Page 23 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

He followed her into the lounge and set the bag and drinks on a table as she went to flip on the light switches. The kitties stayed in place. Toffee didn’t even go to greet him. It was like they had accepted him into the cat family already.

“Do I need to get plates? Utensils?” Via asked.

“No, it’s all in here.” He pulled out the two Styrofoam cups with lids and straws and set them on the table, followed by two square containers.

“Are those from the Corner Eatery?”

He picked a four-seater table and Sir parked himself on one of the chairs. All the cats knew they weren’t allowed on top of any of the tables.

“Is that okay? It was convenient.”

“They have great food.” She sat down across from him and he put a container in front of her. She opened it. “Chicken fried steak?”

Leo nodded and handed her a drink. “Orange soda. Or pop, as I was informed it’s called in Pecan Corner.”

“How did you know these were my favorites?”

He opened his container to reveal a plain hamburger and fries. “I asked your sister.”

“When?”

“Right before I left. You were busy with customers.” He grabbed the bag and fished out the ketchup packets. “Did you want something else? I can run down there and get it.”

“No, this is great.” She unwrapped the plastic fork, knife, and napkin. The chicken fried steak from the Eatery was so tender the plastic would cut it with ease. “Did she say anything else?”

“Dora?” He dipped a fry in ketchup. “No. Just told me to make sure you had extra gravy.”

She looked at her steak. Sure enough, there was a gravy cup by the mashed potatoes. Thank goodness her sister stuck to her food order and hadn’t said anything embarrassing. Between hitting Leo with a lampshade, thrusting her hands in his hair, being near tears with him in front of Bennett’s office, having a cat that was obsessed with him, and the worst one, being called Smitten Kitten in his presence... she’d had enough humiliation for one day. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to.” He bit into the fry and glanced at Sir, then smirked. “We’re being watched.”

Sure enough, Sir’s face was poking over the edge of the table as he sat between her and Leo. She smiled at her goofy cat. “He thinks if he plays cute, he’ll get a nibble.”

“Does it work?”

“Every time.” She pinched off the tiniest piece of steak and held it out to him. He delicately took it. Then she dug into her food and she and Leo ate in silence for a few minutes. He quickly plowed through half his fries.

Via sensed he was waiting for her to bring up Second Chapter, reminding her of his offer to sell. If she could, she’d buy the building in less than a heartbeat. But Pawsitive Vibes had just started to show a profit two months ago. She had the loan she’d taken out for the business, the loan she’d taken out to pay Earl, and after her business and personal expenses were paid, including reimbursing her parents, she barely had any margin. A third loan was impossible.

He took another bite of his hamburger. “Wow, this is really good.”

“Best in town. Also the only restaurant in town.” She smiled. “Good thing it’s all delicious. They’re short on alfalfa sprouts, though.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t that a thing in California?” She scooped creamy mashed potatoes onto her fork.

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “I’m not into eating grass.” Then after a pause, “Are you still willing to help with Second Chapter?”

She nodded. “If you still need me.”

He wiped his fingers and set the napkin on the table. Sir Meow started to paw at the thin paper, but Leo smoothly swiped it away from the cat without a glance. “Cleaning and organizing the bookstore is the priority. Bennett also gave me a short list of books he thought might be, um, useful.”

Odd, but then again that was Earl. He probably had lists ofbooks all over the place. There had to be some way he kept track of his business. She cut into her steak. “Anything else?”

“I’ll take care of the apartment. I took the month off to—”

“A whole month? I thought you had to get back to California ASAP?”