Page 57 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

They smiled, then headed downstairs and walked out of the building and into the crisp morning air. Tons of leaves had turned autumnal colors seemingly overnight, and the huge pecan tree in the center of the square was almost covered in a full golden-brown glow. Stunning. She stopped to admire the view. Leo also paused.

“Been a long time since I’ve seen the leaves change,” he murmured.

“I guess palm trees stay the same all year round.”

“They get brown if there’s a drought. But they don’t put on a show like this.”

Sir was unimpressed, and he tugged on the leash toward Handyman’s Hardware. “Meow,” he insisted.

“We’d better get going,” she said as the leash went taut. “Sir wants to make his rounds.”

Leo nodded. “Mind if I join you? I need a little warm-up.”

“Sure. Oh, Dora said Charlie can look at your car.”

“I’ll let him.” He shook his head. “I don’t have much of a choice.”

“He won’t do anything without your permission. Dora said he couldn’t stop obsessing over the chance to look under the hood.”

“Technically it’s a frunk.”

She laughed. “A frunk? Seriously?”

“I’m always serious about my Turismo.”

Buck waved to her as they walked past. “Good morning, Via. And Sir, of course.” He looked at Leo. “Hello.”

She halted. “Buck Crenshaw, this is Leo Brewster.”

Leo held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’ve heard about you. Nice to finally make your acquaintance.”

Via suspected that everyone in Pecan Corner at least knew of Leo by now.

“Same here,” Leo said.

“Meow.” Sir started moving again.

“Gotta go,” Via said. “You know how Sir is about his morning walk.”

Buck laughed. “I certainly do. If you need anything, Leo, just let me know. Earl was a fine man. He’s sorely missed around here.”

Leo nodded. “Thanks.” As they continued their walk, he said, “It’s good to hear Earl was so respected.”

“He was. Very crusty and standoffish until you got to know him. Even then he could be a curmudgeon.”

“Must run in the family,” he muttered.

“But once you broke through, he was a marshmallow inside.”

“That quality definitely doesn’t.” He stared straight ahead. “What did you do before Pawsitive Vibes?”

“Graduated from Chagrin Falls High School, went to Ohio State and got my business degree. That’s where I met...”

“Him.”

His tone was flat. No, not exactly flat. There was the tiniestedge to it. “Yeah. We were going to get married but he... cheated. I found out the night before the wedding.”