Page 68 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘Brilliant! I wasn’t expecting them to be so chilled on their first day.’
‘I’ve cleared out the litter trays, the water bowls have fresh water in them and it doesn’t look like we’ve had any accidents overnight. I think Izzy’s picked the perfect bunch for you!’
‘I expected there might be teething problems, though.’
‘There still might be; it’s early days, so don’t jinx it,’ said Joyce, crossing her fingers. ‘But I’d say, so far so good. What’s your plan for today then?’
‘Hang out with the cats till Leo and Lara get here for lunch.’
‘I’ve got a few bits I need to get from the shops, so I’ll leave you in peace when Leo arrives.’
‘Oh no, Mum, you don’t have to!’ said Tori quickly. ‘You’re more than welcome to join—’
‘No, love, I’d rather leave you to it. I need to catch up with Greg about something anyway.’
‘Well, only if you’re sure,’ said Tori.
‘I am.’
Tori and Joyce spent the rest of the morning in the café together, playing with the cats, putting the finishing touches to the tables and baking. Valentine was keen to investigate everything that was going on around him and no sooner had Tori put a bud vase on a table, he’d knocked it straight over.
‘I can see you’re going to be trouble, young man,’ she said, picking Valentine up and popping him down on the floor. ‘You’re lucky these don’t have water in them… yet.’ She riffled through one of the toy boxes and found a catnip banana that he could turn his attention to. She threw it up in the air and he chased it eagerly, pouncing on it and flipping it between his paws. ‘That’s more like it,’ she said approvingly. Ernie appeared at the window a few times throughout the morning to check out the new arrivals and, much to Tori’s relief, they all seemed happy enough to watch each other through the glass, without a hiss or a cross word between them.
Tori looked up as she heard a knock on the front door. She could see Lara peering through the glass and waving. Was it really one o’clock already? Where had the morning gone? As she unlocked the café door to let her visitors in, Lara looked fit to burst with excitement.
‘Tori, are they here? Are they here?’ she said, bouncing up and down on the spot.
‘Who? The cats?’ said Tori. Lara nodded. ‘Erm, let me have a look…’ she said, pretending to look around the room. ‘Nope, no cats I’m afraid. I don’t think they’ve arrived yet.’
‘Don’t be silly, Tori, I can see them!’ Lara laughed.
‘Can you, where?’ said Tori, turning around.
‘Right there,’ squealed Lara, pointing at Norris, ‘look, there’s a ginger one.’
‘Oh, you meanthiscat?’ said Tori, scooping Norris into her arms.
‘Yes!’ cried Lara.
‘Sorry, Lara. I’m just messing. Come in and say hello,’ said Tori.
‘Sorry, she’s been like this all morning,’ said Leo, ‘she’ssoexcited. Anyone would think she’d not got two kittens of her own to play with.’
‘Well, we’re excited too,’ said Tori.
As they entered the café, Lara spotted Valentine playing with his banana and she ran towards him.
‘Careful, Lara, don’t scare him,’ Leo said.
‘He’s not scared, see?’ said Lara, smiling as she threw the toy for him to chase. ‘He wants to play.’
‘Here, why don’t you try using this,’ said Tori, passing her a fishing rod toy with a shiny silver fish at the end of it. ‘I bet he’ll love that.’
‘Yes! Domino and Dexter have one too, they love it,’ replied Lara. She began waving the rod around animatedly and Valentine darted back and forth trying to catch his prey. It wasn’t long before Daisy emerged from her hidey-hole and joined in with the game.
‘She’s doing a great job,’ said Tori. ‘That’ll keep them occupied for hours. I wonder who’ll get bored first, Lara or the cats?’
‘Oh, definitely the cats,’ laughed Leo. ‘Lara’s never given up on a game voluntarily.’ He smiled and the lines around his mouth crinkled. She felt her insides do a little flip. Leo really did have a great smile… ‘Earth to Tori?’
