Page 89 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

Uh-oh. Wrong thing to say. “Via,” he crooned, moving closer to her. “Swing and a miss, right?” At her confused look, he said, “I told you, I reserve the right to be wrong once in a while.”

The look in her eyes turned hollow.

Leo was more than familiar with shutting down emotions, and Via was doing just that. He could see why she was hurt. “I should have told you,” he said, taking another step to her. Then another, until they were almost touching. “Babe, c’mon. We can work this out—”

“Don’t you dare turn your charm on me.”

He didn’t understand her response at all. “I’ve apologized, Via. What else do you want me to do?” His cell started buzzing in his pocket and he muttered a curse. It had to be Percival again. The man had called him three times in half an hour this morning. He didn’t want to answer him at all, and whatever offer the guy wanted to make, Leo wasn’t taking it. He’d told Via he wasn’t selling to Percival, and he meant it. But if he didn’t get rid of the man, he would never leave Leo alone. “Sorry,” he muttered, yanking out his phone. “Percival won’t stop calling.”

“What?”

He barely heard her—he was rehearsing his get-lost-Percival speech in his head. He slid his thumb across the screen.

Via hurried to him. “Leo, don’t—”

“Brewster here.”

Via’s heart sank to her knees, snapping her out of her anger and plunging her into quicksand. Up until then, she was furious at Leo’s effort to try to appease her with his pleading eyes, sensuous voice, and sexy glasses. He sounded so much like Trevor, it freaked her out.

But all that disappeared as Leo answered the phone. “Percival, I’m busy right now... Wait. What offer?”

She watched his eyes get big, then she sank onto the couch, unable to look at him. Logic overtook emotions, and she was thinking with more clarity than she had been since Percival gave her the offer on Tuesday. As Leo listened, his eyes narrowed. She closed hers. She had royally screwed up.

He ended the conversation noncommittally. Slowly he slid his phone in his pocket. Turned to her. “Where’s the offer?”

His coldness was devastating. When she looked up, she saw a different man. The warm, sparkling, shiny Leo was gone, replaced by a man who was a heartbeat above a statue. “My office. In my desk.”

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

That propelled her off the couch. “Yes, I promise I was. After the Harvest Fest.” Her defensiveness came back. “Were you ever going to tell me about the stipulations?”

He stared at her. Not a glare, not a smirk. Zero emotion. “The fact that you think the two are on the same level...”

“Leo, I’m—”

But he was already out the door.

Via fell back on the couch again. Sir meowed at the door, Squeaks right behind him. She heard his apartment door slam. There was still some emotion inside him. Anger. Incredible anger.

Dora was wrong. Via’s decision to keep the offer from Leo didn’t just bite her in the butt. It ruined their relationship... forever.

Harvest Fest was a huge success, according to everyone in town. Via didn’t know. After Leo left her apartment, she called Dora and told her she was ill and to let everyone know she wouldn’t be available. God love her sister, she didn’t rub it in, although Via was sure Dora knew something had happened.

On Saturday morning, Second Chapter was closed and Leo’s Turismo was gone. Bennett called her right away and asked what was going on. She only told him that Leo had to leave, stopping short of telling him that Leo wasn’t coming back. He hadn’t returned a single one of her frantic calls and messages.

Sunday she stayed home and turned off her phone. Monday morning she had to get out of bed and enter the world again. She had a spark of hope that Leo had called last night, wanting to talk everything through. But the only missed calls were her parents and Dora. She fell back against her pillow and texted Dora.

Via:Calling off sick. Will be at PV tomorrow. Cover for me.

Dora:Okay.

And that was it. Nothing to discuss. They both knew she messed up. Sir and Squeaks must have sensed she was upset, too, because they were extra cuddly, and Squeaks actually behaved herself for the whole day. A miracle.

At 7:00 p.m., Via was lying on her couch. Her stomach growledbut she didn’t want to eat. Dora always stuffed down junk food when she was upset or stressed, but Via was just the opposite. She could barely choke down a sandwich and water the whole day.

A knock sounded at the door. She sprang up. Had Leo come back? She didn’t hear the loud engine of the Turismo, but she’d had the TV blaring all day, trying to block out her thoughts. She looked down at her fuzzy cat pajamas with the pink bows on them. Touched the rat’s nest that was the current state of her hair. Got up and hurried to the door as she tried to smooth it down. She opened the door to—

Fergus.