Page 82 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

Via spent the rest of the day after church with her parents. Fergus, Dora, and Charlie had left right after the meal. But Via stuck around and played gin with Mom and Dad, something they hadn’t done in a long while. She wasn’t worried about Sir or Squeaks. She’d left her apartment door open a crack, and she was confident that Leo would let one or both of them in if they meowed enough.

Leo. He was part of the reason she didn’t head back to her apartment until after suppertime. The pull of wanting to see him again and the tug of not knowing what to say or do next when she did was giving her analysis paralysis. She’d hidden it enough that her parents didn’t notice, or if they did, they thankfully chose not to pry. But on her way home her stomach started to pretzel. Should she ignore last night? Or throw it out in the open like they did a couple of weeks ago when they decided to friend-zone each other? Look how that turned out.

She was still undecided as she drove past Second Chapter and Pawsitive Vibes on her way to the back parking lot, noticing the soft glow of lights in the bookshop. Her hopes started to rise but she tamped them back down. They were nearing the end of thethirty days he’d agreed to stay in Pecan Corner. She was setting herself up if she allowed herself to hope he might stay longer.

Via parked next to Gold Yeller and turned off the engine, getting out of the car and intending to go straight to her apartment. But she paused in the stairwell, her curiosity about what Leo was doing in the shop getting to her. This wasn’t the first time he’d worked there alone at night, particularly after they finished the storeroom and everything wasn’t so overwhelming. Was he going through the military history section? Or had he moved the western romance books closer to the front door like he’d mentioned doing last week? Perhaps he was... Oh, forget it. She had to find out for herself.

When she opened the side door to Second Chapter, rock music was playing. Zander had done an excellent job revamping the record player and Via immediately recognized the band. Pearl Jam sounded great on vinyl.

Squeaks and Sir appeared at her feet. “Hello there, you two.” She knelt down and scratched their chins. “Did you miss me?”

Squeaks meowed, but Sir turned and hightailed it to the front of the store. “Traitor.” Via scooped up Ms. Naughty and followed Sir to the counter where Leo was sitting on the stool, the player next to him, bobbing his head as he sorted through the butter tub of keys.

“Hi,” Via said.

Leo kept jamming.

“Helloooo—”

“What!” He jumped. Then he shook his head and turned down the volume. “Don’t do that.”

“Sorry.” She set Squeaks on the counter. Big mistake because she immediately tried to make herself at home in the half-full butter tub. “Stop it, Squeaks,” Via exclaimed.

Leo deftly removed her from the bowl and set her down behind the counter. “I am starting to understand why she’s driving Birdie crazy. She gets into everything.” He returned to sorting the keys, the song “Yellow Ledbetter” playing softly in the background.

“Since when do you listen to music while you work?”

Leo shrugged and moved three square-shaped silver keys to the small pile of similar-looking ones. “Zander recommended this album. Thought I’d give it a try.” He glanced at Sir Meow, who was relaxed next to the tub, his eyes half open. “Sir’s digging it.”

Via chuckled, then inwardly sighed. Why did she bother resisting him? She leaned her elbows on the counter. “What prompted this?”

“It’s been bugging me since I saw it. All these keys without a home.” He removed the needle from the record, plunging the shop into silence. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Her guard went up at his serious tone. “Um, sure.”

He took a deep breath. “I’m not allergic to cats.”

Her eyes widened with shock.

This was the first time she’d ever seen Leo turn red. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to deal with Sir, and faking an allergy—”

“You lied to me?” The tops of her ears flamed.

He rushed around the counter and stood in front of her. “I know, it was stupid. I’m sorry.”

“I gave you allergy medicine!” She crossed her arms.

“I can give it back to you. The package is still unopened.”

“That’s supposed to make it right, Leonardo?”

“Leonardo. Ouch.” He uncrossed her arms. To her surprise, she let him, mostly because he was so apologetic that she had to believe him.

“I think I can make it up to you.” He reached behind the counter and pulled out a Harvest Fest flyer and handed it to her.

“What’s this?”

“You wanted to put a flyer in the window. Here’s the flyer.” He smiled, then walked to the other side of the counter. Squeaks, who had apparently gone off to roam the store—probably not a good thing—suddenly jumped on the counter again and tried to squeeze into the tub. Leo gently picked her up, gave her a pat, set her down next to Sir, and went back to sorting the keys.