Chapter 1 #2
Taking a step back, he said, “This is my property. Earl was my uncle.”
Her jaw fell open. “He had family?”
“Of course he had family.”
“Then why didn’t he mention you?”
“We were, ah, estranged.”
“Then why do you have a key?”
His mouth formed a tight line. “Listen, lady—”
“I’m not a lady. Well, I am, but . . .” Great, now that she’d found her words, she was saying the wrong ones. “My name is
Octavia Dalton, and I was Earl’s friend. I own Pawsitive Vibes next door. I’ve been looking after Second Chapter since . . .”
She swallowed. “Since he passed away.”
A faint flicker of emotion crossed his face, but it was so fleeting she wasn’t sure it was real. “Leo Brewster,” he said tersely.
“And thanks, but your services are no longer needed. I’m taking over now.”
Earl had never mentioned a nephew, never uttered the name Leo.
Bennett hadn’t said a word about Earl having family either.
Shortly before his death, they had talked about his plans for the shop—that he would eventually cut his hours and someday retire completely.
At that time, Via had brought up the idea of combining the bookstore with her café, although she hadn’t been in business for even a year back then.
But Earl had said it was a good idea and even hinted that she could take over the business completely at some point.
Now this fancy guy from California with his fancy car was claiming to be Earl’s nephew and taking over Second Chapter. Well,
she wasn’t buying his bull. “I don’t believe you. I’m calling Earl’s lawyer.”
“Bennett Pipkin? Be my guest. He knows all about me.”
“How? When?”
“Again, not your business.” He glared at her. “Now, if you’ll kindly stop blocking my way . . .” His gaze challenged her.
She paused, retaliating with a scowl.
Leo didn’t so much as flinch.
“Fine.” She stepped aside. “But this isn’t over. I am calling Bennett, and I will get to the bottom of this.”
“Knock yourself out, lady.”
What a jerk. “That’s Octavia to you.”
Leo shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Let’s go, Sir,” she growled, tugging on Sir Meow’s leash.
From his position at Leo’s feet, Sir calmly looked up at her, his head moving from side to side.
Forget big-dog energy—there were times when he acted almost human. “Right now, Sir.”
“Sir?” Leo said.
Via shot him an icy stare and tugged on the cat’s leash again.
Sir Meow placed a paw on Leo’s shoe.
He was picking the worst time to be stubborn. “Come on,” she cajoled, putting some sweetness in her tone. That always worked.
“Meow.” Sir looked up lovingly at Leo.
Leo rolled his eyes. Then sneezed. “Will you get this thing off me?”
“He’s not a thing.” She scooped up her cat and caught another whiff of Leo’s cologne. Shame such a wonderful scent was wasted on an arse of a man. “He’s a Highland cat and he’s got more charm in his little paw pad than you’ll ever have.”
The corner of Leo’s lips raised a fraction of an inch, then lowered into a grimace again as he pushed open the door and went
inside. Click.
She cringed at the sound of the lock sliding into place. This guy had to be lying. There was no other explanation.
Sir was growing heavy in her arms—he was a big cat, after all—and she set him down, not expecting him to head toward the Second
Chapter front door again. “What’s your deal?” She pulled on the leash a few times, then picked him up again and walked into
Pawsitive Vibes.
Via, with Dora and Birdie’s help, had turned the café into an autumn wonderland. Shiny paper leaves in autumnal colors were
strung across the walls, and Dora had taken one of their Cats with Pumpkins social media posts and turned it into a canvas
watercolor painting that would be auctioned off during Harvest Fest at the end of the month. Via had strung amber-colored
lights around it, providing a halo effect. Several extra-large coffee mugs were filled with cinnamon sticks and dried orange
slices and placed throughout the café where the cats couldn’t get to them. They provided a wonderful hint of spice that mingled
perfectly with the coffee scent.
The café was divided into several sections—the front foyer where the coffee and hot water machines, register, and packaged snacks were on one side, and café merchandise and information about pet adoptions were on the opposite.
Patrons could order their drinks and then enter the cat lounge, the largest space in the café.
Behind the lounge were the storage areas, Via’s office, and restroom.
It had taken some planning on Via’s part to make everything flow, but she was pleased with the setup, and the cats and customers were too.
Pasting on a smile, she made her way over to Dora behind the coffee counter. Birdie Gunnerson, her only other employee, was
working one of two industrial coffee machines, a turquoise kerchief tied around her gray hair, Rosie the Riveter style. A
peek through the large window into the lounge revealed several customers interacting with the cats and each other.
Dora glanced at her as she set a plastic-wrapped, cat-shaped sugar cookie into a basket filled with them on the counter. The
cookies came from the bakery, along with a few other sweet treats. Via was one of Sally’s best customers. “What’s wrong?”
Dora asked in a low voice.
“Nothing.”
“You’re ears are bright red. Practically purple.”
Nuts. Her ears always turned red when she was mad, and she was hopping angry right now. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Dora’s left eyebrow arched. “It’s serious then.”
Her sister knew her too well. “Some guy is claiming to be Earl’s nephew.”
“What?”
Sir Meow was squirming in Via’s arms. She quickly unclipped the leash and set him down. He dashed off to the back of the café
where the litter boxes were kept. Removing her teal and pink beanie, she filled Dora in on her discussion with Leo. “I don’t
believe him,” she said, shoving the hat into the pocket of her jacket. “Earl would have said something about him to me, even
if they were estranged.”
“Maybe.” Dora tapped on the edge of the counter. “Or maybe he’s telling the truth. Earl would be the kind of man with a secret
or three.”
“I know, but he wouldn’t have kept something that important to himself.
Family is everything.” She bent down to give Toffee, a tortoiseshell cat who always came to Via for her morning chin scratch, a little attention.
She, Luna, and Sir were allowed up front since they never tried to escape outside.
Despite Sir’s love of the outdoors, he was a total indoor kitty.
“I’m going upstairs to call Bennett. He’ll straighten this out. ”
“Take your time.” Birdie added a little whipped cream on top of a coffee in a mug that said “All I care about is my cat and
maybe three people.” “We have everything handled.”
Luna, a sleek black feline, rubbed her cheek against the hem of Via’s bootcut jeans. “I’m taking her with me,” Via said, picking
her up. “Sir Meow is on my naughty list right now.”
“Really?” Dora chuckled. “I thought he could do no wrong.”
“He was acting weird around that guy.” She cuddled the cat and walked toward the side door that joined the narrow stairwell
leading to the apartments upstairs. Her café and Earl’s bookstore were the only two businesses in Pecan Corner with apartments
above them. The rest either had storage or office spaces.
As she made her way up, she considered Dora’s idea that Earl was keeping Leo a secret, then dismissed it. Even if they were
estranged, Earl would have mentioned him during their conversation about the future of Second Chapter. Why would he even consider
Via taking over the business if he had a nephew waiting in the wings?
Then again, he hadn’t talked a whole lot about his past. She knew he was from Philadelphia, had moved to Pittsburgh in his late teens, and retired early from a steel manufacturing company before moving to Pecan Corner.
Mostly he’d reminisce about how and where he’d amassed his vast book collection.
That was why he’d opened Second Chapter, to share his love of books with other book lovers.
Although the place was always a mess, he knew exactly where everything was, no matter how deeply buried in the shop.
He never married, never had any children. Had never mentioned siblings, or even his parents. She didn’t pry either, figuring
there was nothing but time for them to get to know each other, although she had volunteered plenty of information about herself.
He was a good listener, didn’t judge, and . . . she missed him.
She drew Luna close as she continued up the stairs. There was still so much she wanted to know. Now she never would.