The Crunch Campaign by Kate Hunter Read Free Book Online

interesting.’
    â€˜What do you think we should do?’ Liam left the marketing side of things to her. He was more interested in operations – product development, streamlining logistics, despatch.
    â€˜I’m not sure we can do anything.’ She shrugged. ‘We haven’t got a million dollars lying around – or even a thousand. And if we did, I’m not sure Caesar Maxwell is the man I’d give it to.’
    â€˜What do you know about him?’
    â€˜Not much. But I’ve heard about MyFries, of course.’
    â€˜Me too. The kids go crazy for them.’
    â€˜I’ve never tried them – are they okay?’
    â€˜If you like your chips served with a litre of oil and a kilo of salt. They’re cheap, though. You can get a massive bucket of fries and a tray of six sauces for three dollars.’
    Vanessa sighed and started to put some order into the piles of paper. ‘Well, I’m not going to worry about Caesar Maxwell’s fighting fund. There’s no point.’
    â€˜You’re right. Hey, what’s the time?’
    â€˜Four-thirty. I’m going to the supermarket to get a few things for dinner. We’ll see you about six?’
    â€˜Great. The kids are excited. What can we bring?’
    â€˜A few samples of the new line? Katie and the gang can get to work on a name.’

CHAPTER FOUR
    Katie knew that people sometimes felt sorry for her, as the only child of a single mother. And, if she was honest, she occasionally felt sorry for herself. Now with her home full of screaming kids and her mum frantically trying to cook for them, her quiet life seemed like bliss.
    She watched Liam Parfitt, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hands greasy, trying to line up spoonfuls of mashed potato with Sam’s moving mouth, as he moved his head like one of those laughing clowns at the show. There was potato in his hair and smeared across both cheeks.
    â€˜Come on, mate,’ coaxed Liam. ‘Just a couple more and then there’s ice-cream.’
    Katie shuddered. If the kid was like this with mashed potato, what would happen with ice-cream? Ice-cream melted, and she’d be the one who had to mop up the mess. If the government was going to ban anything, they should ban anyone below the age of ten from eating ice-cream. The other kids were almost as bad. Billy was three and Barney was four. They were pegging bits of sausage at each other. Katie got caught in the crossfire and a chunk of meat bounced off her ear.
    â€˜Boys!’ said Liam. ‘Stop that. Vanessa has made this lovely dinner for us.’
    Katie looked at him and worried that he might actually be serious about her mum. No one but a lovesick idiot would say this dinner was lovely. The sausages were charred on the outside and raw in the middle. Later tonight Liam might have four cases of food poisoning to deal with.
    â€˜Georgie,’ he said, ‘aren’t you going to eat your sausage?’
    The five-year-old had sat herself next to Katie. ‘No, but I like the mashed potato,’ she said, delicately working her spoon around the lumps.
    â€˜You need to eat some meat,’ said her father. ‘It’s protein – gives you muscles.’
    â€˜I’m vegetarian,’ said Georgie. Katie looked at her with a flicker of respect. She’d tried the vegetarian angle herself a few times.
    â€˜Don’t worry about it, Liam,’ said her mum. ‘I’ll get them some ice-cream. Who wants chocolate and who wants strawberry?’
    The boys all screamed at once. Sam flung his bowl across the room and globs of mashed potato, stained pink by tomato sauce, covered the floor.
    â€˜I think I’ll skip dessert,’ said Katie, pushing back her chair. ‘I’ve got homework.’
    â€˜All right,’ said her mum, inspecting her hair for potato. ‘When you’re done, come back. We want to talk about the new Christmas