Page 93 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

Tears filled her eyes. “I miss him,” she said, her voice thick.And Leo.

“When I got to the last page and found out he’d planned to change his will and give Second Chapter to you—”

“Wait. He wrote that?”

She nodded. “It was his last entry.” She paused, glanced down again, as if regaining her composure, then met Via’s gaze again. “I’ll admit, at first I was going to ignore it and throw away the journal. I’d sell the building and be done with it. For a tidy profit too. Do you know a man named Perry Percival?”

Her stomach rolled over. “Yes,” she grumbled. This guy was like a bad boomerang. She braced herself. “Did you sell it to him?”

“Heavens no. He’s odious. I have standards about who I do business with.”

Via almost hit the floor with relief. “Thank you,” she said.

“But I do have some excellent offers,” she continued. “Obviously I don’t need the money, but I certainly wouldn’t give such a property away either.”

Neither would her son. Not that Via blamed either of them. She was a prime example of what happened when emotions took over common sense. It didn’t end well.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, Via. Huge ones.”

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“I was so embarrassed by my working-class upbringing. My parents weren’t very intelligent. Earl seemed to follow in their footsteps. I, on the other hand, was valedictorian with a perfect 4.0 and many scholarship offers. I knew I would never fulfill my potential unless I left my past behind.”

Via could understand wanting to leave your hometown. She’d done it. Earl had done it. Leo had also done it. All for different reasons. But Constance’s confession was rubbing her wrong.

“I was in my freshman year at Cornell, and a friend took me to a networking event. I met Elliot Brewster there. Love at first sight, even though he was much older than me.” Her eyes took on a faraway look. “We married. Children were never part of my plan.”

“Mrs. Brewster—”

She clutched Earl’s journal, a flash of contrition in her eyes. “I apologize. I’m sure you don’t care about my life story. What I need you to know is that I have regrets about almost everything, except for being extremely successful. I don’t regret that. But how I got here, how I threw away my family...” Her voice hitched. “My son...”

Via took her hand. “It’s okay.”

Constance stiffened as she pulled her hand away. “It’s not, but thank you for trying to make me feel better.” She swiftly regained her composure, just like Via had seen Leo do. “I can’t change the past. I can’t make amends with Earl, which was why I came to Pecan Corner in the first place. But I was too late.”

Via’s heart filled with sympathy. Despite Constance’s haughtiness, she could see the woman was sincere.

“I wasn’t a good mother to Leo. I can see that now. But at the time, I thought I was. I wanted him to have the best. Hiring elite nannies, firing them when they didn’t meet my standards. Sending him to boarding school, and when that”—she averted gaze—“didn’t work out, he went to the most prestigious school in Manhattan.” She looked back at Via. “Did you know he graduated at sixteen?”

Via shook her head. She wasn’t surprised, and she saw the pride in Constance’s eyes.

“He excelled at Harvard. And he would have excelled at Brewster Development Group too, given time...” Her lips trembled slightly. “I gave him everything I thought was important, but not the one thing he truly needed.” She held out the journal to Via. “I can’t build a bridge back to Leonardo. But I can do the right thing. I talked to Bennett. He’ll be contacting you with papers he’s drawn up. Second Chapter and the apartment are yours... for one dollar.”

Squeaks was meowing behind her, and Cinnamon was answering in response. “I... I don’t know what to say.” Via stared at the journal. It all seemed unreal.

“My brother wanted you to have the bookstore. I don’t know why Leo gave up on it. I was surprised Earl had left it to him. I’ll never know. In the end it doesn’t matter. What matters are Earl’s wishes.”

Via held back tears and took the journal.

Constance half smiled, a tiny dimple appearing in her left cheek. Just like Leo’s. “Thank you for caring for my brother.” She stood and picked up her purse. Then paused. “Do... do you know where Leo is? Did he go back to Los Angeles?”

She nodded, although it was an assumption. He never told her where he was going, hadn’t answered her phone calls and texts. But it made sense. Like selling Second Chapter, going back to California was what he wanted.

“I thought I might stay in Pecan Corner a little while,” Constance said, looking around the café. Squeaks was sitting on the floor in front of her, about two feet away, looking up at her in curiosity. “I’d like to get to know my brother better.”

“You’re welcome here anytime,” Via said.

She gave a little nod, then left.