Chapter 22
Via felt the color drain from her face.
When she didn’t shake his hand, he shrugged and opened his suit jacket. He retrieved a white envelope from the inner pocket.
“Give this to his nephew. He said to contact him when I had a serious offer for the shop.” He held it out to her. “Trust me,
he’s gonna like this one.”
Via froze, her eyes glued to the envelope.
“Ma’am?” Percival frowned. “Are you just gonna stand there and ogle my offer?”
“I—” With her finger and thumb she took the envelope from him.
Percival squared his shoulders and scanned the bookshelves. “I’ve been waiting for years to get my hands on this shop. Finally,
it’s gonna be mine.” He picked something out of his teeth and grinned. “Yep, this is going to make a good coffee shop.”
Coffee shop? “There’s a café next door,” she said, trying to stop the angry tremble in her voice.
“The cat store? That’s a flash in the pan. It will go out of business soon.” His eyes turned beady. “I’ll make sure of it.”
He smiled again. “Knocking out the competition is a good business practice. I’m sure Mr. Brewster will agree.”
Via’s stomach hit the floor.
“Make sure you get that to him pronto. I’ll be waiting to hear back.” Taking one last longing look at the shop, he spun on
his heel and left.
Via’s hand shook as she read Leo’s name on the envelope. Glanced at the empty parking space where Leo’s Turismo was usually
parked. Checked the time. He’d been gone nearly half an hour and would be back soon.
She hurried out the side door of the shop and went to Pawsitive Vibes, blowing past Squeaks, Sir Meow, Dora, a cute little
girl with pigtails petting Cinnamon, and straight back to her office. She closed the door and caught her breath. She shouldn’t
do this. I can’t do this.
But she had to, for the sake of Pawsitive Vibes . . . and her livelihood.
The envelope wasn’t perfectly sealed, and with a little careful tugging, she opened it without damaging the flap. She pulled
out the folded paper. Opened the offer. Read it . . . and her head dropped into her hand.
“Via?” Dora said on the other side of the door. “You okay?”
She didn’t answer. The offer was incredibly generous. Lucrative, even. She didn’t know Percival had it in him. Or maybe he
always had and Earl kept turning down the huge payday. It was only when Percival talked to Leo that he realized he couldn’t
get Second Chapter for peanuts. She clutched her stomach, ready to throw up.
“I’m coming in,” Dora said, pushing open the door.
“Don’t—” Via thrust Percival’s offer behind her back.
Dora frowned and went to her. She peered over her shoulder. “What’s behind your back?”
“Nothing!” She leaned against her desk, the paper crumpling in her hand.
“Via . . .”
The hurt in her sister’s voice got to her. She shut the door and turned to Dora. “You can’t tell anyone about this. Especially
Leo.” She explained about Percival, then showed her the offer.
“Whoa. That’s a lot of money.”
“He wants to put us out of business, Dora. I can’t allow that.”
Dora grew quiet. Then: “Are you going to show Leo the offer?”
“I . . . I don’t know.”
“But you have to. I can’t believe you’re even considering not giving it to him.”
Via didn’t respond, just turned around and put the offer in her desk. “I need time to figure this out.”
“Via . . .”
She whirled around. “I need time to think!”
Dora stared at her again, then shook her head. “I hope you know what you’re doing.” She walked out.
Via sank in her chair and rubbed her forehead. She had no idea what to do. Leo had insisted he wouldn’t sell the shop to Percival.
He gave her his word. But this offer changed everything. Leo was a businessman—a very good one from what he’d told her when
they were talking about their jobs. He also knew real estate. And he was determined to sell Second Chapter. He would be a
fool to turn Percival down.
She wanted to trust him, to believe that he would keep his promise. But Leo didn’t owe her anything, and besides, he’d lied
to her already about his cat allergy. Even now she was thinking about his confession. How sincere he sounded. The way he moved
her arms when they were crossed, the way he “made it up to her” by giving her what she wanted—the flyer in the window.
Was opening Second Chapter another way to apologize?
Or had he been sincere about thinking about it before?
He never said a word or gave her an indication that he was going to.
The allergy lie wasn’t a big one where lies were concerned, but she’d spent five years in a relationship where lies small and big had eroded a hole in both her heart and soul.
She opened the drawer and took out the offer. Smoothed the faint wrinkle at the top of the paper. In addition to the amount,
Percival had written his plans for Second Chapter—a coffee shop franchise. If he’d told the truth about that, then he was
serious about putting her out of business.
