Page 58 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘Don’t mention it.’
‘See you tomorrow,’ said Tori, locking the door behind Jess as she left.
Tori spent the rest of the day prepping the café for the cats’ impending arrival. Greg was ticking things off the snagging list and making sure everything was ready for the reopening. Tori had the sneaking suspicion that Greg’s work was more than done, but he seemed keen to hang around, and Tori wondered if this was so he could spend more time with Joyce. Tori noticed that her mum joined Greg on all his breaks, chatting happily and supplying him with endless cups of tea and cake. There was definitely something in the air between the pair of them.
Tori tried distracting herself by getting some admin done for the café. True to her word, Jess had emailed over the finished artwork for the new logo and Tori had been busy setting up social media accounts for the café ready to announce the grand opening. She uploaded pictures of the new interior to Instagram and Facebook. That done, she found her mind kept going over and over the reply shehad sent to Leo yesterday.Sorry but I can’t.The phrase kept bouncing around in her head. Leo hadn’t replied. She wished she knew what he was thinking.
‘Mum, I’m just popping out,’ she said, grabbing her faded denim jacket from the coat rack.
‘Okay, love,’ replied Joyce, barely looking up from her conversation with Greg.
It was a warm June afternoon; school was already out for the day and the village green was packed with children playing football and enjoying the summer sunshine. Tori found herself squinting, so pulled her aviator sunglasses out of her pocket and put them on. Hang on… if the kids were out of school, that must mean – yes! Hopefully Rose might be at Jasmine Cottage. Perhaps she would be able to give her some perspective over the situation with Leo.
As Tori knocked on the front door of the cottage for the third time, her heart sank. There was clearly no one in.
‘Rose? Jean? Anyone home?’ she called out, hoping for a response. Nope. Nothing. She couldn’t even hear Scout barking. The cottage was deserted.
‘Tori?’ said a voice, making her jump.
‘Rose! Oh, you’re here,’ she said, flinging her arms around her friend. ‘And Scout too.’ She bent down to fuss the Border Collie.
‘What’s up?’ Rose asked quickly.
‘Oh, it’s nothing really, I’m just being silly,’ said Tori, ‘but I could do with a bit of advice, if you’ve got ten minutes?’
‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ said Rose, pushing her key into the lock and opening the front door.
‘I saw the kids were out of school and hoped you’d be home.’
‘We had a staff meeting and I had to pick this little lady up from the dog-sitter. Teachers don’t all run from the building when the bell goes at three, you know.’
Tori could tell from Rose’s tone that she’d touched a nerve. ‘Of course, sorry, I know you have loads still to do once the kids are gone,’ she said quickly.
Rose’s expression softened. ‘Oh, don’t worry, it’s just a touchy subject. Ollie always used to try and tell me what an easy gig teaching was. How I had such a cushy number compared to all his City cronies.’
‘He really was an idiot. Thank God you two split up.’
‘It’s crazy, isn’t it? I look back now, and I don’t know how we ever ended up engaged! Anyway, what’s up?’
Tori went on to fill Rose in on what had happened with Leo. Their chats at the café, the trip to the rescue with Lara, how she found him so easy to talk to but how she’d been filled with panic when he’d asked her on a date.
‘You really are stressing yourself out,’ said Rose gently.
‘I know, I just feel so confused. And Claire from the salon told me she’d heard he’s a player—’
‘Who? Leo?’ said Rose, shaking her head.
‘Yeah, she said he’s a serial dater and pretty much warned me not to get involved.’
‘Really?’ said Rose, making a confused face. ‘I mean, Idon’t know Leothatwell, but that doesn’t seem like him at all from what Jake says and they’re pretty tight.’
‘That’s what I thought too; he doesn’t strike me as that type, but why would Claire say otherwise? She must know something we don’t, and, let’s be honest, after what happened with Ryan, I’m hardly the best judge of character, am I?’
‘Is that what’s putting you off? What Claire said?’ Rose asked.
‘No, yes… maybe, oh, I don’t know,’ said Tori, her head resting on her hands. Scout hopped up onto her back legs and placed her front paws in Tori’s lap. ‘Aw, don’t worry, Scout, I’m okay.’ She stroked the little dog gently on the head. ‘She really is a sweetheart, isn’t she?’
‘She always knows when I’m upset,’ said Rose fondly. ‘Listen, you should take what Claire said with a pinch of salt. I don’t even think she knows him very well, and you should only judge Leo by whatyou’veseen of him.’
