‘She sends her apologies but she’s on her way.’ Liam stepped in, smooth as silk, and offered Russ his hand to shake. ‘I’m here as back-up until she arrives.’
‘Which hopefully will be very soon,’ Harry put in, hoping to God it was the truth. He glanced across to where Adam was still sitting at the table and wished he hadn’t. The developer’s expression was stony and his words from Friday night came back to haunt Harry.
‘…you need her full commitment in order to make the cookery school a success.’
‘Well, we can give her a few more minutes before we need to start,’ Russ assured Harry. ‘Come and sit down and we’ll have a drink. Liam, pull over an extra chair and make yourself at home.’ He poured them both a cup of coffee then offered them the plate of petits fours, which both Harry and Liam declined. Harry’s gut was a tight ball and he wasn’t sure he’d keep a mouthful of coffee down, never mind anything sweet. Russ kept up a steady stream of chatter, the consummate host, completely at ease in his environment. Liam filled in the gaps, nudging Harry’s foot under the table now and again to prompt him to say something. It was all Harry could do to keep himself looking forward, the urge to turn his head and watch the door an itch in the back of his skull. Adam maintained his silence unless addressed directly and then his responses were to the point. The clock on the wall ticked around another five minutes and Harry’s palms began to sweat.
Come on, Kat. Come on.
Their coffee cups sat empty and even Russ was running out of polite chatter by the time Harry had to admit to himself she wasn’t coming. He leaned down and opened the bag he’d brought with him to withdraw four copies of their proposal. He offered them around then glanced at Liam, who gave him an encouraging nod of the head. Harry closed his eyes for a moment and Kat’s voice filled his mind. She’d recorded the introduction and the vision statement and sent them to him, and he’d listened to them a dozen times or more until the words were burnedinto his brain. Opening his eyes, he cleared his throat and began to speak. ‘We all know how lucky we are to live in a village as beautiful as Halfmoon Quay, with the beach at our doorstep and access to a lifestyle many others crave. But we also know that behind the picture-postcard facade, this beautiful place we call home has its challenges too. One of the biggest of those is youth unemployment and?—’
The door flew open with a crash and Harry swivelled around in his seat to see Kat bearing down on them with a determined smile on her face. Her hair was still wet from the shower and was slicked back from her face, but she was wearing the smart black dress and boots she’d carefully laid out the night before, and as she reached him he noticed the thick curl of her pretty lashes had been enhanced with mascara and her lips bore a subtle dash of lipstick. As he rose to greet her, Kat grabbed his hand and gave it a quick squeeze. A weight lifted off him. Harry could only watch and admire as she took command of the situation. Having set her bag on the floor next to the empty chair, she offered her hand across the table. ‘Russ,’ she said, shaking his hand. ‘Adam, I am so very sorry to have kept you waiting. I had a bit of a family emergency but it’s all been dealt with.’
‘You’re fine, you’re fine,’ Russ assured her as he jumped up. ‘Here, let me get some fresh coffee.’
‘A glass of water is all I need,’ Kat said, indicating the jug on the table as she took a seat next to Harry. ‘And I don’t want to take up any more of your valuable time than necessary by holding up proceedings.’
‘I’m glad you were able to join us,’ Adam said, and Harry was relieved to see his expression was a touch softer than before. ‘I hope it’s not something serious with your family?’
Kat shook her head. ‘Just a few loose ends I needed to tie off. I’ve finished work at Java Brava so I’ll be able to dedicate all my time to making the cookery school a success.’
Adam’s smile warmed several degrees as he relaxed back into his chair. ‘That’s the reassurance I was looking for.’ He turned to Harry. ‘Do you want to carry on with your introduction?’
Kat turned to him, her smile full of confidence and encouragement. ‘Go on, Harry, tell them what our dream is.’
You. You’re my dream. You’re my everything.He wanted to shout the words from the rooftops, but had to settle for shifting his leg under the table so he could press it against hers. She was here, beside him where she belonged, and together they could do anything. The tension in his stomach melted away and Harry turned to face Russ and Adam. ‘As I was saying, gentlemen, we all know that youth unemployment is a problem and that’s why our proposal for the cookery school is twofold. We aim to make it an attractive proposition for visitors by offering a variety of specialist short-term courses which will cater to everyone from nervous beginners to a creative challenge for practised home cooks who want to hone their skills. We believe that working with Liam…’ He paused to nod towards his brother, who was beaming at him from the other end of the table. The pride he saw in that smile almost threw Harry off his stride, but somehow he held it together. ‘Um, working with Liam we intend to put together a range of attractive stay-and-cook packages that will maximise our potential during the off season.’
Liam leaned forward. ‘I’m exploring a number of these kinds of collaborations, including water sports weekends for the more adventurous types and beginners’ guides to interior design.’
‘Working with Rick, Anya and Chloe, I take it?’ Adam observed, wryly.
‘Working with people I trust,’ Liam replied with a knowing smile. ‘And there’s no one I trust more than Harry and Kat to spearhead the first of these collaborations.’
‘This all sounds great,’ Russ said as he began leafing through the proposal. ‘Do you have anything priced up?’
‘It’s all on page twelve,’ Kat replied as she reached for the spare copy of the folder in front of Harry. ‘As you can see, we’ve come up with a variety of options…’
Harry sat back in his seat and watched Kat go. She was absolutely in her element, every fact and figure at her fingertips. The longer she talked, the more relaxed both Adam and Russ became and they were soon firing ideas and suggestions back and forth. Russ drew Harry into a conversation about combining a meal at the restaurant or putting on a couple of premium weekends where Russ could make a guest appearance and run one of the classes. Adam and Kat were throwing numbers back and forth at a dizzying rate and Harry was grateful he’d invited Liam along because he seemed to be able to follow everything and was scribbling notes at a furious pace.
It was closer to two hours than the one hour they’d scheduled before they finally shook hands with Russ and Adam and thanked them for their time. ‘We’ll let you know as soon as we can about a decision,’ Adam promised.
Russ didn’t say anything but the wink he gave Harry as he showed them out gave him a much-needed boost of confidence.
The door had barely shut behind them before Kat screamed and jumped into his arms. ‘Oh my God, oh my God, how good was that?’
Laughing, Harry locked his arms around her waist and spun her around in a circle. ‘How good were you, don’t you mean? Bloody hell, Kitty, you were amazing! You had an answer for everything!’
‘You both did a great job.’
Harry set Kat down on her feet and turned to face his brother. ‘Sorry, sorry, I got a bit carried away.’ Releasing one hand from her waist, Harry offered it to Liam. ‘You were brilliant too, thank you so much for coming along to support us.’
‘You didn’t need any help from me, but I was glad to be there to witness the first step on what I’m sure will be a long and successful journey for the pair of you.’ He stepped back and raised his hand. ‘I’ll leave the two of you to celebrate.’
Harry watched him walk away then pulled Kat close against his chest. ‘I thought you weren’t going to make it,’ he admitted. ‘When you walked in, I thought my heart was going to stop.’
She reached up and cupped his face in his hands. ‘I’m sorry I was late, but you must’ve known I was coming. I sent you a voicemail.’
‘Did you? It must’ve been after I put my phone on silent.’ Harry fumbled in his pocket for his handset. Sure enough, there was a bright red circle on his calls app. He pressed the button and switched his phone to speaker mode as Kat’s voice started speaking.
