Page 113 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘That sounds lovely,’ said Tori.
As Tori stood to flip the door sign to ‘Closed’, she spotted a familiar face running towards the café.
‘Mason!’ she said, pulling the door open.
‘Hi, Tori. This is my mum,’ replied Mason.
‘Sorry, are you closing up?’ asked Mason’s mum, out of breath from jogging to keep up with her son. ‘I told Mason we’d come first thing in the morning, but he was desperate for us to try and catch you tonight.’
‘Ah, no worries. We don’t close for another twenty minutes or so, so come in. What do you say to hot chocolate, Mason? If that’s okay with Mum, of course,’ Tori added quickly.
‘That would be lovely, thank you. I’m Hayley, by the way.’
‘Lovely to meet you,’ replied Tori. ‘Grab a table anywhere – I’ll bring your drinks over.’
‘Thanks. We wondered about Daisy. Mason told me you’d visited the school and said we might be able to adopt her?’
‘Yes, that’s right. We look after some of the rescue centre’s cats that are looking to find their forever homes,’ said Tori.
‘Daisy!’ cried Mason, as soon as he spotted the little tortoiseshell cat, who was stretched out in a basket next to Pablo, who Izzy had brought over that morning, and was already settling in beautifully.
‘Why don’t you grab some toys from the basket over there, Mason, and you two can play, while I chat to your mum.’ Mason nodded enthusiastically, grabbing a fishing rod toy from the toybox.
‘It’s so lovely to see him with a smile on his face,’ said Hayley as Tori returned to the table with a tray of hot chocolates. ‘We lost Mason’s dad last year and it’s been a tough time for him.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. How awful for you both.’
‘Thanks,’ said Hayley, taking a swig of her drink. ‘It’s taken Mason a while, but I think he’s doing much better now. He had some issues settling at school last year, but Miss Hargreaves has been great.’
‘Oh, Rose is just brilliant, isn’t she?’
‘You’re friends?’
‘Yes, since we were kids. Rose is a brilliant teacher.’
‘She’s been fantastic. Mason’s making friends and he’s really enjoying being at school; I don’t think we could imagine living anywhere else now. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been thinking of getting him a cat. He absolutely loves them,’ she said, nodding towards Mason, who was laughing while throwing a catnip mouse for Daisy and Pablo, ‘and I think he could do with a little buddy at home.’
‘I think that sounds like a great idea,’ agreed Tori. ‘I’ve got my own cat too, Ernie, and we’ve got such a special bond. He sleeps on my bed and always listens without judgement when I’ve got a problem – I adore him. I was lost withouthim when I was away travelling. I’m sure Mason will have a similar bond with Daisy.’
‘Aw, that’s exactly what I’m hoping for. I was going to get him a kitten from the pet shop in Hastings, but after your visit to the school, Mason has fallen completely in love with Daisy.’
‘Well, it looks like the feeling’s mutual,’ said Tori, casting a smile in Mason and Daisy’s direction. ‘There’s some paperwork to fill in from the rescue centre, which I can get Izzy from New Beginnings to email to you, then she does a home visit and once you’re approved, we can book in a time for you to come and take Daisy home.’
‘Well, we’ve got a lovely garden and I only work part-time, so I’m hoping the home check will be okay. Thanks, Tori, I don’t know why I didn’t think of adopting before, I just assumed rescues wouldn’t rehome to families with younger children.’
‘Izzy looks at each adoption on a case-by-case basis, so there are no hard and fixed rules; it’s so important to find good homes for abandoned and unwanted cats.’
‘Absolutely,’ agreed Hayley. ‘Here’s my email address and we’ll get out of your hair so you can close up.’
‘Great, thanks, I’ll forward it on to Izzy and she’ll be in touch soon, I’m sure.’
‘Oh, before we go, could I grab a ticket for the barn dance up at the farm? I saw a poster saying you were selling them here?’
‘That’s right.’
‘A few of the mums from school are planning on going, we thought we’d make a night of it. Get glammed up and escape the kids for a few hours.’
‘Oh, that’s a nice idea, it would be great to see you there. I’ll get the ticket book.’
