‘I’ll sit with her,’ Rick said, coming over to join them. He unhooked a pink backpack covered in butterflies from his shoulder and set it down on the table, then leaned over to kiss Harry on the cheek in greeting. ‘How’s it all going? Making progress?’
‘Yeah, I think so. I feel a lot less muddled since Kat came on board and got everything organised,’ Harry said as he set Freya down in the seat by the window and she began rummaging in her backpack.
‘Things going well with you two, then?’ There was a teasing edge to Rick’s smile.
‘Don’t you start,’ Harry grumbled.
Rick laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. ‘I’m really happy for you, bro.’
‘I’m really happy for me too,’ Harry admitted with a grin.
Liam came over to see what they wanted to drink. ‘I’m going to keep an eye on things until Issy reappears.’
‘I’ll give you a hand.’
Harry was gathering dirty cups from an empty table when the café door flew open. He glanced up to see Chloe standing there, one hand pressed to her heaving chest as if she’d run all the way. Which, knowing Chloe, she probably had. ‘Kitchen,’ Harry said,pointing back over his shoulder. She paused only long enough to scowl at him before hurrying away. Harry rolled his eyes and went to close the door she’d left open when Matt and Adam both appeared.
‘Morning,’ Matt said to Harry.
‘Morning. Liam’s sorting out drinks for everyone.’ He smiled past his cousin towards Adam. ‘Hey, I didn’t know you’d be joining us today.’
‘You don’t mind, do you?’ Adam asked as he held out a hand for Harry to shake.
‘Not at all. I’d be interested to hear what you think. I was going to get in contact with you anyway; I just wanted to make sure I had all my ducks in a row, first.’
Adam grinned. ‘Well, I’m here now so maybe I can help you get them lined up nice and neat.’
Kat and the others appeared from the kitchen at that moment on a gale of laughter.
‘Whatever they’re laughing at, I’m probably not going to like it,’ Harry muttered.
‘Probably not.’ Adam clapped him on the shoulder. ‘Come on. How bad can it be?’
‘How bad can it be?’ Harry glanced over at Kat and her friends and caught another laser-beam glare from Chloe for his troubles. ‘Very bloody bad.’ Still, it would take more than his cousin giving him evils to put Harry off, so he picked up the dirty plates he’d been collecting and headed over to the counter.
Issy stepped forward to intercept him, reaching for the stack he was holding with a smile. ‘I’ll take those, shall I?’
‘Thanks.’ He wasn’t really paying attention as he handed them over, his focus all on Kat. ‘Everything okay?’ he asked as soon as Issy had walked away.
‘Everything’s fine. They’re very happy for us.’
Harry cast a look towards Chloe, who was still shooting daggers his way. ‘Even her?’
Kat laughed. ‘Oh, you know what Chloe’s like. She’ll threaten you with all sorts of tortures, no doubt, but she’s harmless.’
‘Clearly you’ve never been on the receiving end of a kick in the shins from her,’ Harry grumbled.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,’ Kat said with a grin as she put her arm around his waist and patted his chest with her other hand. ‘Let’s sit down, shall we?’
They settled around the tables with the exception of Issy, who was busy ferrying plates of waffles, bowls of berries and crème fraiche and other tasty treats. The sea air had given Harry an appetite and he wasn’t the only one as everyone fell on the delicious food. It didn’t take them long to polish everything off and once the plates were cleared, Kat unloaded the contents of the rucksack they’d brought with them. There was a rustle around the table as the others produced various notebooks, sketches, catalogues and folders. Harry thought he’d be better off leaving Kat to run things, but she seemed determined to centre him in the conversation and soon he was bent over a supplier catalogue with Matt as they tried to finalise choices for fixtures so Matt could price everything up.
Across from them, Chloe and Anya were having what they called a spirited debate and what Harry thought was getting close to a full-blown row over the merits of two different shades of paint that looked pretty much the same to him. He decided to let them figure it out between them when Chloe suddenly rounded on him. ‘What do you think, Harry?’
‘Umm…’ He cast a pleading glance at Kat but she was busy tapping and scribbling and he didn’t want to disturb her. He looked back at the two paint charts his cousin had thrust across the table towards him. ‘Isn’t cream a bit boring?’
‘It isn’t cream, it’s buttermilk or ivory,’ Chloe corrected, as if that made the slightest bit of difference. ‘And I thought you said you wanted something neutral.’
‘The walls are just a backdrop,’ Anya added. ‘Remember we talked about getting some professional photographs taken of dishes you’ll be teaching on the courses and putting prints up?’
