Page 61 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

“Long-distance relationships aren’t impossible.”

“Two,” she said, ignoring Dora’s remark. “We’ve already established the friend zone.”

Dora grinned. “Some lines are meant to be crossed.”

“You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“It’s truly enjoyable.”

When Squeaks tried to sneak into her bag, Via gently moved her away.

“Okay, what else?” Dora asked.

She opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. She couldn’t admit the third and biggest reason—she was scared. Being friends was safe. Being anything else was terrifying.

A loud crashing came from outside the lounge. Via and Dora rushed to the coffee counter to see Squeaks knocking over bottles of coffee syrup.

“How did she get out of the lounge?” Via exclaimed.

Two bottles hit the ground, breaking into pieces. Sticky syrup was all over the floor, so of course the cat jumped right into the puddle. “Squeaks!” they both shrieked.

Birdie was right. She was a naughty, naughty cat.

Chapter 15

Via walked into Second Chapter that evening later than she intended thanks to Squeaks, who did not want her desperately needed bath. She was currently in kitty time-out, hopefully learning her lesson. As she entered the shop, she was hit with a surprise—music. Not just any music but... disco? Scratchy disco? What in the world...?

Sir Meow padded behind her as she searched out Leo. Surely he wasn’t the source of the tunes. She couldn’t imagine him liking disco. He seemed more like a smooth jazz or coffeehouse music guy. The type of music she played in her café.

The disco grew louder as she headed to the storage room and found another surprise—Leo sitting cross-legged on the rag rug in the reading nook, going through a pile of old records. When Sir headbutted his elbow, he looked up. “Hey, Via.” His eyes were more animated than she’d ever seen them. He turned down the volume on the player. “Did you know Earl had these?”

Via joined him on the floor, sitting on the opposite side of the record stack. “I’ve never seen those or the record player. Where did you find them?”

“I was moving the last of the boxes in storage and found themin here.” He tapped on a sad-looking, dented cardboard box. “The record player was in another box next to it at the very back of the wall.”

“Are they all disco?” Via asked.

“As far as I can tell.” He started flipping through the records again. “Who knew Earl was into Donna Summer?”

Her toes started tapping inside her burnt-orange ballet flats to a song about bad girls. Catchy. “I wonder if he ever listened to these, or if he just picked them up at an auction or antique store.”

“Good point.”

When Sir moved close to the player and reached out a paw to touch the revolving record, she swooped in and tucked him in her lap. Surprisingly he stayed, considering the love of his life was sitting directly across from him.

Leo picked up another album, the cover yellowed and stained. “Interested in staying alive?”

“Always.”

He handed her theSaturday Night Feversoundtrack. “We should play this next.”

Not that she didn’t appreciate this lighter side of Leonardo Brewster, but she was confused. “I thought you didn’t like music,” she said as she lifted the needle from the record and carefully removed it from the player. She handed it to him.

“I like it. I just don’t listen to it much.” He slid the vinyl disc back inside the sleeve. “It’s not often you get a chance to listen to oldies records.”

She put the record on the first song, which actually was “Stayin’ Alive.” Immediately the needle started skipping. “Ugh, this doesn’t sound good.”

“Try the next track.”