Katy's suspicions that the boat party would be absolutely freezing were proved correct. The second they stepped off the bus at the dock, she shivered, pulling her coat more tightly around her. Noticing the anxious look Ronnie was sending in her direction, the younger blonde shot her mother a reassuring smile and tried to tune in to what the captain of the boat was saying.
Her eyes wandered across the group to where Jack and Denise were standing together a little way off. She knew that her mother was watching them, tension rolling off her in waves as they watched the couple. Jack chuckled at something Denise had said, leaning down to accept the kiss she pressed to the corner of his mouth.
Reaching out, Katy squeezed Ronnie's hand gently, silently warning her not to cause a scene at the moment. She could think of far less dramatic and unpleasant places to bring up the subject of her parents' affair and the idea of it all coming to light while they were trapped on a boat on the Thames was not something she was willing to entertain. Katy was already starting to get the feeling that perhaps spending the evening on a floating prison – as she was considering it at the moment – was not for her. World War Three breaking out because of her parents was not something that would improve the situation.
"Free bar everybody, downstairs on the party deck!" Tina shouted.
Roxy immediately grasped Ronnie and Katy by their hands and dragged them down in the direction Tina had indicated. Laughing, Katy allowed herself to be pulled through the crowds towards the bar, nodding as the barman offered her a glass of Prosecco. She nudged Ronnie in the ribs, frowning a little as she realised that her gaze was directed towards Jack and Denise again.
"Come on, try and enjoy yourself, Mum." She muttered, liberating another couple of glasses and pushing one into the older blonde's hand. "Take a leaf out of Rox's book."
They both watched the younger of the sisters cackling with Kat, the pair of them necking vodka straight from the bottle. Laughing, Ronnie indicated that Katy should go and enjoy herself, propelling her daughter in the direction of Bex and Dotty. Looking back the way she'd come, Katy watched as Ronnie approached Jack and spoke to him for a moment, before her father glanced over his shoulder and they left the cabin together.
When she turned back round, Bex and Dotty were nowhere to be seen, but Tina and Whitney held out their hands and called her over. Beaming at them, Katy allowed herself to be whirled around by the older woman, giggling as she collapsed into Tina's arms unsteadily.
"So!" Linda, shouting into a microphone that she had found from somewhere, slurring her words alarmingly, caught everyone's attention. "Here we all are, celebrating our fabulous pub, the Queen Victoria! As you all know, we won Pub of the Year and this was mainly thanks to an event that we put on called the Ball and Change, which is ironic, really–"
"We just want to thank you all, really, for coming and uhh…" Mick started, taking the microphone from his wife quickly, "for being the best punters a landlord could ever wish for."
The blonde pulled the microphone back towards herself, not even acknowledging that he had spoken. "Because, little did I know that my husband would take the idea literally and end up swapping me for that slapper over there!"
All eyes turned on Whitney, following Linda's accusing finger. Katy furrowed her eyebrows, wondering whether it could possibly be true. She knew her friend had been having a tough time, but she was sure that Whitney would have mentioned having an affair with her ex-father-in-law.
"That's right!" Linda continued into the stunned silence. "They're having an affair."
"You don't know what you're talking about." Mick snapped as Whitney shook her head in disbelief.
"Go on, then, deny it."
"You're drunk!"
"Don't mean it ain't true." Linda reasoned. "I mean, look at her. Look at her face! Look how guilty she looks."
As Whitney turned and pushed her way through the crowd, Katy shoved her glass towards her mother and rushed after her, barely hearing the argument continuing behind her. She made her way unsteadily up onto the top deck, guessing that it was the only place Whitney could possibly have got to.
Spotting her standing right at the edge, beside the railings, Katy tugged her coat more tightly around her and crossed the deck to stand beside the younger woman. She had laid a hand gently on her arm before she realised what Whitney was holding limply in her hand.
"Whit…?"
"I killed him, Katy…"
"Killed who, babe?"
"Leo… I… I killed him."
"What are you talking about?" The blonde frowned, her eyes flicking between her friend's face and the knife in her hand.
"He… he was in the house. He came at me. He tried to kill me. I didn't… he fell on the knife."
"OK… so it was self-defence." Katy nodded quickly, not needing to hear any more as her mind turned over what they needed to do next. "Where is it?"
"What?"
"The body."
Whitney shuddered. "It… he's in the kitchen. I just… I left him there."
