Page 44 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

The big man didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Finally, he picked up his toolbox. “Show me the leak.”

Relieved, Leo led Fergus to the bathroom, switched on the light, opened the bottom cabinet, and got out of the way. There was barely room for the vanity sink, toilet, and shower. Fergus dwarfed the small space. “I hate plumbing,” he muttered, putting the toolbox on top of the closed toilet lid and getting on the floor. “I really hate it.”

Leo snuck away, and a few minutes later he heard Fergus grumbling as he tackled the leak. He sat on the couch with Sir, and the minute his behind hit the worn cushion, he thought about Via again. In a beat-up box she had found one of the books on his list with another absurd title:Beans: They’re Not Just Good for Your Heart. That had them laughing together for over a minute, and it had felt great. Earl’s task for Leo was a challenging one, but at least he had a sense of humor. So did Via.

He smiled, his chest growing warm. Not just with desire, although he’d been feeling plenty of that when he was around her. It was more encompassing... engulfing...

Sir nudged his hand and crawled into his lap.

Leo looked at him. Smitten kitten. He suddenly wished Via was smitten with him.

“All done.”

Leo jumped and Sir spilled onto the floor as Fergus entered the living room carrying the bowl Leo had put under the sink. He’d just told Via’s brother not to worry about anything, and here he was, preoccupied with her. Standing up, he gathered his bearings again.

“You won’t be needing this anymore.” He handed Leo the bowl as Sir leaped back onto the couch.

That was quick. “How much do I owe you?”

Fergus gave Sir Meow another pat on the head. “Nothing. It only took five minutes, thank the good Lord.”

A plumber who hated plumbing. Huh. “Don’t you have a standard service fee?”

“Consider it a family-slash-friend discount. Emphasis on friend.”

Message received. Leo held out his hand. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”

After Fergus left, Leo glanced at the clock. Ten thirty. Via said she’d be up here to get Sir at some point. He really didn’t mind the cat, though. He worked too much at the office to have a pet, but while he was at Earl’s, he appreciated the company.

He glanced at the apartment. Plenty to do here—even more downstairs at Second Chapter. He looked at Sir, who was sitting on his haunches as if waiting for instructions. Leo smiled. “Time to get to work.”

The rest of the week was a blur for Via. The three cats she’d picked up from Paws of Love on Tuesday afternoon—Zephyr and Nebula, who were jet-black siblings, and Smokey, who ironically was a completely white cat—were settling in nicely. As she always did when she had new arrivals, she stayed late in the café to get them acclimated and kept a baby monitor turned on when she went upstairs to make sure the kitties were okay in their sleeping quarters in the back of the building. She only had to do that on Tuesday night, though. By morning, the three of them were doing just fine.

On Wednesday and Thursday night, she and Leo continued to tackle Earl’s storeroom while Sir Meow supervised. They mostly worked in silence, and she didn’t mind. She discovered that he wasn’t big on listening to music when he was working. She was the same—something her family and friends thought was odd.“Who doesn’t like to whistle while they work?”Birdie had said when she found out Via preferred a quiet environment when she needed to be focused.“Or hum a tune?”

Now that they had gone through a third of the room, they were no longer running into each other. Too bad. It was good, though. She didn’t need anything to ramp up her attraction to him.

They were almost halfway done with the room by Thursday evening. Leo volunteered to get more boxes the next morning, then told her she didn’t need to come over on Friday night. “I said I didn’t want to take up too much of your time,” he pointed out as he taped up a box filled with vintage military magazines. “I meant it.”

Via started to protest, then stopped. They were clearing things out faster than she’d anticipated, and they hadn’t even done theirfirst bucket list activity yet. “I’ll see you Saturday then.” At his questioning look, she added, “The pumpkin patch?”

“Oh. Right.” He placed the box on top of a short stack against the back wall. He was wearing a T-shirt tonight, and he’d worn one yesterday too. One had been a golden-yellow color with a Pittsburgh Pirates logo on it, and tonight’s was blue with Cedar Point on the front. Earl was a baseball fan—mostly Phillies—but he also had a couple of Pirates hats. She’d never seen him wear a T-shirt before, though. Mostly long-sleeved flannels or short-sleeved bowling-type shirts in warmer weather. The shirts fit Leo to a T and showed off his impressive biceps and strong forearms, she noticed.Stop noticing!

“Sorry,” he said. “I’ve been so focused on getting this done, it slipped my mind.”

“You’re still going, right?” She didn’t like the urgency in her tone, but she couldn’t help it.

“Sure.” But he was focused on another box and not her.

A niggle of doubt entered her mind, and it stayed there through her meeting with the Harvest Fest planning committee on Friday. The annual festival had been a Pecan Corner staple for over sixty years, and everyone knew their jobs and roles, so the meetings were more of a formality.

By closing time on Saturday afternoon, she shoved the doubt that he was going to bail on her out of her mind. Just because Trevor always did that, didn’t mean Leo would. She locked up Pawsitive Vibes and went upstairs to her apartment to get ready for the pumpkin patch.

She went through her closet, choosing a Scotch plaid hoodie with gold, sage-green, and coral-orange colors. Underneath she wore a pumpkin-orange turtleneck, and completed the outfitwith washed-out, stovepipe ankle jeans and cranberry-and-cream-colored hiking boots. A pumpkin necklace and matching pumpkin earrings carried the theme.

Most of the time Via either wore a hat or put her hair in a ponytail. Right now she was considering keeping it loose. Maybe even curling it, something she hadn’t done in a long time. She rummaged through her vanity and finally found her curling iron shoved under the sink. As she plugged it in, Sir Meow jumped on the corner of the counter and watched her.

“What?” she said to him, putting the curling iron on the opposite side of the sink. No need to take chances around Sir. “Don’t act like you’ve never seen me curl my hair.” She looked in the mirror and frowned. “Or put on makeup.” She needed a little color on her cheeks. Her eyes too.