Her father had broken the news of Jen’s return with a brief text earlier that morning, which Kat hadn’t responded to. He’d at least seen enough sense to come home after his conversation with Kat, and as far as she was aware, Debbie was the only one outside her immediate circle who knew the truth of what had happened that day. The whole village knew Jen had done a bunk, of course, that wasn’t the kind of gossip that could be avoided. But most people thought poor Gavin had borne the news with his usual stoicism.
Kat and Chloe exchanged a knowing look and Kat raised her Prosecco towards her best friend. ‘Not my problem.’
‘Not your problem,’ Chloe echoed and they clinked glasses and both took a big drink.
A cheer of welcome went up behind them and they turned to see Rick and Anya walking down the path. Kat moved back to stand beside Harry. ‘All right?’ he asked her.
She smiled up at him. ‘Everything’s perfect.’ She had all the family she would ever need right here in this garden. They might not be her flesh and blood, but they were there for her when it mattered and that was how family was supposed to be.
Harry leaned down and pecked a kiss on her lips. ‘Now they’ve arrived, perhaps we might find out what this party’s in aid of.’
His prediction proved correct. As soon as Rick and Anya had a drink in hand, Ed clambered up on to one of the patio chairs and raised his hands above his head. ‘A little quiet, please!’
Harry took Kat’s hand and led her closer. She could feel the tension in him through his grip and she hoped whatever Ed was about to say wasn’t another one of his stupid stunts.
Ed smiled down at them. ‘First off, I want to thank everyone for coming here tonight.’
‘Just get on with it, son,’ Jago called, waving his cooking tongs towards Ed. ‘You’ve had us all on tenterhooks for a fortnight!’
‘Sorry about that. And I really do want to take a moment to thank you all. I know I’ve not made life easy for anyone over the past year or so. Most especially not for myself. I promise I didn’t mean to screw up quite as often as I did…’ He raised his hands in a shrug and his smile turned impish. ‘But trouble just seems to have a habit of finding me.’
‘You’re not kidding!’ Liam said and they all laughed, including Ed.
‘Anyway,’ Ed continued. ‘I’ve decided it’s probably best for everyone if you see a little bit less of me for a while and that’s why I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been accepted as a crew member on a sailing boat that conducts marine conservation trips. I’ve signed up for six months, with an option to extend at the end of my contract if things go well.’
A barrage of questions flew from all directions.
‘When are you going?’
‘What about your studies?’
‘Who are you going with?’ The last question was from Jago, who already had his phone out as if he was ready to look up whoever it was.
‘Slow down, slow down!’ Ed pleaded, raising his hands once more. ‘I’m going in a couple of weeks. And you don’t need to worry about my PhD, Mum, I’ve already submitted a draft of my dissertation and my tutor is happy for me to make any changes while I’m away.’
He turned to look at his father. ‘I was planning to come and see you and Mum separately tomorrow night and talk everything through, I just wanted everyone to be here so I could share the news.’
Jago tucked his phone away and approached Ed, who jumped off the chair and gave his father a massive hug. ‘I’m proud of you, son,’ Kat heard Jago say as he patted Ed on the back.
Harry’s hand was gripping hers and she looked up at him. ‘Did you know he was planning this?’
Harry shook his head. ‘No. But it explains a few things.’
Kat couldn’t tell if that was good or bad, but Harry seemed happy enough as he grinned at Ed and flung his arms around him as soon as he came over. ‘You’re a dark horse!’
Ed pulled back with a grin. ‘Sorry, I didn’t want to say anything until I knew it was all squared away.’ His expression grew serious. ‘This is why I couldn’t work with you on the cookery school plan, bro, because I’d already applied. I want you to know how much it meant to me, though, that you asked me to do it.’ He turned to look at Kat and his sunny smile appeared again. ‘Besides, I think I did you a big favour when I turned you down, because you’ve got a much better partner.’
Harry held out his hand to Kat and when she took it he pulled her in close to his side. ‘Yes, I certainly have.’ He raised his eyebrows at her. ‘You ready to find out?’
‘Find out what?’ Ed’s eyes were agog.
‘We got a letter from the bank today about the mortgage,’ Harry told him as he reached inside his jacket pocket.
‘And you haven’t opened it yet? Bloody hell! Hey, everyone!’ Ed turned and raised his hands. ‘Harry and Kat have got a letter from the bank!’
All of a sudden they were the centre of attention and Kat’s heart was hammering a mile a minute. She swallowed hard as Harry handed her the envelope then bent down to whisper in her ear. ‘I believe in us, Kitty.’
Just like that, she couldn’t wait to find out. Couldn’t wait to know if it was time to take the next step on their journeytogether. She ripped the envelope open, tearing the corner of the letter in the process. Her eyes roamed over the closely typed words.
