‘I’m not, I’m really not.’
He closed the distance between them and bent to kiss her. ‘Sorry, I’ve got to get back.’ He straightened up and touched a gentle finger to her cheek. ‘Will you wait up for me?’
Part of her was still upset with him for challenging her and she hated it because it reminded her too much of the way her mother reacted. But she was much more upset with herself because deep down she was scared he might be right. Well, she’d have to do her best to prove him wrong – prove them both wrong. She stood and stretched on tiptoe to put her arms around his neck. ‘I’ll wait up for you.’
She’d been waiting a lifetime for him and she wasn’t going to let anything ruin the best thing that had ever happened to her.
31
Harry was dressed and ready to go by the time Kat let herself into the flat after work on Friday night. One look at how exhausted she was and the anger with her parents threatened to spill over but he shoved it back down. Tomorrow morning he’d take her out in the yard and they could smash their way through his entire collection of rubbish crockery. Tonight, though, he would do what she needed him to do and take care of her as best he could.
‘You look very smart,’ she said, giving him a weary smile as he stepped up to help her out of her coat.
‘I wanted to make an effort because I know it’ll please Mum. She was on the phone to me this morning going over the dishes she planned for tonight, she’s really going all out for Adam.’ He chuckled. ‘I hope he’s ready for a fuss.’
Kat grinned as she tilted her face up to offer him a kiss. ‘It’ll be nice for your parents to have some time just with you and your brothers and I’m sure Adam will have a great evening. I haven’t had the chance to get to know him much but everyone likes a bit of spoiling now and then.’
‘Speaking of which…’ Harry took Kat’s hand and led her into the front room. He’d spent an hour setting things up for her and her gasp of surprise and delight was worth it.
‘Oh, Harry, what’s this?’
‘I thought you deserved a treat, that’s all.’ A bottle of her favourite Prosecco sat chilling in an ice bucket on the coffee table, next to a box of her favourite chocolates. He’d had to call Issy for advice on those and a few other things as well. The fleece throw his ma had given him as a moving-in present was draped invitingly on the sofa ready for Kat to slide under it and he’d robbed the stock cupboard in the restaurant – with Russ’s blessing, of course – and every available surface was covered in flickering tealights. A basket sat on the coffee table with a selection of face masks and other pamper treatments Issy had dropped off for him earlier.
Harry reached for the remote control, turned on theTVand opened one of their streaming apps. ‘I put together a playlist for you.’ Issy had come through on that point too. ‘And dinner’s all sorted. There’s a plate of antipasti in the fridge and a lasagne in the oven. You’ll just need to turn that on to heat up about thirty-five minutes before you want to eat.’
Tears shone in her eyes as she turned to face him. ‘You didn’t have to do all this for me.’
‘I know, but I wanted to. You’ve had a rough week and you deserve the chance to put your feet up and relax.’ He leaned down and kissed her. ‘I’m going to have to make a move, I promised Mum I’d help her with dinner.’
Smiling, Kat raised her hand and cupped his cheek. ‘Of course you did. Go and have a lovely evening, and thank you so much for all this, it’s perfect. You’re perfect.’
Harry grinned as he stole another quick kiss. ‘You’re not so bad yourself. I’ll see you later, Kitty, save me a chocolate.’
Harry arrived at his parents’ to find they had everything in hand. ‘Did you get me here under false pretences?’ he asked his mum with a laugh as he set down the bag he’d brought with him and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
She had the good grace to look a tad guilty as she leaned in to give him a hug. ‘Is it wrong of me to want to spend a little time with you? You’re so busy at the restaurant and the hours there don’t make it easy to catch up with you.’ She patted his chest. ‘Not that I’m complaining, but I do appreciate you taking the night off for this. I hope it wasn’t a problem?’
‘Not at all. It’s good for the juniors to have a bit more responsibility now and then and we’re not exactly rushed off our feet this time of year.’ He reached into the bag and pulled out a nice bottle of red wine. ‘To go with dinner.’
‘I’ll take care of that, shall I?’ his dad said, sweeping into the kitchen to retrieve the bottle from Harry’s hand. ‘Hello, son.’ He kissed Harry’s cheek then held the wine up to inspect the label. ‘Very nice indeed. You didn’t have to, but thank you.’
‘It’s my pleasure. So how’s things?’
‘Oh, no,’ his mum said, taking him by the hand and leading him over to the kitchen table to sit down. ‘There’s absolutely nothing exciting going on with us, but we want to hear all about you.’ She glanced over to her husband. ‘Don’t we, darling?’
‘We do indeed.’ Jago headed for the fridge and pulled out a couple of beers and set them on the table. ‘What are you having, Rach, a G&T?’
‘Just a T with no G, please. I can’t be sloshed while I’m trying to cook.’
‘Wouldn’t be the first time!’ Jago said with a laugh as he returned to the fridge to pour her a glass of tonic water.
‘See what I have to put up with?’ Harry’s mum asked him as she rolled her eyes. ‘Now then, how’s things with the cookery school plans? I can’t tell you how excited we are that you’re striking out on your own!’
A warm glow filled Harry deep inside. ‘Nothing’s decided yet, Mum. We still have to get Russ onside, but we’ve got a meeting with him on Monday to present everything.’
‘You’ll smash it, darling, I’m sure.’ His mum patted his hand, sounding a lot more confident in Harry than he was feeling about everything. Her smile softened. ‘And how’s our lovely Kat doing?’
Her affection for Kat shone clearly in her tone and Harry was grateful his parents had always been supportive of whoever any of them had chosen as partners. They’d been nothing but nice to Liam’s previous girlfriend, even though she’d looked down her nose at them and made it clear she had no interest in his side of the family. ‘She’s okay.’
