Page 73 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

Sir was also eager to explore, so she set him down. Then she said to Via, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure.” She followed Mom a few feet away from the camping site.

“He seems nice,” Mom said with a sly smile. “Very handsome.”

“Sir Meow? Yes, we’ve established that.”

“You know who I’m talking about.” She lowered her voice, even though Leo and Dad were too far away to hear her. “I was surprised when your father said he was coming with you.”

“He didn’t want me camping alone.” She glanced over her shoulder to see Leo crouched near the ground, attempting to unroll Fergus’s sleeping bag while Dad picked up twigs for kindling and put them in a pile next to the firepit. The bag seemed like a foreign object to him, but he was really giving it a try.

“What did you say when you told him you weren’t?”

The question stopped Via in her tracks. It wasn’t like she didn’t have the opportunity to clarify it for him. She could have told him when the subject was first brought up in her office, or when he returned to the café after his clash with Constance. But she didn’t take him seriously the first time, and he was so angry the second. It was also fun to see his surprised face when she pulled into her parents’ driveway.

“I see,” Mom said, no longer smiling.

“We’re friends,” Via insisted.

“Your father and I were friends,” she reminded her. “Until we weren’t.”

“Leo and I are different.” The reverse of her parents actually. They had feelings before they became friends. Chemical feelings. Certainly not anything like love. “I learned my lesson with Trevor. Trust me, I’ve got my eyes wide open now.”

“I do trust you, honey. And we all have a past. No one’s perfect.” She briefly touched Via’s cheek and smiled. “Don’t mind me, I’m just being a mom. I can’t help it.”

Via hugged her. “I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

Mom glanced at her watch, then motioned to Dad. “Kyle! The game’s starting soon.”

Dad’s head bobbed up and he dumped the last handful of twigs into the pile. He waved to Leo, who nodded back. “Coming!” he yelled, hurrying toward them.

“Your dad never moves that fast unless there’s football on the screen,” Mom said. “If you need anything, let us know. The back door will be unlocked like always.”

Dad rushed past them. “Gayla, get a move on. We don’t want to miss kickoff.”

Mom winked at her and hustled up to Dad, giving him a whack on the butt as she passed him by. He laughed and chased her up the hill.

Via smiled, then turned and went back to help Leo with the firepit. He’d spread out Fergus’s extra-large sleeping bag next to hers. “Who unrolled my sleeping bag?”

Leo raised his hand, not looking at her. He was bending down near the pit, examining it intently. “Did you want it somewhere else?”

“It’s fine there.” She knelt down next to him as he leaned forward and started rearranging the twigs into a pyramid shape. “I thought you said you never went camping.”

“I haven’t.” He grabbed one of the fire-starter bricks and tucked it under the twigs. “Matches?”

“In my bag.” She went to her food supply bag and took out a small box, then walked back to the pit and handed it to him. In a couple of minutes, he had a nice fire going. “Impressive.”

“Hardly. The fire starter does all the work.” He stood. “What next?”

“Once it gets hot enough, we’ll roast hot dogs.”

“I haven’t had a hot dog in years.”

She put her hands on her hips. “For a fancy Harvard Boy, you sure are missing out on a lot of simple things.”

“I’m starting to realize that.” He looked around. “Do you always camp in other people’s backyards?”

“Nope, just Mom and Dad’s. When we were little, my siblings and I used to camp here a couple times a year. We felt so grown-up being on our own even though our parents weren’t very far. When I moved back, I decided to restart the tradition.”