Page 74 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘Let’s hope so,’ he replied. ‘One, two, three…’ He pounced, placed the plastic tub over the frog and expertly slid the lid of the salad spinner underneath. ‘Gotcha!’
‘Let’s see,’ said Tori eagerly, peering over Leo’s shoulder. He lifted the lid of the salad spinner, and she could see the tiny green frog inside. ‘Aw, he’s actually kind of cute—’
‘Cute? If it wasn’t for him, we would have—’ He stopped himself and looked away. Tori cleared her throat.
‘Well, at least it looks like he’s not hurt, that’s the main thing,’ said Tori.
‘True. I guess we should go and return him…’
‘You know where he’s from?’
‘Yep. Mrs Fisher down the road had a pond put in a few weeks ago and it’s been raining frogs ever since,’ explained Leo.
‘That’s hilarious! I can just imagine you coming home to a living room full of bouncing frogs after work,’ said Tori, stifling a giggle.
‘Tinkerbell seems to have a bit of a knack for catching them unfortunately…’
‘Well, I should be going anyway,’ said Tori, reaching for her jacket.
‘Really? But we’ve not even had the chance to talk about the barn dance…’
‘I’ve got to be up early tomorrow – I’ve got so much to do at the café before the soft launch,’ she said, reluctantly putting her handbag over her shoulder. ‘I guess we’ll need to meet up again to talk about the dance…’
‘Great idea,’ said Leo, smiling. ‘How about I walk you home?’
‘Don’t be silly, it’s only round the corner.’
‘Honestly, it’s no trouble,’ said Leo. ‘I’ve got to take this little fella home.’ He tapped the lid of the salad spinner. ‘I could do with stretching my legs.’
‘In which case, that would be lovely, thank you,’ she nodded. As they left the warmth of the house and stepped into the cool night air, they walked together in silence, their fingertips gently brushing. Tori waited for Leo under the streetlamp while he knocked on Mrs Fisher’s front door.
‘All good?’ she asked, as he jogged back towards her.
‘Yeah, I told Mrs Fisher she can keep the spinner – I never use it anyway.’
‘Something tells me you’re not much of a salad guy,’ said Tori, tucking her hair behind her ears. She noticed that Leo’s eyes were sparkling even more than usual in the moonlight. She looked away. They began walking slowly towards the Cosy Cat Café. ‘He doesn’t know how lucky he was.’
‘Who?’ said Leo, distractedly.
‘The frog.’
‘Ah.’
‘Who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t been home to save him. I’m guessing it would have been frogs’ legs on the menu for Tinkerbell?’
‘Oh, he’d have been fine. Tinks is all talk, no trousers.’
‘She did a pretty good job of catching it.’
‘Oh, yeah, she’s great at catching them, but she hasn’t got a clue what to do once she’s brought them home,’ he laughed.
‘Ernie’s exactly the same.’
‘Last week she brought a snake home for me and I ended up having to chase it all over the house!’
‘A snake?’ said Tori, grabbing hold of his arm. ‘You’re joking?’
‘I wish. It was only a grass snake thankfully, but I didn’t know that when I was trying to get it into a pillowcase.’ Tori threw her head back and laughed hard.
