Chapter 21
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 the thirty 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.
That’s it? What was supposed to make up for the lie? An understandable lie, considering how much of a pest Sir had been. And
she was glad he relented about the flyer. Second Chapter was the only business in Pecan Corner that didn’t have one in its
window, and it had bothered her.
“There’s some tape under the counter to the left,” she said to Leo. “I’ll put this up now.”
He searched around, found the tape, and handed it to her. Squeaks and Sir both closed their eyes. They were turning into a
cute and, fortunately nonreproductive, couple. A platonic couple. Like her and Leo.
Other than uncrossing her arms, he hadn’t touched her or tried to. There was no desire in his eyes, only earnestness as he
apologized for lying to her. Everything was back to the way it was before the corn maze. Which was what she wanted, right?
No risking her heart, no possibility of taking another fall. She taped the flyer on the window and went back to the counter.
“Oh,” he said, dropping a bright blue key into a very small pile of other blue keys. “There’s something else.” He met her
gaze. “I’m going to open Second Chapter for the festival.”
She froze, unsure she’d heard him clearly. “You’re . . .”
“Going to open the bookstore for the weekend.”
“But why? When? How?”
“I’ve been thinking about it off and on since Owen’s visit. You were right, Via. Second Chapter is important to Pecan Corner.”
Her hopes started to soar. “So you’re not going to sell it?”
He paused. “That’s still the plan. But what better way to honor Earl’s legacy than with a temporary reopening?”
Temporary. Disappointment shot through her. And then what he said fully sank in. Leo had never veered from his intentions
to sell the shop, and he was within his rights to do so. But what had changed was him wanting to honor his uncle. He was also
giving everyone another chance to visit and pay their respects. It was the next best thing to keeping Second Chapter permanently
open.
She went to him and took both his hands in hers. She was long past not risking her heart with this man. “Yes,” she said, her
voice becoming thick. “It’s a beautiful way to honor him.”
Leo pulled her toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He tenderly brushed back a lock of her hair, tucking it behind
her ear. “Thank you,” he murmured, his gaze caressing her.
“For what?”
He brushed his lips against hers. “Being you.”
She leaned against him, melting into his embrace.
Monday was wreath making at The Red Carnation, and since they had so much to do in the shop before opening it for Harvest Fest, Via was shocked when Leo insisted they fulfill that bucket list item.
He’d scoffed at it so hard in the beginning that she thought he’d be glad to skip it.
They had made another schedule for the week, and she reassured him that Dora and Birdie would pick up the slack at the café so she could work more hours in Second Chapter.
Of course they were eager to help out once she told them this morning about Leo’s plan.
Like the trouper he was, he made his own autumn wreath, and true to form, Anna Abernathy regaled them with tales of Pecan
Corner, along with answering Leo’s numerous questions. Almost an hour in, Via was feeling like a third wheel.
She jammed a small scarecrow flower pick into her wreath, then pushed a large sunflower down next to it.
“Now, Via,” Anna said, moving to stand by her. “You seem to be in a hurry. Remember, it’s a process—one to savor and enjoy.
Just look at Leo’s wreath. It’s coming along nicely.”
Via glanced at his wreath, which was rather nice. He might not like decorating, but he wasn’t a complete butterfingers. She
looked down at her own. Oops, not so nice. She definitely wasn’t savoring the process either. Not this year, and not when
she had a million things to do. Starting bright and early this morning, the decorating crew had started transforming the square
into a harvest spectacular. She’d even cut Sir Meow’s walk short again.
One of Anna’s employees appeared and whispered something to her. The older woman frowned, something she rarely did. “I have
to take care of a customer out front,” she said, then gestured to the floral supplies and their wreaths spread out on the
worktable. “Carry on.”
Via was ready to carry on right out of the florist shop and back to work. Instead she took a deep breath.
“You okay?” Leo asked.
She turned to him. He was mulling over a sunflower and an orange carnation, switching the artificial flowers back and forth
in one place to see which worked better. He landed on the carnation and pushed it into the foam, then turned to her. “I didn’t
mean to throw you for such a loop.”