"You did the right thing." Katy assured her quickly. "Sonia's away, right? Dotty and Bex are here. Martin?"
"Out with mates, I think."
"Good. That means no one will find the body before we get back. As soon as we get back to the Square, I'll deal with it, Whit, OK?"
"I'll be in prison until I'm fifty… Katy, I can't…"
The blonde squeezed her arm tightly. "Whit, I'll sort it. It's gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine."
"Katy… Mick knows."
The blonde swore under her breath, turning away for a moment and looking out over the water. Then she nodded again. "That's OK. It's fine. He ain't gonna say anything, is he?"
"I…"
"You alright, Whit?" Both of them jumped at the sound of Jack's voice. "What you doing out here? It's freezing!" He met Katy's eyes, shooting her a questioning look when the younger of the two women didn't turn to face him. "Listen, don't worry about Linda. She's just… you know, she's off on one, ain't she. I wanted to come out here myself for a bit of peace and quiet. Whitney? Has something happened?"
"Dad… I've got this." Katy told him forcefully, suddenly concerned that he might catch sight of the knife in Whitney's hand. "She's fine."
"Nah… why?"
"Well you're shaking. What's the matter with ya?" He pressed, ignoring his daughter's words. His eyes fell on the weapon, before flickering quickly towards Katy. "What are you doing with a knife?"
"It's just–" Katy started, relieved when a voice from behind them stole the focus away from her.
"Oh, there it is. You've got it." Mick approached casually from inside, his eyes fixed on Whitney. "The knife… for the cake? We're gonna need that in a minute, babe."
Watching Whitney's face as Jack exhaled with relief and Mick started cracking jokes about his obvious concern, Katy's hands tightened around the wooden rail. She chewed her lip, her focus shifting out across the water to the lights reflecting on the surface.
"I couldn't have a couple of minutes with Whitney, could I?" Mick requested, looking between the father and daughter.
"Yeah, course." Jack nodded, smiling at his great-niece warmly. "Should probably get this one in out of the wind, anyway."
Katy rolled her eyes at him, but allowed herself to be propelled inside anyway. Jack chattered about nothing in particular as he led her over to the bar, ordering them both a drink. She barely listened to anything he was saying, sipping thoughtfully at her drink.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, Dad, I'm fine." She sighed. "Just… look, you and Mum ain't exactly sly, you know? I don't exactly fancy getting caught up in the fallout when everyone works it out."
"What?"
"Sneaking off to have sex in the toilets or wherever you were?"
"Katy!"
"I mean it, Dad… you need to sort out what you're gonna do or we're all gonna suffer." She shrugged. "You know I want you and Mum back together, but I like Denise and she ain't stupid. She's gonna realise what's going on if you carry on like this."
"I'll sort it."
Shaking her head, Katy took her drink and stalked over to the other side of the cabin. She spotted her mother and aunt dancing with Kat, Kush, Mo and Tracey, but didn't feel like joining them.
Tina tried to beckon her over, but she shook her head and moved to sit in one of the booths along the outside of the dance floor. Thoughtfully, she wondered what the best thing to do to help Whitney was. She knew what her first choice would be, but if it really was self-defence – and considering Leo had been stalking her for ages – perhaps playing it straight was the right course of action. It didn't come naturally to Katy, but she knew that Whitney was a much better person than she was.
"I got you a drink."
"It's a free bar." Katy pointed out with a smirk, arching an eyebrow as she took the drink that was being held in her direction anyway.
Isaac grinned, settling himself on the padded bench beside her and flinging an arm casually along the back of the booth. Katy arched an eyebrow at the move, unable to stop the smirk twisting at the corners of her lips as he simply shrugged innocently. They stared at each other for a moment, before Isaac raised his glass to his lips and downed the liquid in one gulp. Unable to resist a challenge, Katy mirrored him, wincing slightly as the vodka burnt its way down her throat.
When the young man leant in, his hand finding its way onto her thigh, Katy placed both of hers on his face and kissed him with just as much enthusiasm as he was kissing her. She knew that it was probably a terrible idea, but in that moment she couldn't bring herself to care. As the hand on her leg moved up to her waist, pulling her closer, Katy shifted so that she was straddling his lap, knees either side of his hips.
Pulling back, she tilted her head to one side and smirked. "Fancy finding somewhere a bit quieter?"