Page 78 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘What do you mean?’
‘Don’t give me that,’ said Rose, rolling her eyes. ‘I saw the two of you chatting in the lobby… You looked pretty cosy if you ask me.’
‘Don’t be daft,’ said Tori, looking over at Leo, who was now deep in conversation with Jake. ‘We were just talking about fire safety.’
‘Fire safety? Really?That’swhat you’re going with?’
‘It’s true, he’s been helping me out, making sure the café’s up to standard, that’s all.’ Tori held her breath. It was a pretty weak lie, and she knew it. Rose was silent for a moment, weighing up the likelihood that Tori was telling the truth.
‘Okay, fine,’ she said exhaling, ‘have it your way – you were talking aboutfire safety.’ She drew speech marks in the air with her index fingers.
‘What do you make of that?’ said Tori, keen to change the subject.
‘What?’
‘Look at Mum talking to Greg. Is it just me or does it look like she’s flirting with him?’ said Tori.
Rose stared towards Joyce and Greg, who seemed to be absolutely smitten with one another. ‘Do you know what, I think she is. She’s touching his arm… laughing at whatever he’s saying. See how he’s looking at her?’
Tori looked more closely. Greg had eyes only for her mother, filling her glass, even though she didn’t need a top-up and grinning at her. ‘I think you’re right,’ Tori agreed, downing the last of her drink in one gulp.
‘How do you feel about it?’
‘It’s weird processing the idea of Mum being interested in someone again, but she’s been on her own for years now andI want her to be happy. Greg seems like a decent bloke. I say good luck to them.’
‘Cheers to that,’ agreed Rose. ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely if they got together? Joyce deserves to be happy.’
‘Well, don’t jump the gun yet, we might have got it completely wrong.’
‘Come on, there’s definitely something there.’
‘You say that about me and Leo too…’
‘And I’m right!’
Tori’s cheeks burned and she looked away.
‘Well, if there is something between Mum and Greg, maybe I just need to give them a little push in the right direction?’
‘What have you got in mind?’
‘I’m not sure just yet, but leave it with me,’ said Tori.
‘If you need any help, you know where I am,’ said Rose, tapping her nose. ‘Listen, while I’ve got you, I wanted to ask how you’d feel about doing a talk at the school, with my class? You could tell them all about the cats, the partnership with the rescue, how you’ve transformed the tearoom. You could bring a couple of the cats along for the kids to meet, they’d love that.’
‘A talk? In front of kids?’ Tori felt the colour drain from her face. ‘I’m not sure, Rose. I’m not good at that sort of stuff…’
‘Oh, rubbish! You’ll be great. You’ve made a speech in front of everyone today, haven’t you?’
‘But that’s different, I didn’t have to think about that.’
‘And you won’t have to think about this either. Just turn up and we’ll figure it out on the day. You did say you wanted to make the café part of the community.’
‘I did, didn’t I?’
‘You definitely did. I’ll put something in the school diary and let you know when, okay?’
‘I don’t know how you’ve talked me into it but, okay, count me in!’
