Kat’s mind reached for and discarded half a dozen different euphemisms for what the hot neighbour was hiding beneath his towel. TikTok might demand a five-chilli spice rating for romance these days but Kat couldn’t even think the words required without getting all hot and bothered, never mind commit them to paper.
She’d tried writing sex scenes before and the logistics alone of whose hand went where and whether or not everyone had removed the requisite clothing before Tab A could be inserted into Slot B was the least sexy thing she’d ever attempted. Mind you, it had been so long since anyone with a Tab A had shown even the remotest interest in her Slot B, perhaps she’d just lost the knack.
Her mind drifted back to that moment in the kitchen when Harry had taken her hand and said her name in a voice that had turned her knees to jelly. She closed her eyes and tried to recapture that fluttery feeling of anticipation, the unexpected desire to lean into the heat of his body.
Okay, this could work…