“A loop?”
“Opening Second Chapter.”
“That’s a good loop.” She smiled, feeling a little calmer. “I just need to remind myself to slow down.” Doing these activities
wasn’t just for fun. They were a reminder to stay in the moment, something she needed to do now more than ever.
Leo nodded. “That’s something I’m learning too.” He looked at her, more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. He was . . . happy.
She didn’t want to think about what would happen after Harvest Fest. She had to focus and savor every minute she had with
Leo while he was still here. She held up her sad wreath.
“It’s not so bad.”
“And you’re being nice.”
“No, I’m serious. Just put the scarecrow here, the cluster of maple leaves here.” He took the wreath from her and did some
rearranging. “The acorn spray here, and voilà. Fixed.”
“I thought you didn’t decorate.”
Frowning as he looked at his masterpiece, he said, “I don’t.”
With a smile, she moved closer to him, unable to resist leaning against his shoulder. “I think there’s a little designer inside
of you waiting to burst out.”
“Um, no. There is not. I was just paying attention to what Anna was showing me.”
“Uh-huh.” She shifted her eyes up to his. “Thou doth protest.”
“Because thou art correct.” He looked down at her with a little smile.
“Aren’t you two the cutest!” Anna entered the room, clasping her hands together as her silk sunflower scarf fluttered around
her neck.
They jumped apart. Leo said, “I was just—”
“He was just—” Via joined in.
“You were just enjoying yourselves.” Her excited expression turned somber.
“I wish Earl were here to see this. I thought very highly of that man.” Her eyes grew misty.
“I’d also hoped . . . well, never mind.” She waved them off and looked at Via’s wreath.
“Good, Via, you fixed it. Your wreath looks lovely now.”
Leo smirked at Via. She rolled her eyes.
The next day, Via brought in an early lunch from the diner to Second Chapter. She noticed Leo had hung his wreath on the rusty
nail stuck in the wall behind the counter where Earl would sometimes hang his baseball cap. Perfect spot. She was going to
put hers in the reading nook. When they finished lunch, Leo said he’d promised Charlie another ride in the Turismo on his
lunch break. She was surprised since he hadn’t seemed to pay much attention to his sports car since Charlie fixed it. “It
won’t take long. Half hour, forty-five minutes tops.”
“Go ahead.” She was already planning what she was going to work on next—the dreaded periodical section. Unless a magazine
was unreadable, she insisted Earl would want them to keep it, and there were so, so many to go through. “I’ll be here when
you get back.”
“You’re next,” he said, unlocking and opening the front door to head to Dipstick Depot. Then he paused. “If you want to ride
in it.”
“I would like that.” She surprised herself with her answer, considering she never understood the big deal about cars. Then
again, being around Leo Brewster had brought a lot of surprises to her life. “How about after the Harvest Fest?”
“Uh, sure.” Quickly he hurried out the door.
Via would have pondered his reticence if she didn’t have so many things to do. She spent the next twenty minutes picking through some really tattered magazines that were stained with things she probably didn’t want to know about.
“Yoo-hoo!” A male voice came from the front of the store. “Anybody home?”
Oops, she’d forgotten to lock the door after Leo left. Still, the Closed sign was displayed in the window. Guess whoever this
was either didn’t see it or disregarded it. She made her way to the front of the store. A tall, older man with an obvious
black toupee and graying sideburns stood by the counter, his hands on his hips, surveying the shop with intense interest.
“Hmm, thought there used to be a cat in here.”
Sir and Squeaks were spending the day at Pawsitive Vibes. Good thing, because Via was too busy to run after Squeaks, and Sir
wouldn’t leave Leo alone. They were like children sometimes. “I’m sorry, sir, we’re closed.”
“Oh, I know.” He flashed her a big grin. “Heard Earl kicked the bucket.” Then as if he remembered he should have some respect
for the dead, he added, “Too bad.”
This guy was beyond irritating and she’d only spent two minutes in his presence. “As I was saying, we’re closed—”
“Perry Percival.” He extended his hand. “Earl might have mentioned me.”