Page 61 of The Summer That Changed Us

‘Yay!’ Amber yelled, noticing Katie approaching. ‘Tell him, please. He’s trying to give me curried aubergine for dinner.’

‘Hey, again.’ Barney’s eyes lit up as if he was genuinely pleased to see her. He slotted the sachet of microwave rice back onto the shelf. ‘Please be on my side in this.

Everything tastes good in curry; you can’t go wrong. Am I right or am I right?’

Katie tried to ignore the fizz of pleasure caused by seeing him again.

‘You’re probably right,’ she replied, aware that she was staring at him and not even sure what she was agreeing to.

‘Katie!’ Amber gasped, pretending to be insulted. ‘So much for the sisterhood.’

Katie put her arm around Amber’s shoulders. ‘Sorry, but I like curry.’

‘Yes!’ Barney did a double thumbs-up and laughed, a glorious triumphant laugh which made Katie smile.

Amber pretended to give him a withering look. ‘You wouldn’t say that if you lived in our house. We had curried fishfingers yesterday.’

‘Euww,’ Katie pulled a face. ‘In that, case I take it back. Sorry, Barney, but that sounds gross.’

‘I was going for a Katsu curry vibe,’ Barney said haughtily. ‘Rice, steamed greens, curry sauce and—’

‘Fish fingers!’ Katie and Amber hooted with laughter.

‘Please, Dad,’ Amber added, giving her father a side-eye look, ‘people over thirty shouldn’t say vibe. It’s wrong.’ She studied Katie briefly. ‘You can still get away with it. How old are you?’

Barney grabbed his daughter playfully and hugged her to him, clapping a hand over her mouth. ‘Apologies for my child; she has no filter whatsoever.’

Katie laughed. ‘It’s fine. I’m twenty-eight.’

‘A mere babe.’ Barney released his daughter and kissed the top of her head.

‘Watch out, Katie,’ Amber giggled, ‘he just called you a babe, next thing you know, he’ll be inviting you round for a curried fish finger.’

‘Amber,’ Barney said in a low voice. ‘Careful.’

His daughter flushed and muttered an apology under her breath and Katie felt a pang of pity for her.

Barney rubbed a hand through his curls. ‘I just meant you’re still young enough to say vibe, I wasn’t trying to say you’re a babe. Although, obviously, you are, I mean— I should shut up, I’m digging myself a bigger hole.’

‘I’ll take it as a compliment,’ Katie smiled, secretly delighted and turned away to find the couscous among the bags of grains on the shelf.

‘Your food looks far nicer than ours.’ Amber peered into her basket. ‘Dad, can’t we have what she’s having?’

‘No, because we’ve got to use our delivery,’ he reminded her.

She rolled her eyes at Katie. ‘We get an organic veg box delivery once a week.’

‘That’s right,’ Barney said proudly. ‘We’re challenging ourselves to try new recipes and use things in the box and supplement it from our local shop.’

‘It’s awful,’ Amber said heavily. ‘And today we got an aubergine. What are we going to do with that?’

‘Other than curry it,’ Barney added.

‘Baba ganoush?’ Katie suggested.

Amber opened her mouth and closed it again and Barney roared with laughter. ‘Someone has actually rendered my daughter speechless. It’s a miracle.’

‘Baba what?’ Amber asked, giving her dad a playful push.