Via folded the offer and slipped it back into the envelope, then put it back in her drawer. There was too much going on for
her and Leo to talk about this. She had to figure out how to convince him not to sell to Percival, if he did decide to do
so. That would take time. She had only one shot to save Pawsitive Vibes. Once this weekend was over, she would show him the
offer. Until then, it didn’t exist.
The days leading up to Friday night’s Harvest Fest kickoff went fast. Leo and Via were so busy with getting the shop ready
to open that they barely talked to each other. That’s what he chalked it up to anyway—busyness. He dismissed the idea that
she might be avoiding him.
He offered to bring in Chinese on Thursday night.
His plan had been to have supper together in the reading nook, soft music in the background, the fairy lights glowing against the wall.
His sap meter was registering at maximum, but he didn’t care.
Even when they were barely speaking due to being so wrapped up in temporary grand-opening preparations, he enjoyed her company.
At night when he went home alone to his apartment, the loneliness crept in, and he missed her.
Sir Meow and Squeaks too. He’d turned into . . . shudder . . . a cat person.
A thought from his conversation with Charlie two weeks ago when he picked up his Turismo came to mind. What we do for the women we love. Was this love? Wanting to be in Via’s presence, even if they didn’t speak? Thinking of drippy romantic things to do just
to see her smile? Upending his whole life to keep living next door to her? Because over the past few days, he was seriously
thinking about that.
When she begged off dinner Thursday night, he headed upstairs to settle in. Everything was ready for tomorrow afternoon at
three, when the doors would open until 9:00 p.m. Then nine to five on Saturday and one to four on Sunday. Then the stipulations
would be complete. Second Chapter and the apartment were organized. He’d found all the books on the list. And thanks mostly
to Via, the quiz would be a breeze. His inheritance would officially be his.
He’d be at a crossroads after that, and he still wasn’t ready to choose a direction. He’d figure that out on Monday.
If he couldn’t have company, he would read the rest of Earl’s journal. He hadn’t had the time or energy to do it this week,
but he had plenty of it tonight. He settled on the couch with a glass of fresh-pressed apple cider from a jug he’d bought
at the Corner Store and picked up where he left off.
September 3, 2004: Got another coffee cup for my birthday today from Ms. Abernathy. That’s five in a row. She means well,
but I guess she still hasn’t figured out that I don’t drink coffee. Nice that someone remembers my birthday. Glad no one makes
a fuss.
Leo grinned. Anna had a crush on Earl. It made her remark about him the other day more poignant.
June 12, 2005: About ready to stop watching TV. Nothing on anymore. If it wasn’t for the History Channel I’d chuck the set
out the window.
July 7, 2005: Hit Middlefield again. Found a couple books I didn’t have at the Monday auction. Also had some of the sweetest
blueberries I ever tasted at Miriam Yoder’s fruit stall. Reminds me I need to tend the garden behind the church. Weeds are
growing like crazy. Looks like we’ll have a good harvest this year.
August 18, 2007: Bennett Pipkin’s after me to write my will again. Guess I’ll finally do it, even though I don’t want to think
about dying. Life’s good in Pecan Corner. Funny how when I landed here, the adventure bug left me completely. Second Chapter
was supposed to be a warehouse for my collection, but now it’s a business. Never cared about profit. Don’t need it. But people
seem to like coming here and browsing the shelves. Only a few complaints about the dust. Some folks even buy stuff. Stop to
chitchat a bit. But who’s gonna care about this place after I’m gone? Not Constance. Maybe . . . Leo? Never met him. Wonder
if he even knows I exist. Can’t depend on him caring about the shop or my town, but maybe I can do something about that. Reading
up on something called “stipulations.” I’ll talk to Bennett about it just to get him off my back.
And that explained Earl’s will. Frowning, Leo turned the page.
May 22, 2008: Took in a Pirates game at Jacobs Field today. I refuse to call it Progressive Field. Very satisfying, but the nachos and popcorn prices are highway robbery.
May 30, 2008: Fourth night in a row I’ve eaten Lucky Charms for dinner. Think I’ll switch it up and have Honeycomb tomorrow.
March 8, 2009: Mom died last week. Funeral was Friday. Constance didn’t show. Neither did Leo. So much for family.
“Yeah,” Leo muttered. “So much for family.”
September 3, 2012: Turned sixty today. No coffee cup this year. Ms. Abernathy got married six months ago to Joe Shickel. Had
a plain burger with pickles and some coleslaw from the diner. Owner gave me a free slice of cake and whispered, “Happy birthday.”
Life is good.
December 22, 2012: Got to get another tub for my keys. The one I have right now is overflowing. Almost done with the butter